Miles and Maintenance

Want to get rid of something? Use it. Even mother nature uses this approach. Apply a bit mire wind to an aged tree along the trail and witness the results


I did a more attentive inspection of my bike before setting out today. The continental puncture resistant tires I was so excited about last year are showing the miles


Note the beige under layer showing through just above my left finger. When they were new their was no flat spot


What a difference a few thousand miles make. I rotated the slick to the front and moved the lightly worn front to the rear. It's a striking difference to mount up and look down to a flat spot.

All went well until I started to pedal away. Then I discovered I somehow routed the chain under rather than over the rear cassette. It's pleasant to fix these on the bike stand instead of the side of the road.

Next discovery was missing dog mace


Elastic case but no mace. Time for another amazon order. I wasn't particularly fond of that setup anyways.

So yeah, use it and wear it out or lose it. Seems like a good cure for American consumerism. Use it until you wear it out. Then proudly replace it or move on. Then if we could value durability over one time use. Oh well, one can dream while sipping Starbucks from a single use cup. At least it's a venti so I get a little more product per square inch of packaging. There you go, explained away.

February is going to be light on mileage. Two weeks out of the saddle are irrecoverable even riding the Tricross at 1.5x speed. It's more about time than miles anyway. That leaves me looking for a success to celebrate for the month.

Highlight of the day was riding with a 20mph tail wind. That was great even uphill. That tailwind subsequently became a headwind but it was good while it lasted.

I think my lesson is going to be maintenance. I've gotten in some decent core work and stair climbs. I need to maintain and nurture this dream to grow it. It all has to come together to keep the wheels on and keep rolling. The short list of next goals are to get the moots back, get new shoes and pedals, install aerobars, get a gps, and do a long weekend ride in unfamiliar territory. And be more vigilant on maintenance.

Pedal, pedal, pedal. Plan, plan, plan.