Running like a Well Oiled Machine Once More

I am not the most fastidious of bicycle owners. I buy my bikes used, and ride them roughly.

Dirty bicycle Chain ring from Mountain Bike World.com
Mine is a little better than this, it's a Shimano.

I most recently purchased a Trek 4500 on Craigslist, and while I have been happy with my bicycle's performance so far I must admit that it had gotten somewhat plaintive in its creaks and squeals of late.

I decided to do something about it, and obtained a lubricant. While in the past I have used all kinds of materials to lubricate my bicycle chains, from used automotive oil to graphite, this time I have opted to follow in the tire tracks of another cyclist out there and use WD40. After a thorough cleaning with soap and water and a heavy rinse with more water, I was looking at a gleaming chainring for the first time since I purchased this bicycle, and I was loving it.

From there, I coated each gear and sprocket in a light layer of WD40, and with a soft clean cloth applied a good deal to the chain as well, making sure to get in between each link and allow the WD40 to do it's penetrating lubricant magic.

Finally, I wiped off or allowed to drip away all of the excess WD40, and I was left with a nearly silent, clicking, wonderfully lubricated chain, compliant controls, and a smile on my face.

I can't wait until the weather is good enough for me to actually ride this bicycle again. Has anyone seen Indian Summer hiding around the corner?

Riding Into the Autumn Months

I don't think that I am alone in relishing the transition between the seasons. The change in color of the leaves, the altered weather patterns, the shortening of the days and lengthening of the nights, all of these are a feature of the essential progression of time that highlights living in the temperate parts of North America.

But specifically as a cyclist, I particularly enjoy pushing myself day by day, week by week, to continue to ride my bicycle to work. As the days shorten and the weather cools, my morning rides are getting progressively darker and cooler, and are more likely to feature mist, rain, and eventually snow.

While I usually throw in the towel when weather dips below 35 degrees Fahrenheit, I have been known to just bundle up and keep going, and over time I've collected a set of gear to extend this period of commuting further and further. Construction grade gloves, parka-style winter gear, multiple layers of pants and overbuilt boots are just a part of the overall kit that keeps me feeling toasty.

Knowing that I am keeping myself fit, saving myself fifty cents- a dollar for every mile compared to driving a car, or three dollars a day in bus fare, just by riding my bike is a nice bonus too. Best of all, I don't need a gym membership just to get my cardiovascular exercise in.

Snag a ride on Craigslist and save!

I was doing a bit of research and found a great ad on Craigslist for anyone in the Boston, Mass area.

Someone is cleaning out their basement and claims to be disposing of 2 bicycles as soon as possible.

The best part is, they are free!

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/zip/5070736362.html

This is actually not a craigslist bike.

I've had a lot of luck finding bicycles for close to or actually no money on Craigslist over the years, and it has saved me a lot of money in the long run.

Even if you have to spend 65 dollars on a tune up, you will still come out way ahead if your bicycle only cost 100 dollars in the first place, and there are a lot of deals where your bike might even be free.

Spinning my wheels: Selecting a bike trainer that's right for me

I'm considering getting a bike trainer to practice with on stormy days and nights.

I've looked into it a little bit, and there are a lot of different options to consider.

One could go for a magnetic trainer, with resistance provided by pure physical magnetism, or a liquid or air based trainer that provides resistance with fluid resistance, which increases with the speed at which one pedals.

Another option would be to get a set of rollers, and just go to town in my basement or garage riding at a ridiculous clip.

Finally, I could buy a used spinner or exercise cycle, which would probably be pretty cheap, but then I'd have to find a way to bring it home. I'd probably be able to snag one on Cragslist relatively easily.

Has anyone out there decided on a trainer?

Any suggestions?

Cycling in not-so-good weather conditions

If you live in the Northeast and you like to ride, every once in a while you end up stuck on the wrong side of your commute during rain, light snow, hail, or heavy winds. While some would say that this is a perfect opportunity to use some of the money that you've saved from not driving to call a cab or take the bus, I like to take a different approach.

Instead of immediately giving up on the idea of cycling, I assess the potential risks versus the potential benefits of taking my bike as I had planned versus relying on public or private transport.

So long as I am not jeapordizing my safety by riding in situations where there is poor visibility, unsuitable road conditions, or a high likelihood of being hit in the head with something heavy, I usually try to tough it out.

Today is a great example. I made it to my destination this morning without a hassle, but the forecast says rain.

