On getting ready for the biking season

This winter has been particularly mild. There is scarcely any snow in evidence. I am questioning whether it was perhaps foolish of me to get a bus pass for March. Anyway, with spring well on the way, I have begun to get ready for the biking season.

Ironically, I started with some less urgent bit of biking business. You may recall that I had a problem with a bit of wire in Leonardo's back tire in Australia. Well, I had never gotten around to taking Leonardo out of his shipping box, let alone dealing with the wire. Consequently, it was only this morning that I opened the box. There doesn't seem to be any damage (thankfully) from Regional Express or Air Canada's treatment of it. I took the tire off the rim, and went to Cycle Technique, the bike store where I had bought it. After some careful examination and a lot of effort, one of the people there was able to extract the tiny piece of wire that was causing the problem.

I returned home where I put the tire back on the wheel. I got Floria out and started to give her a bit of TLC get her ready for regular commuting. After getting the tires up to normal pressure, I noticed her chain was a bit rusty. For some reason, I couldn't find any chain oil to hand. So, I had to go back to the bike store get some. Floria now stands ready in my hallway with a freshly cleaned and oiled chain.

Addendum

As I was assembling my biking gear, I was frustrated by not being able to find the seat cover (A couple of people have described it as a "bike condom") for Floria. (A couple of people have described it as a "bike condom".) I'd given it up to File 13 and made plans to go to MEC for a replacement when I pulled my soft-shell jacket from its winter quarters. I was amused and relieved to find the cover in one of the pockets. I was less happy to find an old cereal bar wrapper as well!

One weird thing I noticed on Floria was that certain parts of her red paint job had faded whereas others hadn't. I can only assume that she has been inconsistently exposed to the UV light coming from the window. I should make a point of putting a cover over her next winter. I am curious to know if there is a well-defined line from the inner tube covering. However, I don't want to bother re-wrapping the bike.