05-04-16, 10:35 PM
Just a little ramble I posted on another forum, might stimulate a bit of conversation, or just kill a couple of minutes for you:
[color=rgb(24, 36, 48)](sorry, I'm bored, it's raining, and my bikes are clean and shiny in the shed). [/color]
[color=rgb(24, 36, 48)]Who gets more enjoyment out of their bike; those who keep it cosseted in the garage as long as there's so much as a little, fluffy white cloud in the corner of the sky; so polished, spotless and shiny that to look at it puts you at risk of burning out your retinas; or those that think, feck it, who cares about a bit of dirt, and get out on it come rain or shine until it gets so you can barely tell what the original colour of the paintwork is supposed to be, and people to start to say to you it looks good in the landscape, and you have a sneaking suspicion that's because half of the landscape is splurged all over it?
Ok, I ride less in the winter these days. I can make excuses about having done all the shit weather riding when I was younger, can afford a car now so no need to go through all that with the layers of gear etc. But it's all bullshit really. I don't ride much in the winter because I can't be bothered with all the cleaning of the bike I feel the need to do when it gets covered in road shit. Yes, I could clean it once before the onset of crap weather season (isn't that all year round in Britain? I hear the cynics shout - cheer up, for feck's sake!), then drown it in ACF and forget about it until the northern hemisphere nods towards the sun again, letting layer upon layer of grime build up like the deposited sediments of an ancient river bed.
The thing is, I do have a certain pride in the appearance of my bikes. And it's not even really connected with the idea of maintaining it's value. I don't care what it's worth when I get bored with it and want a change. I buy bikes for me to enjoy, not the next feckin sod who might want to sniff round it if it's got a price on it's head. If, when I do decide to sell, it's not worth much, then I'll scrape together some more cash to add to the proceeds for the next thing that takes my fancy.
But over the winter, I do seem to develop a bit of this over-protective mentality. I begin to treat bikes like they were some kind of rare artefact from a long-lost era that need to be preserved as close to their original state so that distant generations might benefit from the knowledge of "this is what once was." As the temperatures rise in the spring and I feel more like getting out on two wheels and exploring again, I have to break through this hibernation state, and accept that the bike will get dirty if I use it, and I may need to throw a bucket of water over it once in a while. And then you notice that enabled a bit of paint to catch the light once more, so you start to think, well, I'll just give the bodywork a quick polish.....but now, that looks a little odd when the rest is still a bit dull, so out comes the plastic cleaner or whatever else you use, until eventually, there's not a spot of dirt left anywhere on the bike, and it burns it's after-image on your eyeballs if you so much as glance at it.
And you think, I can't ride it now or it'll get dirty again, and all that work will have been for nothing! :eek :wall [/color]
[color=rgb(24, 36, 48)](sorry, I'm bored, it's raining, and my bikes are clean and shiny in the shed). [/color]
[color=rgb(24, 36, 48)]Who gets more enjoyment out of their bike; those who keep it cosseted in the garage as long as there's so much as a little, fluffy white cloud in the corner of the sky; so polished, spotless and shiny that to look at it puts you at risk of burning out your retinas; or those that think, feck it, who cares about a bit of dirt, and get out on it come rain or shine until it gets so you can barely tell what the original colour of the paintwork is supposed to be, and people to start to say to you it looks good in the landscape, and you have a sneaking suspicion that's because half of the landscape is splurged all over it?
Ok, I ride less in the winter these days. I can make excuses about having done all the shit weather riding when I was younger, can afford a car now so no need to go through all that with the layers of gear etc. But it's all bullshit really. I don't ride much in the winter because I can't be bothered with all the cleaning of the bike I feel the need to do when it gets covered in road shit. Yes, I could clean it once before the onset of crap weather season (isn't that all year round in Britain? I hear the cynics shout - cheer up, for feck's sake!), then drown it in ACF and forget about it until the northern hemisphere nods towards the sun again, letting layer upon layer of grime build up like the deposited sediments of an ancient river bed.
The thing is, I do have a certain pride in the appearance of my bikes. And it's not even really connected with the idea of maintaining it's value. I don't care what it's worth when I get bored with it and want a change. I buy bikes for me to enjoy, not the next feckin sod who might want to sniff round it if it's got a price on it's head. If, when I do decide to sell, it's not worth much, then I'll scrape together some more cash to add to the proceeds for the next thing that takes my fancy.
But over the winter, I do seem to develop a bit of this over-protective mentality. I begin to treat bikes like they were some kind of rare artefact from a long-lost era that need to be preserved as close to their original state so that distant generations might benefit from the knowledge of "this is what once was." As the temperatures rise in the spring and I feel more like getting out on two wheels and exploring again, I have to break through this hibernation state, and accept that the bike will get dirty if I use it, and I may need to throw a bucket of water over it once in a while. And then you notice that enabled a bit of paint to catch the light once more, so you start to think, well, I'll just give the bodywork a quick polish.....but now, that looks a little odd when the rest is still a bit dull, so out comes the plastic cleaner or whatever else you use, until eventually, there's not a spot of dirt left anywhere on the bike, and it burns it's after-image on your eyeballs if you so much as glance at it.
And you think, I can't ride it now or it'll get dirty again, and all that work will have been for nothing! :eek :wall [/color]