I should be fine on the bike path to get back home, visibility is likely to be good and there is little traffic or heavy wind. If it looks like things are a little hairy, I have my cell phone and the cash for a cab, so I have little to worry about.

If the weatherman is incorrect and the predicted shower is a true deluge, I might just try to hitch a ride with someone back to my place. Safety comes first.

Remember why you ride your bike. I ride my bike for fun first and frugality second. If I'm not having fun, I don't ride.

A thought on frugally purchasing tubes and tires

I will be the first to admit that it can be daunting selecting which tires and tubes to put onto your bicycle. If you ask online there are a lot of "wise old men of the forums" that will tell you to buy Gator Skins or some other more expensive tire, and either go tubeless or buy special tubes.

I have also found the mentality that will tell you to buy the cheapo Chinese tires and tubes and just keep repairing them until they fall apart.

I am actually somewhere in the middle (and below) both camps. I actually have never purchased tires individually for a bicycle, but I have purchased wheels with tires installed,and I've bought a number of tubes and patch kits.

In my opinion, tubes will pop and tires will get nails and screws in them. That is just the way of things. If you choose to go tubeless, you could still run over some broken glass or nails, or just come down too hard after a bump or pothole, burp a few PSI out of your tire and leave yourself running flat.

I recommend just holding onto your tires, whatever ones are on your bike, until you can't manage to keep riding them due to poor traction, and then replace them with whatever your local shop has in stock to fit your bike. As for tubes, they are very cheap, so I just keep an extra one on hand (duct taped to the top tube) and a pump strapped to my bike in case I need to replace on on the road or the trail. While I have run into this necessity before, I am usually able to walk to an air machine at a gas station and use my emergency cash stash in my seat bag to fill the replacement tube.

As for the cost, as I said I've never had to purchase tires, but I have bought well over 10 replacement tubes. My local shops sell replacement tubes for my wheel size for 2 or 3 dollars, and I normally buy 3 at a time.

Night Riding is Tons of Fun, but comes with a particular set of risks

If the frequent cars and high speeds of daylight driving have you turned off of the idea of cycling, trying night riding is a viable alternative, but there are a number of risks and benefits that you should take into account.

The Good:

Riding at night often comes with many fewer cars on the road, which means you have fewer vehicles to deal with. Depending on the road conditions in your area, these cars could be going faster or slower than they would in the day, and it's definitely worth looking into ahead of the ride.

Cooler temperatures are usually prevalent in the night time, and that can be a real life saver, especially if you live in an area where it is normally very hot during the day. Night riding can make cycling tolerable.

The Bad:

Visibility is decreased at night, and while this can be compensated for to a certain degree by lights on your bicycle, body, and clothing, you might still blend in with the dark, especially if your bicycle or gear doesn't have any reflective material.

Obstacles are common when riding at night. Many cars park in bicycle lanes, regardless of prevailing laws in the area, and there are also frequently disposal containers, construction projects, and in some cases animals all over the road.

Time constraints can be a limiting factor for many cyclists. This might be dependent on your length of commute, but I had a 90 minute commute at one point in time. If you can't really manage to leave home at 5 AM to get to your office by 6:30 AM and leave the office park area at 6:30 PM to get back home by 8 PM, it might not be feasible. I could make it work as a single guy with no dependents, but if I had children, responsibilities, or other commitments I might not be able to swing it.

Regardless of why you want to ride at night, there are a lot of things that you need to take into account for your safety. The most important of those are lighting and protective clothing.

Most states in the US require a strong white light in the front of the bicycle, and a flashing red light in the back of the bicycle.

In addition to that it is wise to add additional lights to your clothing, luggage, and bike in relevant positions, like along your helmet, on the edges of your handlebars, and attached to your backpack and panniers.

Spring Cleaning your Bike

I think that there are a lot of cyclists and casual riders that let their bicycles sit in the garage or, god forbid, out in the snow over the winter. It's a big challenge that can seem overwhelming to clean out and prepare your bike for a ride in the spring, and there are a lot of things to think about.

That being said, it's quite possible to spring clean your bike all by yourself, with only household tools and some elbow grease.

You'll likely need a few different things, I usually gather together a good plastic brush, some detergent, a few rags, and a clean container of water. I start out by trying to run the chain through the gears, and if the chain doesn't bind on any of the links there is no need to replace it. After running the chain through, clean it up by running the chain through a soapy rag. Scrub the gears and the sprockets with the brush and make sure to wash and rinse with soap and water.

