The weather in the past couple weeks has been warm enough to keep all of the melting snow and rain from freezing overnight on the pavement. The wind doesn’t bite into the face as much when walking down the street. The joggers are out in their skin-tight clothing wearing their custom iPod ear buds. These are the signs that biking time is near.
The only way I could have biked earlier would have been if I had Warren Buffet’s insurance. Since I have a fixed gear bike, I can only bike during certain times of year. The wheels are narrow, there is only one brake (for legal purposes), and the tires themselves don’t have enough depth in the tread to take any snow. Trying to use my bike in the winter would be playing Russian roulette and instead of a bullet to the brain it would be whichever bone I break slamming into the ground. Just because I had the common sense not to bike does not mean others didn’t have a clue.
Well, I’m going to take this pre-biking season to do maintenance. If it’s still pre-biking season for you, I’d suggest doing the same. Fill up the tires with air, check the chain and lube it up, tighten down the bolts, make sure the brakes work, and check for rust. Doing the work now will mean you won’t need to spend a couple hours on the first nice day of spring doing bike work as opposed to riding. You’ll thank yourself.
