Slime is good, muck is bad - my experience grows.

Day 1- Coramba to Nana Glen return via Eastbank Rd (about 30km total)

I ride a recumbent trike. I was sold on this concept as soon as I saw a picture of a Greenspeed trike on the net.

When I realised I could take my lounge chair with me, that my bike would cost more than my hubbie's and this would be fitting punishment for the man who had silently nagged me for 12 months to get back on a bike after 20 years. The fact that Greenspeed is an Aussie company was a bonus.

Twelve months down the track, my tyres were looking worn and thin. They were "on order" due any day at my favourite bike shop. My trike needed a good clean, the cogs were covered in muck, but the day was sunny and my favourite ride beckoned. So, I set off - ride today, clean tomorrow. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I lagged behind, the hills grew steeper, the gears needed much lower than normal. Suffice it to say, the engine of the beast was fine, heart, lungs and legs in good condition but ... the going got slower and tougher.

I told my husband to ride on ahead, I rang Deb, the ride leader, and said "I'm officially off the ride". Fortunately, the riders were to return along the same road as they went out on, so I persisted (I adore this ride) and decided that when I met the group on their return journey, I'd chuck a u-turn and follow them back to the vanilla slices.

Back at the coffee shop, I asked Emma, a criterium rider, who understands coffee, cake and "fair-weather cyclists" like me, for some advice. She had some really helpful tips I'd like to share (I have taken great liberty with Emma's words, she is definitely not quoted verbatim!):

1. Clean cogs are good cogs. Well, I had bought the "all over" wet down, spray-on, scrub-with-special-brush, rinse-off product but it had remained unopened on the shelf. The weather had finally cheered up, and why waste valuable time cleaning? Yuk! The product, whose name actually rhymes with yuk, followed by "off" proved brilliant when I finally got around to using it. Should have known - it was a lovely pink colour after all!

2. Oiled chains are happy chains. Chains shouldn't squeak - well, I knew that but ... oil is so messy.

3. Tyre pressure should be checked before every ride for best performance. At least I'd done this one! Okay, so my husband checks the tyres, but gimme a break ... cut me some slack here.

4. For reduced rolling resistance, tyres should be pumped (just like us) to just below the maximum pressure they can stand. Check the side wall of your tyre for the pressure range of your tyre. If I've remembered right, this should also help to reduce the chances of flats from outside sources (eg glass on road), but does increase the chances of a pinch flat (but this can be controlled by the rider through careful tyre changing - careful and this writer, you might be thinking is an oxymoron).

The trade-off for the increased performance is that you'll feel more of the road's bumps and potholes. (If going over mostly rough ground, decrease your tyre pressure to the lower end of the range).

5. Brakes should be checked to see if they're grabbing by spinning the wheel. A free spinning wheel means the brakes aren't grabbing. The wheel should run "true" and not wobble. If it does wobble, there might be a problem. As I have drum brakes sealed up in a nice, shiny package (well, shiny now), Emma said there might be a problem with the cones. At this, my eyes glazed over, I knew she wasn't having a laugh, she's far too kind for that, but cones? who comes up with a name like that in this age of double-meaning?

Emma said that if it was the cones, then my friendly bike mechanic was the go. I was thinking I'm going to have to clean my bike (trike) really well or the man will break down and cry when he sees it.

So, after coffee and passionfruit tart, we packed up our trikes, and took my Betty Blue home for a good scrub.
Sadly, the faster riders had consumed all the vanilla slices, and happily gone off to do the ride again - after all, it was a beautiful day!

Day 2 - Cruzy Ride around Bonville Valley

Deb, the long-suffering ride leader of the previous day, Robert (my husband) and I wanted an easy ride - Deb's trying to build up the k's for a cycling holiday she's doing O/S - and my trike was cleaned and "good to go" . The wheels spun true and free, and the tyres were pumped as suggested. I took no notice of the bulge which had appeared in the side wall - I knew better but ... it had been so wet for so long, and I only cycle in fair-weather not foul. I had cabin fever bad, and the day was perfect.

The tyre blew, bang! Even calm Deb jumped. I have 16" diameter wheels, the tyres are really hard to get off the rims. An hour, one bent and three broken tyre levers later, a second five-dollar note lining the wheel (see earlier blog), and one of Deb's patches on the outside of the tyre, we limped to the coffee shop. It took the three of us to wrestle the tyre off and on. I kept thinking "there must be a better way".

Which tyre lever?

Question: Why do they come in packs of three?
Answer: For when you inevitably break one!

I've got small hands and they're not getting any stronger, so a set of good levers is vital. I've summarised a forum on "bicycles.net.au":

Yes - Crank bros speedlever (look an interesting design), Zefal, Pedros, "Soma" steel core levers
No - Quik Stik lever (especially on 700c wheels), Conti

Yes/No/Maybe/lots of debate - yellow Michelin (though a favourite in bike shops) one comment was "they just bend" and that's been my experience, too. They are wide and have no spoke hook. The pointy ones (risk of pinching the tube), the metal ones (Brooks).

I wonder where grandma's antique silver got to?

"Nice teaspoons - the old-style ones with a spoon shape (sic), and rounded handles. Put the spoon end in your hand (face down to spread the pressure) and lever the tyre with the handle end." Op shop, here I come.

http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=13710

Do you need a lever at all?

Some thoughts from the Team Estrogen site.

http://www.teamestrogen.com/content/asa_levers

My new tyres have arrived! (or, Betty Blue gets a new pair of shoes)

I have 3 lovely brand new tyres, all fitted in the bike shop. Ignoring the workshop dog, I pat my new tyres. I sniff the fresh rubber. Okay, I know practice fitting tyres makes perfect but it's so much easier to and they're so good at it. Working on the theory "avoidance is good" I now have top quality tyres with "slime" inserted as recommended by the professionals. The little bit of extra weight is not an issue for me, being stuck out on my own trying to change a tyre is.

Just in case things still go wrong, I keep my mobile phone charged, husband on speed dial, carry two spare tubes (I have a trike, so that covers 66% of the wheels available. Bikes carry one tube, 50% of the wheels available, ok, so you're calling me paranoid, now tell someone who cares), the levers recommended, a pump and a patch kit (just in case), and 2 X $5 notes. They'll be handy if I forget my coffee money, too.

I cheered the workshop person up by saying "I change the tube, I never patch (well, only as a last resort)" when he asked. I said "Do you think I'm crazy?".

He just looked at me with a twinkle in his eye.

How to change a bicycle tyre ... in five easy (sic) steps ...

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/changingbicycletire

P.S. Deb uses pipe cleaners (craft shops) to get in between the cogs - it's like a dental floss for bikes. I use an old toothbrush for the other fiddly bits. The brush sold with the cleaning kit fits neatly in between the cogs, and would work work well for bikes not let get filthy like mine was.

Happy cycling,

Carolyn.