weather-induced, city-wide critical mass



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Tom Keats

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It's been raining steady here, since last Tuesday afternoon (when I deigned to try to mow the back
lawn). Today, the rain finally stopped.

In the meantime, I've been working on that filthy foundling hybrid I obtained. Overhauled every
bearing --- even in the cheap-o rubber pedals. Nothing better to do (except tune-up the main bike,
which I've been putting off for a little too long.)

I've been riding around on parts runs today. Wow, the cyclists abound everywhere! The sun finally
shines, and it's like the cork's been pulled of a shaken-up champagne bottle.

I don't fear riding in the rain. But when it rains *forever*, the constant post-ride bike
maintenance gets to be a total drag.

Y'know that sigh one gives while settling into a well-deserved, hot bath?

Aaahhhhhhhh.

I premonitorily hear riders all over town giving that sigh.

The weather might even give me half a fair chance of finishing the lawn-mowing job. But I think I'd
rather ride around a bit.

Aaahhhhhhh .... vitamin D .....

Cheerz, Tom

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Tom Keats wrote:

> It's been raining steady here, since last Tuesday afternoon (when I deigned to try to mow the back
> lawn). Today, the rain finally stopped.
>
> In the meantime, I've been working on that filthy foundling hybrid I obtained. Overhauled every
> bearing --- even in the cheap-o rubber pedals. Nothing better to do (except tune-up the main bike,
> which I've been putting off for a little too long.)
>
> I've been riding around on parts runs today. Wow, the cyclists abound everywhere! The sun finally
> shines, and it's like the cork's been pulled of a shaken-up champagne bottle.
>
> I don't fear riding in the rain. But when it rains *forever*, the constant post-ride bike
> maintenance gets to be a total drag.
>
> Y'know that sigh one gives while settling into a well-deserved, hot bath?
>
> Aaahhhhhhhh.
>
> I premonitorily hear riders all over town giving that sigh.
>
> The weather might even give me half a fair chance of finishing the lawn-mowing job. But I think
> I'd rather ride around a bit.
>
> Aaahhhhhhh .... vitamin D .....
>
> Cheerz, Tom
>
> --
> -- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
> [point] bc [point] ca

Cheers Tom, It was a blessing to go from full rain gear to shorts & sleeveless tee shirt! Been
thinking about your foundling gunky bike. Have you tried Commercial ZEP? A citrus cleaner. Don't
know how friendly it is to our web footed friends, but it cuts heavy grease very well. Even cleans
my chain while still on the bike. Best regards, Bernie
 
>I don't fear riding in the rain. But when it rains *forever*, the constant post-ride bike
>maintenance gets to be a total drag.

One of the pluses of a fixed gear: Less stuff to maintain.

Chris Neary [email protected]

"Science, freedom, beauty, adventure: what more could you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the
elements I loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh
 
>Don't know how friendly it is to our web footed friends, but it cuts heavy grease very well.

A lot friendlier than kerosene or a shotgun, is my guess.

I live in a small apartment in a big city, so I have an interest in what approaches are best for
bicycle maintenance and cleaning in the context of not creating toxic spills and so forth.

The way I see it is that you are basically dealing with petroleum products in the form of greases
and oils, the best you can do is to minimize the effluent.

Citrus degreasers are by far the best, IMHO. You've still got the attendant problems of the lube
itself, the old version of which is going to get into the environment regardless. No need to
compound this with a petroleum based solvent.

It's a tradeoff. What irritates me is that people who advocate bikes as being a Green Solution never
apparently saw how nasty that green solution can be after a good parts cleaning.

Better to take that nasty juice elsewhere, the real problem is where exactly elsewhere is. Me, I
just dump it down the drain and hope it ain't toxic enough to create a generation of
three-legged frogs.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>[email protected]__________
 
In article <[email protected]>, Bernie <[email protected]> writes:

> Cheers Tom, It was a blessing to go from full rain gear to shorts & sleeveless tee shirt! Been
> thinking about your foundling gunky bike. Have you tried Commercial ZEP? A citrus cleaner. Don't
> know how friendly it is to our web footed friends, but it cuts heavy grease very well. Even cleans
> my chain while still on the bike. Best regards, Bernie

I just gave it a good going-over with detergenty hot water and good, ol' elbow grease. I found some
rubber dishwashing gloves lying around, and put them to good use. Other than the grime and want of a
few parts (which has now been seen-to), the bike's not in too bad shape.

Today I wore shorts & short-sleeve jersey for the first time this year. It felt great! Well, it did
chill down a bit after 6:30 PM. On the TV news tonight, they said we've only had 78 hours of
sunshine so far this month. They also said Calgary is getting a big dump of snow. What a dirty
trick! My condolences, Calgary. Maybe we can console ourselves if all this precip now, means a
not-too-rainy summer later.

I took a notion to ride out to Spanish Banks, today. Apparently, so did everybody else. It was good
to see so many people out enjoying the precious sunshine.

cheers, Tom

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In article <[email protected]>,
Chris Neary <[email protected]> writes:
>>I don't fear riding in the rain. But when it rains *forever*, the constant post-ride bike
>>maintenance gets to be a total drag.
>
> One of the pluses of a fixed gear: Less stuff to maintain.

Hey .... unicycle <g>

Actually, I've been thinking off-&-on about rigging up a fixie.

cheers, Tom

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In article <[email protected]>, "Eric S. Sande" <[email protected]> writes:
>>Don't know how friendly it is to our web footed friends, but it cuts heavy grease very well.
>
> A lot friendlier than kerosene or a shotgun, is my guess.

I don't think kerosene is as bad as it might seem. After all, it doesn't get lit (for bike-cleaning
purposes), it's eminently reusable, apparently doesn't burn your eyeballs out as bad as citrus
degreaser if you get any droplets splashed in there, and very little of it needs to go into
drainage. That which does, such as from washing it off one's hands, is deal-with-able. Except in
places that dump raw sewage into the ecosystem (shame on Victoria BC for that). That said, coal oil
(kerosene) isn't exactly aqua vitae, either.

Note-in-passing: we have to pay an environmental "tax" when we purchase kerosene here.

cheers, Tom

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>That said, coal oil (kerosene) isn't exactly aqua vitae, either.

Points in favor of citrus degreaser:

1) No fire hazard.

2) Water soluble.

3) Reusable and filterable.

4) No major odor issues.

5) Cheap and available.

6) Small environmental impact.

7) Plastic neutral in most cases.

Points in favor of kerosene:

8) Highly flammable.

9) Water insoluable.

10) Reusabale and filterable, indisposable except by arrangement.

11) Smells like a jet airplane.

12) Cheap but you can't get it around here.

13) Kills any living thing it touches.

14) You have to use glass or metal containers.

:)

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>[email protected]__________
 
Tom Keats wrote:

>
> Today I wore shorts & short-sleeve jersey for the first time this year. It felt great! Well, it
> did chill down a bit after 6:30 PM. On the TV news tonight, they said we've only had 78 hours of
> sunshine so far this month. They also said Calgary is getting a big dump of snow. What a dirty
> trick! My condolences, Calgary. Maybe we can console ourselves if all this precip now, means a
> not-too-rainy summer later.
>
> I took a notion to ride out to Spanish Banks, today. Apparently, so did everybody else. It was
> good to see so many people out enjoying the precious sunshine.
>
> cheers, Tom
>

It was that kind of day. Went to the Police Auction Sat a.m. Looking for something light and fast
for dry Sunday rides... Prices were high and almost all were mountain bikes of some sort. Oh well,
it was a good day to put lots of km's on, which I did. Best regards, Bernie
 
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