Complete and utter newbie

[Grandma]

After a couple of weeks of inane grinning and a couple of hundred miles of (mostly successful) riding, it has occurred to me that other than reading the manual, I know nowt about bike maintenance. I'd be happy to pay for a course or someone around the general Oxford/Oxfordshire area that might be able to give me a few pointers. For example, someone's suggested my chain looks a bit slack and I'm not confident enough to tackle it myself just yet for fear of messing it up big time.  Once I've seen that kind of thing done I'll be happy, just need a nudge in the right direction. Think I've got my nod sorted now but that won't help much if my brakes are shagged. Long may this weather last! un

Apparently there is a manual on this site you can download, may help with chain adjustment etc. 8)