Taking Care of my Mule...

One of the things I do every morning is do a once over on my bike...

Checking and airing up the tires, cleaning and oiling the chain and doing a "rattle check" for loose hardware. 

About every 3rd or 4th day, I do a thorough top to bottom cleaning, service and check.  It usually takes me at least 20 - 30 minutes. 

First, I get everything laid out. This is some of the "extra" weight I'm carrying that some other "travel light" cycling tourists may not have on them. I consider this ritual and the tools and materials it requires to be essential to my tour success. 

Second, I wipe the bike down with a rag with a little bit of WD-40 sprayed on it. I carry a small 2 oz can for this. 

Next, I clean the chain and cassette by taking a thin piece of cloth (I use 3"x8" strips of an old bedsheet - which I also brought with me) to do this. I rotate the cassette with the WD-40'd cloth between each gear of the cassette until all the dirt and road grease are removed. 

Next I oil the chain and other critical rotating parts of the bike. 

Then I wipe off the excess oil by dragging the chain through a clean, dry strip of cloth. 

Finally, I put an Allen wrench and backup combo wrench on every nut and bolt on the bike and check for tightness. Invariably, I always find one or two getting loose. 

When I'm done, the Red Mule is ready to be loaded. 

As stated above, this procedure or one similar to it is essential to keeping your primary source I'd transportation in top shape for the many miles ahead. 

Now - see there - you probably didn't even know I did that, didga?