Bicycle Commuting Now

A difference between a car and a bicycle is that there are no hiding places on a bike. I, as many others, have been guilty when driving a car, of hearing a strange noise, or noticing a strange feeling, and ignoring it as much as possible, possibly until it is too late. Well, that is a little harder to do with a bicycle. I mean, you could ignore things if you really wanted, but you are directly and constantly reminded of them if you do. There is no hood or body for problems to hide under and no radio to drown out the strange noises.

The bicycle is naked to you all the time, when you are riding down the street you had better hope that the wobble isn't an issue, or you may end up on the road yourself, and the result seems so much more possibly immediate and threatening. My bottom bracket is shot it seems, as the metallic noises when I pedal in high gear are ever present these days. It is not I believe a major issue for my safety, but it will need addressed this winter, so as to ensure the long-term maintenance of my bike. And I can see the wobble in my chain as it rolls around the gears every time I pedal, there is no not seeing that every day. It needs a good cleaning and possibly link replacements, or replaced as it also is skipping gears these days, perhaps getting a little loose or elongated. I got some work to deal with ahead.

Saturdays garden project involves cleaning up the beds. The frost is almost a certainty tomorrow night with predictions down to 24 degrees. A few tomato plants in any case have started developed a fungus so I need to clean things up. Salvage the remaining peppers and clinatro and green tomatoes, and probably rake in some of the leaf litter that has been accumulating. I think I will save some and dry them to add to the paper making Sue and I are undertaking as we make my brother Michael's and his fiancee Bobbi Jo's wedding invitations, we'll see how the leaf addition works as I haven't tried it before.