Finally, you should rinse through the chain and the gears, and run the chain until it and the gears dry up.

Once the drivetrain is clean, you can hose down the rest of the bike and give it a quick wipe with a clean rag.

After your bike is all clean, you need to decide how you want to lubricate the chain and gears. I use used motor oil as lubricant, because I have a surplus and it's essentially free since I have a car. Other options include gear oil, graphite, WD-40, and petroleum jelly. It really doesn't matter what you use to lubricate so long as you clean regularly and lubricate regularly.

Back on the Trail

I made it back to my local bike trails this weekend.

It felt nice finally getting my tires dirty, but it felt nicer getting back to my apartment and cleaning up in the hot water. I got really cold while I was out, probably because I wasn't fully insulated against the wind and moisture.

Hopefully next time I head out for a ride of any distance I'll be in warmer weather, or warmer clothes.

Crowdfunding for Cyclists?

I've been a cyclist for recreation and commuting for several years now (time flies when you're having fun) but I've never really heard of collecting money in order to fund your travels, rather than earning money through temporary labor or a steady job and funding trips during your free time.

I recently stumbled upon an online community of travelers that doesn't share my preconcieved notions of paying your own way through the world, and instead travels on donations from charitable others. This site, fundmytravel.com, allows average and exceptional people alike to create donation pages and solicit gifts from donors to pay for their journeys. These can range from the modest request of a college student attempting to fund a journey abroad, to people looking to pay for a bucket list-style trip of a lifetime.

In any case, it really leaves one wondering whether or not it's possible to jump on that train, and pay for the ticket with donations.

A New Cyclist asks for Advice

While browsing the web, I came across a nascent cyclist that was really more of a runner, asking a question to the cycling subreddit about an upcoming ride. Here is a transcript of the post, and the discussion that followed:

Original Post by user oliverjudge:

Dealing with long ride as a novice cyclist

I'm in an odd situation where I'll be joining some experienced cyclists on a long ride on Saturday (60km). It was supposed to be a nice small ride but got blown way out of proportion.
So here' my question. It is a flat route, I'm going to try and get out on a bike on Friday to make sure I'm still okay on one, but I'll have no idea about endurance. I'm fit (I run).
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any tips or am I just going end up as a blob on the floor after 2 miles?

A brief listing of the comments will follow:

•  I would come up with an exit strategy.
•  I'm just piggybacking off the top comment, but don't go out planning on doing the entire ride. It's nice that people are being supportive by saying things like "wear padded shorts" and "eat enough" and "suck a wheel," because I'm sure as a non-rider, you have no idea what that means. The amount of time on a bike is what will kill you. Even if you have massive legs and great cardio, you won't average 30km/hr as a beginner...so we're figuring at least 2 hours on a bike. It's not the fitness/exercise that will get you, it's that being on a bike for long periods is painful. Even on carbon fiber custom fit bike, it starts to be painful after long periods. You develop hot spots on your feet from pedaling. Your hands fall asleep. Your elbows and core get tired. Your neck starts to hurt from the weight of your head/helmet. This isn't even considering how much an unconditioned ass will hurt spending that much time in a random saddle. It's just not a good idea. If you're interested in starting to ride, grab a friend or two who will tolerate going on short, slow rides with you until your body gets used to riding.
•  Poop your pants. It's the only way e: Trust me.
•  Exit strategy: forewarn them about an injury you have been rehabbing from and that if for some reason it acts up, you will drop back and ride home. Tell them not to worry about it and that you'll "catch up with one of you guys later on" 
• Either that or nut butter.
•  Ditto! THEY will be just as thankful for your exit strategy as YOU will! There will be no fooling experienced riders, but they will not be very happy if you bog down their pace (whatever that is!).
• Flat route, experienced cyclists.. sounds like it will turn into a hammerfest. I would go in with the disclaimer that youre only going to do a third of the ride 20km that way you can drop out without hurting yourself or bothering the group. That way you can still go but not damage yourself trying to keep up.
•  If by "novice cyclist" you mean "completely inexperienced" which is what it sounds like, then I agree with /u/oftie on finding a way out of the ride. It will ruin you. You need to work up to something like that, because cycling is a very particular activity in the stresses it places on your body. It isn't just a matter of cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance in your major leg muscles. If you don't ride regularly, going out for several hours will leave your neck, hands/wrists/arms/shoulders, lower back, legs (particularly the small movers), and sit bones absolutely fried. If you were just trying to make it 60km on your own, you could probably do it, but you'd still be pretty messed up for a couple of days. At the likely pace your friends will be going, it's doubtful you'll be able to keep up and finish the ride, and you'll be a hurting blob. Edit: Apologies if this came off harsh, just trying to be honest about what you're likely to experience.
• Every hard ride since I started 3 months ago, on the 2nd day after I ride I'm ALWAYS sore up and down my thighs. To where I burn walking up the stairs. I'm not even that out of shape, I've been riding 30-50mi per ride. But when I push it on climbs to place top 10 on strava I flood my thighs with Lactic Acid and I need to stop doing that. It puts me out a couple days after! Good stuff though.
•  Regular muscle pain should be expected, but shouldn't disuade someone from doing a relatively short and easy ride. Flat, 40 miles, and in a group that can pull him? Should be no problem for someone in good shape even if they aren't a very experienced cyclist. Yeah, he might hurt the next day, but that's kind of an expected side effect of exercise. I'd say it depends on the pace his buddies set. If they're trying to do a 25mph+ paceline then OP is going to get smoked. If it's a social ride knowing full well they have a rather inexperienced member then it shouldn't be a problem.
• Agreed. I've gone on several rides with very serious riders, and I'm always one of the slowest. However, go in letting them know you're inexperienced, and you may be surprised how much help you may get.

