The bicycle saga

Wish I'd done a real 'before' pic. I did a half-assed cleaning job here the other day, after cleaning the inside/trunk of my car. Realized more work was needed, plus some lube.

After a good bath this morning.

One of these days I really will get a good ride on this bike again. It's been a process, and it's not over yet.

After the half-assed bath a few days ago I went in search of my favorite bike lube, couldn't find it on this end of town. A good friend brought some to me yesterday, so this morning I took some good, sudsy water and an already-dirty rag out there and did a decent, if not perfect, wash job. Dried it off a bit, tried to use the pump my ex-roommate gave me, and either it didn't work or there was operator trouble. Either way, little or no air was getting into the tire.

Then, I got my bike rack out, determined to remember how to put it on the car -- which took less than a minute. Last time I tried this, the day I moved from the last place, I couldn't figure it out for nuthin'.  Can you say stress and fatigue? It's really pretty simple. Took it down the road to a gas station, put air in the tires, but there was no gauge and I didn't want to blow one of them.  Drove home, bike now pretty dry, lubed the moving parts, took off for a test drive.

It felt so wonderful! I noticed that the rear tire was a touch low with weight on it, but thought it would be ok. Took off down the country roads that I love to ride, looked again and saw that it was significantly lower. Turned around and pedaled home fast, since I was too lazy to walk it home. Tried to use the pump again, just let out more air. Bummer!

So now, one of these days soon, I'll put the bike on the rack and take it to Paul's Bike Shop and have them take a look at it. Not sure why it should be leaking -- tires and tubes should be good and it hasn't been ridden in well over a year.  It's been stored in a dusty, but otherwise safe, carport, nothing that should make a tire go flat. But  -- the experts will fix it up and maybe they can answer another question or two while I'm there.

The big ride lasted all of 12 minutes, and while I'd like to have kept going, I'm thinking it was probably good that I didn't. The body already feels a bit stiff and sore here and there, so easing into it like this was a good thing.