A Clean Bike is a Happy Bike

Scouter and I went to a bike cleaning and maintenance clinic tonight. It was held through Richmond Triathlon Club at 3Sports, and it was excellent. I had no idea I should be cleaning my bike every week. (DUH!) It was filthy and even though I cleaned it tonight, it could use more elbow grease. I'm planning to do the whole thing again on Saturday for the practice.

I'm going to write some notes as a reminder to myself and to pass along the information to several TriGirls who asked. We first wiped down the frame using Simply Green. Next, we used an alcohol based cleaner to wipe down the wheels - the silver didn't look dirty but boy was it. Then we popped off the rear tire to clean the whatchamacallit - the silver gear thing. (I'm so good at this stuff, aren't I? Such the knowledgeable one.) Mine was actually black instead of silver to start. Then the front chain ring. Then the chain. My chain was nasty! Lots of accumulated road gunk. I'm pretty sure that's the technical term that Andrew used. Then we lubed the chain. One good tip - the lubricant needs to be in the chain, not on it where it will attract more dirt and goop. So after applying the lubricant, we spun the wheels a few times to get the lube into the chain, then wiped the outside of the chain clean.

My bike is so shiny and happy! And as a bonus, I got to see TriGirl Renae which is always a pleasure.