Squeaky Bike

Yesterday I went for a ride in the sun with my very squeaky bike. It's second least squeaky gear was 3-5 (4th hardest) so that was what I rode in. The least squeaky gear was a climbing gear so that wouldn't have worked. I rode merrily down the Springwater listening to techno music with lots of high pitched squealing sounds in it and pedaling rhythmically to the beat so I blended right in. People were looking at me because my bike was so loud, but what could I do? It was a beautiful day and I wanted to ride.

I had a client yesterday afternoon at 5, but had mistakenly thought it was a 5:30 since my appointments usually start on the 1/2 hour. So, while deciding how long to ride out I thought I'd just try to be home by 4:45 so I had 15 minutes to shower, 15 minutes to ice, and 15 minutes to walk Dexter. I'm glad I didn't realize my mistake until I was about 45 minutes from home because the extra time I got in riding was past farms with horses, sheep, baby lambs and goats. There were ducks swimming in the stream and Canadian geese flying overhead. It was a lovely 39 mile ride and my client didn't seem to mind when she walked in and I had ice packs on both knees and wrapped around my back. I have the best clients.

After work, I got showered and dressed in a fabulous outfit that I wish I had a pic of. White jeans, shiny purple blouse, my antiqued copper CAbi collector's coat, and high heel brown boots. I carefully mounted my very dirty bike and rode to Fred Meyer for some milk. And, this is what I learned. First, I will cycle in anything, even white jeans. Second, high heels work far better for cycling than for walking.

Today, I called Bike N Hike, my favorite bike shop, and they had some suggestions for my squeak. So, I cleaned my derailleur, lubed the little sprockets the run just below the derailleur and voila! the squeaking is gone. Then, I cleaned my bike from top to bottom because a well-dressed cyclist really deserves a clean bike and took it for a little spin around the neighborhood.