Do you wash your bike? Like to wash your bike? Consider riding in the rain the better substitute?
I’m pretty lax on the whole bike wash drill. I admit it. I used to spend more toothbrush time on the bottom bracket of my Moots than my upper bridge. Honest. It happens. But not so much so now. More miles. Less cleaning. Eventually I do break down, put a soiled rig in the Park repair stand, whip out Simple Green and get busy. Pssst. A few secrets. Don’t tell my wife, but I typically sacrifice an aging white bath towel or a thick absorbent wash cloth. Short of locating one of those wonderful washing tools, a rarely worn T-Shirt will do. Old 10K race variety. Gap pocket special. Hanes V-neck in the bottom of the drawer. Whatever. I’ve gone with adidas tennis socks for the serious cassette cleansing. Whatever it takes.
Washing your beloved bike is better than washing a beloved car. Fact of life. Let’s not argue. Easier. Smaller surface area. More intimate. You can spot the smallest chip, scratch or imperfection that produces tears and pride. Tears that the sweetest bike on the planet has been violated, and pride that you earned it with all the miles racked up this year. If you’re lucky, you remember the exact moment each scar was suffered. The run-over wood scrap. The richocheting bent nail. The unidentified flying object. It’s really not the end of the world. Why?
Washing your bike brings you closer to what it represents: You. A bike without a rider is only a lifeless machine. Powerless and static. A bike with you pedaling it is a thing a beauty. Under power, it moves wonderfully unlike anything else ever invented. That’s why “washing machine” is the latest crave. I was one tonight. Photos courtesy of my iPhone.
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That is not bike crave, that is bike Lust, don’t tell Nemo… whoops, I think she spotted me drooling over the moots from her spot in the kitchen. A pro team mechanic for Webcor Builders told me he has learned to avoid simple green as it eats into seals. He certainly kept the girl’s bikes running like tops, so I take his word for it. Being that you are experienced, I guess you can make up your own mind about that, but seeing that you own such a jewell, I would use something less agressive like simple dish washing liquid and warm water. That reminds me, Nemo is really needing attention, but I wanted to wait until she gets her new wheels to get her all dolled up. Thanks for the Crave.