Sunday, April 17, 2011

Noise

Pedaling home from Friday night’s memorial ride on my trusty, but battered, commuter, a guy followed me briefly after a traffic light, and I almost apologized for the loud clicks coming from my pedal/crank area. Shit, that was annoying. Why do I always forget that the big disadvantage of switching from studs to slicks every spring is that I can suddenly hear all the neglected bike parts?

After squeezing a bunch of grease through the pedal axles, and pulling off the cranks to lube the contact points, I’m hoping Monday’s commute will be quiet. I’ve always believed that a noisy bike indicates a poor upbringing. I may not know which fork to use at a nice restaurant, but I’ll be damned if my chain’s gonna squeak.


Speaking of noise, we’re entering the noise-making season again. My friend Randy took this shot of a black bear with three spring cubs on Rover’s Run three days ago. If you’re managing to get out in the woods during the sloppy spring thaw, remember you’re not alone.


Seagulls and Canada geese have returned, and now the bears are waking up. That can mean only one thing.


Mosquitoes are next.

3 comments:

rorowe said...

Wow! I was trying to blog about my recent "noises", most notably, the creaking from a few loose spokes after truing a wheel back into shape after an minor accident.
You summed it up perfectly, even though, the sounds usually drive the owner nuts more than it bothers other cyclists.

The Old Bag said...

Agreed. The car? Looks like crap. The bicycle has to be decent condition.

Jennoit said...

Four?! In one tree? Impressive.