• Since you say you are fit and run regularly and the ride is flat, that should take most of the cardio issues out of the equation. It's usually hills that take novices out. However, you'd be surprised, biking and running use very different muscles. So your legs will feel it a helluva lot more than normal during and after the ride. So make sure you're fitted to your bike to reduce knee pain for example. Stuff like this doesn't show up in shorter rides. Then you take a long one and your knee feels wrecked, especially if you ride "clipless" where your shoe has a cleat that locks into the pedal (I know weird that clipless means you have a cleat that clicks and locks in). Also what are you riding? An MTB or racing style bike? If on a racing style, honestly, it'll be easier than you think in terms of cardio. They are so damn efficient. A couple things I would suggest are that you start toughening up that choda right now, and/or get some shorts with some padding. That will be your #1 issue on your first long ride in a long time. No matter how in shape you are, this takes out a lot of novices on their first long ride. A seat that feels good after 15 minutes of riding can be devastating after 3 hours in the saddle which 60km could take roughly depending on the bikes (MTB vs racing) and fitness how often you guys stop, etc. The same goes for your wrists and the pads of your palms on the handle bars. Again something that feels fine for 15 min rides can feel like your wrist is about to break after 3 hours. Heck a hear a lot of complaints even about neck pain from being in that tucked position for so long and having your neck cranked upward. If you don't ride clipless you'd be surprised at how much it helps you as a ride. When I start getting tired and beat up, I like that I'm locked in, so my sloppy legs don't come off the pedals and I'm just using the big muscles, and not the little stabilizing ones that keep your foot on the pedal. But if you've never ridden with clipless before, it might be a stretch to get comfortable with them in time. Doable, but a stretch. Lastly, your lower back, upper glutes will likely get sore/strained from the tucked position, especially if you do a lot of seated hill climbing, or in a racing bike in a tucked position. Most people that don't ride regularly don't have the flexibility in their lower back and upper glutes to do this without soreness. So I'm assuming you guys are gonna make at least 1 stop at some point. Take that time to stretch out your lower back. Otherwise, just take an extra break or two and you'll be fine. Maybe take pain killer and anti-inflammatory pre-ride? That helps with soreness and swelling as well. I know people that do a caffeine/ephedrine stack, as a pain killer anti-inflammatory pre-ride routine.

New Neighborhood

I'm in a new part of town now, and I'm trying to get used to the neighborhood.
I'm taking my bike out for a ride through in an hour or so, so that I can get really familiar with the streets and the ways around. If it works out, I'll hopefully be able to get around more easily on two wheels in this neighborhood, and if it doesn't then I'll be in command of a better understanding of the area.

Maybe tomorrow I'll go looking for a grocery store. I know where the community center is from here, and how to get to work, but it will require some getting used to before I'm comfortable here.

This post was originally posted on Bubblews.com at the following address: http://www.bubblews.com/news/9766549-new-neighborhood