10 December 2007
Keep your hands clean
Posted by todd under: Maintenance tips .
Even a meticulously maintained bike (and let’s face it, many of us don’t own one of those!) will have some trouble once in awhile — maybe the chain slips off. Maybe a nail punctures a tire.
At that point, it’s time to get your hands dirty … except, if you’re riding to work, streaks of grease across your hands will cost you time at the sink when you arrive, and the grime might wind up on your shirt or pants.
Here’s a quick fix: Pick up some surgical gloves and store them with your patch kit and spare tube. (The gloves cost $9 a hundred here, chances are good that a medical-supply store, paint store or drugstore near you sells them, or maybe your doctor would give you handful at your next checkup.) Put the gloves on, do the job, peel the gloves off, and you’re on your way. Here’s how you can remove them without getting the dirt on the gloves on yourself.
In fact, I almost ALWAYS wear one (while riding a bike anyway). (On the other hand, if YOU don't want to wear a helmet, I have no problem with it.) I don't remember what happened on this particular day. Fortunately for all of us it makes for a less-nerdly picture. My exceptionally talented professional photographer friend Charles Bertram took this photo.
I asked my 6-year-old son, Caleb, an avid bicyclist and artist, to draw a bike for me. I think he did a great job!
