Late February resolution

When your standard commute is almost 15 miles and has 1400 foot of ascent, you wear your bike out rather quickly. The bicycle repair man had already told me that if I would just keep it clean, I wouldn't have so much wear and tear. But when I get home from my commute, I just want to put the bike in a corner and not think about it anymore. I see his point, though; having grit stuck in it is not going to help a bit.

When I realised I had almost run out of bike oil, I knew I had to buy some more. Not cleaning your chain is one thing; not oiling it is another! But when I was in the shop that sold the bike oil, I saw they also sold a chain cleaning device. And I bought it. I don't think I am going to use it on a daily basis, but I think I could manage a weekly rinse. It might give both my chain and my cogs a longer life! And that is a good thing.

“Keeping my bike clean" sounds like a New Year's resolution. It isn’t New Year anymore! It was February when I bought the device, and it is already March now I have used it for the first time. But I hope I can convince myself to make this a fairly regular habit. Maybe then I can space out my visits to the repair shop a bit more. Could I manage twice a year? I'll find out!

The kit

Ready for action!

Clean chain, dirty kit