Down and Dirty

"Go roll hard like the Belgians," I said to myself this afternoon. It was cold and drizzly outside today. The forecast was calling for snow that never came, so to celebrate I rode my bike. I had a pretty decent time out there, despite the obvious lack of fitness, but coming back my bike started making... noises. And these weren't the normal bike noises, like my chain desperately shifting into an easier gear. These were noises that immediately reminded me of my other set of excuses for why I don't ride in the shit weather.

Sand and grit now cover my bike. The noises were coming from a chain, crank, and headset in desperate need of cleaning. Nails on a chalkboard? To a mechanic, that's nothing compared to grit on a drivetrain. After I got off the bike, with the post-ride embrocation burn setting in I quickly cleaned and lubed the chain and left it hanging on the repair stand to dry. It's not uncommon to hear a wrench say something along the lines of "I hate cleaning my bike, I work on bikes all day and the last thing I want to do when I go home is work on another one." And this would be true in this case as well (except for the "all day" thing; it's still the off-season for a lot of folks). I will add however, that another reason why I don't like to work on my own bikes is because when I do, it has be done to perfection. Anything less than perfection will ultimately lead to more aggravation, cursing, and drinking the next time I go out for a ride. You missed a spot wrapping your bars? Drink, wrap them again, then drink some more. Forget to true the wheels? Grab a couple cold ones and sit down to the truing stand. Bottom bracket still creaking? Where's the tequila? I'll admit most of the drinking isn't spurred on by faulty wrenching, but any night when you have a reason to drink can't be counted as alcoholism right?

In other news:
As part of my ride, I took the W&OD and Custis Trails down to the Italian Store from the community center in Vienna. The trails are mostly clear thanks to the rain, with a few spots of slush and ice that I would bet melt away before the weekend's over. Another thing to note about riding the trails, there have been many dog owners who have left their pet's "artwork" on display all over the trail. Keep that in mind next time you ride the trail on a drizzly day and are gasping for air with your mouth open like some fat, unfit wannabe bike racer.