To lube or not to lube?

Cheers! I don’t often drink beer, but today is definitely a day for it. The sun’s shining; week 17’s training is complete, much of it in the sunshine; bike maintenance done – looking forward to spending the rest of the Easter weekend with my long-suffering family!

The weather makes such a difference, that and being on holiday makes this training lark a breeze. Up early, swim sesh in pool, back for a second breakfast. Do some work (to get ahead of the game for next term); back out for a run or a bike, or both. Home, eat, work some more, few glasses of wine, bed … repeat!

Ok, it’s not what I'd call a rip-roaring holiday either, but it’s a hell of a lot easier than next week’s going to be. Anyway, I’m beginning to wonder what I would be filling my time with if I wasn’t doing all this training. Maybe providing some TLC to the rest of the house?

The TLC is all going on the bike at the moment, as I lovingly caress it’s carbon tubes with my J-cloth, the house and car both scream …. what about us, you just don’t care about us any more! It’s not just the financial investment, I mean, the car cost more. It’s the fact that I rely on it so much. I can’t afford to neglect it in case it lets me down when I need it most. So I wash it, dry it, lube it and generally lavish it with love.

Which reminds me of something I learned this week – about lube. Rooting around in IronPhil’s bike box I found two new tubes of lube (as you do). Wet Lube and Dry Lube. I read the instructions and was non the wiser.

You see, Wet Lube had a little diagram basically saying 'use me when the roads are damp to wet', while it’s twin, Dry Lube had the same diagram showing damp to dry. I looked out of the window, it was definitely dry, but the forecast for the next few days was damp. Dilemma – do I dry lube it or wet lube it? Does it make any difference? Surely lube is lube?! After a quick game of Ip, Dip, Dash, I generously applied the winning lube, and smiled at my handiwork –  a gleaming chain and other random bits of the bike lubed for luck, I felt quite pleased with my efforts. Until I asked the guru later that night, over a glass of wine: “So tell me, what’s the difference between Dry Lube and Wet Lube?” He politely stifled his laughter, in the same way that a parent stifles a snort at a toddler’s feeble attempts to speak, and explained. So it turns out, dry lube does a fine job in the dry, but wet is more viscous and lasts longer, repelling water and protecting the chain. However, in the dry, wet lube attracts lots of road crud. So if in doubt dry lube it, ‘cos you can add wet over the top, but not the reverse … get it?!

So, along with a small nutrition blog, I may also start a ‘get to know your lube’ clinic!

Another bit of advice for any trainee bikees out there – practice changing an inner tube on the wheels you’re actually riding on race day. I say this with red, raw thumbs having replaced the inners in my racing wheels today (yep, racing wheels – I now have two sets – oooh get me!). I know HOW to change an inner; did it repeatedly last year coming up to the Outlaw Half. IronPhil thought it was great sport to time me and making whooshing noises in the background. When I finally yelled “Shut-up. What is that goddam noise anyway?” His smug reply was: “It’s all those other cyclists whizzing past you while you're still faffing!” Anyway, today it turned out that knowledge is only one small part of changing an inner tube - brute strength is also a pre-requisite. I battled and grizzled with my wheel, but could I get the tyre off. In the end, with raw thumbs, I had to swallow my female pride and ask for help. Turns out the wheels have deeper rims which makes it a bit trickier. If I’d been making a short “How To Change an Inner Tube” film, people would have turned it off and gone to bed by the time I was finished. Looks like more time practising with IronPhil's whooshing stopwatch is on the cards.

So that beer is more than well-earned. Jeez, this triathlon mularky will make an Ironman of me yet!