I got to thinking .... (?????) After being attacked by a couple of
[censored]; Chuck Anderson and Mike Kruger.
If I remember it right, this fancy ass cyclist is out on the Minuteman Trail
near Boston. He comes along a lady who is in some form of distress. Her
chain has fallen off, or jammed or something. She asks for help, and as Mr
Fancy is fixing her bicycle she gets on her telly and calls people to tell
of her misfortune. Mr Fancy is all upset. He had to stop. She isn't
helpfull with fixing her bicycle, he fixed it and then she doesn't thank
him.
A quote from Mr Fancy;
"Now, I do not like getting bike chain grease on my hands. It is filthy.
It is vile. It sticks to things. I *especially* do not like getting
it on my hands on behalf of a grown adult whom I don't know, and who
should be able to do it for herself. And whom I already didn't much
care for".
As you can see, Mr Fancy is a "clean" cyclist.
If he was tooling through the woods all covered in dirt, sweat, mud, on a
ten year old mtn bike ........ well, this is for another day.
Anyway, Mr Fancy ( aka -- Mr Clean ) is upset. He fixes the bicycle, gets
grease on his delicate hands. Miss Bicycle Ditch With A Telly is off, Mr
Fancy is upset.
This has happened to me many times. I have changed flats, fixed chains,
adjusted seats, .. once I helped a lady at an airport put her bicycle
together so she could start a tour. We toured together for a couple of
days. Fast friends to this day.
The answer; The solution. Or, ...... why didn't I think of this earlier.
Yesterday I am in an auto repair place picking up some oil for my 10 year
old truck. There it is, a display. The cleaning supplies area.
Wet Wipes! They come in different sizes, are individually packaged. Throw
a few in the bicycle bag. It doesn't take up any room at all. These things
cut the grease, clean the hands, and you can even clean your bicycle with
them. Be sure to rinse.
Some are real big. Like a towel.
If Mr Fancy had been carrying Wet Wipes, as I will for now on, he would not
be complaining quite so much.
When you do a good deed, even if the recipient is a telly talking Ditch
Crashing Yuppy, you should not be looking for thanks, you should thank
yourself that you have the upbringing an intelligence to fix a bicycle, and
then ride on.
Wet Wipes.
Get em before the rush.
TomCAt ................. a fellow cyclist.