Saddle, horse, (wo)man.

Remember that old cavalry adage "Saddle, Horse, Man"? This is the order in which any good cavalry trooper looked after his kit; firstly all his tack, then the horse and then, and only then, himself.

We may not use horses any more (but some people's bikes are so big the seat-tubes seem to be measured in hands not inches!) but the same goes for your bike. When you come back after a ride, especially a wet, grimy one then it's saddle, horse, (wo)man. Clean your bike first, chuck your kit in the wash and then, and only then, look after yourself. On a dull and dreary day like today we might make an exception to "looking after yourself last" and say maybe have a cup of tea and a biscuit first, but don't leave it too long or the lure of a shower, clean clothes and the couch will become too strong and your bike will oxidise slowly.

Cleaning your bike doesn't take that much time. Get a bucket of soapy water, clean all the tubes and rinse it off. Ta-da! Pretty much done! Don't forget to get under the down-tube and bottom-bracket! If you use a hose, don't fire it on "mental" at the bearing-races; hub, head-set, bottom-bracket, as it will wash all the lubricating grease out.

Clean the chain with one of those chain-cleaner gadgets; they are very efficient at getting all the crap and crud out from between the links. Dry it off and lightly lube the chain with your slippery stuff of choice, just don't use WD40!

While you're at it, you can check the bike for damage; frayed cables, split tyres, damage to the rims, brake-block depth. You don't really "look" at any of this stuff, generally you just notice something doesn't "look right". Noticing it while standing still in the shed beats noticing it when it fails catastrophically at the mid-point of an imperial century.

Put it back in the shed and go indoors and enjoy that cup of tea and that biscuit.

Next time, we promise, we'll do that autumn riding gear article (we don't say 'fall', it has negative connotations for a cyclist!)

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