Saturday, August 01, 2026

House Cleaning

After The Ride For Jacob I realized I had better get to sprucing up my gravel bikes. I hadn't as much laid a hand to the pink BMC since I came back from BRAN in June and the Ride For Jacob was duuuusty! So, the metric century left a lot of residue on the ol' Peregrine Mk4. 

On the one hand, it is good to have this problem. It means I actually had rides and miles on gravel. This is good! So far this year has been better in this regard. Although local riding has suffered a bit with the heat lately. 

But there is the other side. I clean bikes all the time at the Collective. I really don't want to clean bikes when I get home. However; those two bikes in particular were filthy. It was time. 

Plus, as mentioned yesterday in the FN&V, I have new stuff to test on the chains and I may as well clean up everything while I am cleaning the chains, cassettes, and cranks. I knew I would be happy about it afterward, and I was. 

It is just that it is really tedious work. 

The Dirty XLBird

I have the BMC cleaned up now and the XLBird is getting done as well. Then I will just go out and get them all dirty again. It's kind of like making a bed. You're just going to sleep in it again this evening, so why make it all pretty in the morning? 

That is certainly one way to look at things, but I also understand there are intangibles at play. You often can give yourself a sense of worth and well-being by cleaning up yourself and your surroundings. A neatly made bed gives you a sense of order and calm which is valuable. So this is why you should clean your bicycle. It makes you feel better. 

Really. 

But yeah, it can feel like an endless task if you ride a lot!