Autumn is Coming

Thanks to a lot of media induced misinformation, many folks miss the point of this time of year.  It is not Autumn yet.  Autumn begins on 21 September.  We have now moved into late Summer.  That said, it is most certainly possible to feel the advance of the seasons.  I have actually done several early morning rides in arm warmers.  We had us one blister-hot mid-Summer.  It’s noticeably cooler now.  The days are noticeably shorter too.  It is time to prepare for Autumn and for the Winter that is surely coming.  With that, I should like to announce the kickoff of the Maintenance and Project Season.

Late Summer and early Autumn is a good time to catch up.  The Summer vacation insanity is mostly over.  The Back to School Hubub has settled down.  The Holidays are still off beyond the horizon, not yet looming large.  This is a time of year to do a lot of things so that Winter will not catch us off guard and unprepared.  It’s a good time for fairly serious maintenance of bikes and equipment.  It’s an auspicious interval for seasonal projects.  And if done right, one will line up some serious indoor work to be done later, in January and February, when it is very dark and cold out.  Here are a few suggestions from my own list.

Projects:

• Give the home shop a good cleaning and organizing.
• Find the trainer and all related indoor spinning gear ~ clean, lube, prep
• Inventory Fall and Winter Gear, inspect for wear, begin to replace what is worn or non-functional.
• Evaluate maintenance needs for all bikes and schedule work
• Build up the “Winter Bike.”

Maintenance (Each bike gets the following, as needed):

• Tune up, including adjusting brakes, shifting, truing wheels, adjusting bearings, clean, lube chain, proper inflation and inspection of tires.
• Test all lighting systems.  Schedule battery replacement where necessary.
• Schedule heavier maintenance on bikes that need it.

Longer Term:

• Schedule that big “Winter Bike Building Project”
• Start getting the Winter clothing out and ready.
• Plan shop upgrades and equipment maintenance.