Originally Posted by Velo Dog

Apparently this is another area in which I'm a dinosaur, but i would be humiliated to pay somebody to clean my bike. I don't think i could make myself walk into the shop and ask for the service. you might as well wear a jersey that says, DILETTANTE CYCLING TEAM.
Seriously, this is the most basic step in bike maintenance, a one-morning job that can improve your understanding of the bike and help you learn to do the repairs you'll inevitably have to attempt someday at the side of the road. you can't farm it out and call yourself a cyclist.