An absolute done deal.

The Calhoun Isles Community Band played at the Como Park Pavilion last evening. This is tuning up before they actually launched into their program.The band played for about an hour and the person in the third chair of the flute section had her grandpa and grandma (and Mom and Dad) present for the occasion.

To the extent that there may have been lingering uncertainties about this new course of action upon which I have embarked, this morning absolutely smashed them. I am retired.

The day dawned already warmer than some of the high temperatures we were having less than two weeks ago. It was 72 by 9am and I was on the road by 9:30. It was just exactly the kind of morning I have been complaining about missing but today I was out in the perfect morning instead of behind sealed windows. It was a gorgeous, warm morning, light breezes, one of the nicest mornings in the history of mornings.

Monday morning turns out to be everything I expected for bicycling, light automobile traffic and light bicycling traffic as well. I rode over to Summit Avenue, a route which has often led me to irritation from the rude bicyclists I often encounter there. But on Monday morning there is no evidence of racer boy. I was passed by one bicyclist and met only a handful coming from the opposite direction. There was plenty of space to enjoy the ride and I pronounce the entire experience to have been most satisfactory.

I rode the Capitol loop, passing through the State Capitol grounds at about the 15 mile mark of the ride. I used to work for the guys in this building.I am a reformed former over maintainer of bicycle chains. I used to slavishly try to keep the chain clean and moist from lubrication. Over the last 2 or 3 years I have come around to the opposite extreme. No matter how clean you keep the thing it is still a greasy mess whenever you have to actually touch it and furthermore I have become convinced that too much lubrication leads to premature wear. I am now of the school that if it is shifting OK and if it isn't making any noise it doesn't need any lube.

This was all working really well for me until yesterday when the guest rider reported that my chain was making noise. Once she pointed out the fairly sibilant squeak I was also able to hear it. I blame my own failure to notice it first on the location of the chain, below and mostly behind me. Or perhaps it could be related to that Rolling Stones concert at the Civic Center (if I recall correctly, it was the Goat's Head Soup tour) when I came out of the concert and was unable to hear much in the way of normal conversation for about the next hour or so.

In either case I lubed my chain last night. When you lube your chain all the time you have to be careful to put just the one drop of lube on each link. If you over lubricate the excess ends up attracting dirt and, voila, messy chain. When you only lubricate about twice every three years you can just go ahead and dump the lubricant onto the chain with great abandon. I took a rag and wiped it down after the lubrication part was done and, hoo boy, that chain was DIRTY.

We will need GRider again for definite verification but I thought that when I rode today that the chain was quiet.