Last Saturday when I finished my ride, my bike was caked in wet dust and sand. The air was drizzly and foggy, and the sand and dirt stuck to everything. When I got to my car, an older woman (older than me) was meticulously cleaning her bike and applying some chain lube. I thought to myself "that's kind of an unusual sight..." She said "If I ever win the lottery, I'm going to pay someone to clean my bike." Ohh Kaaaay , not the first thing I think of when winning the lottery, but we'll go with it for conversation. Then she went on to explain how she locked out her fork on all of the down hills today because she was worried that the sand would scratch her stanchions. No, really. After a prolonged stunned silence, I say, "That's what they are built to do. It won't scratch them, and if it did, it would take 1000 such rides to make a noticeable difference. No need to risk your safety, comfort or fun factor for a little dirt."
It was then I realized I was dealing with an OCD person who probably just spent an hour cleaning her bike before packing it up to drive away. In the time that I was talking to her, I wiped my bike down with an old t-shirt rag. Good to go in 5 minutes.
That creak was like the tell-tale heart... If your seat post didn't break a few weeks ago, I may have gone insane (assuming that I am not already insane).
