All this is sort of obvious, perhaps. But sometimes it's good to state both the new and the obvious.

I did some maintenance yesterday and some riding today. I wanted to clean and lube the RD (a VGT-Luxe) pulleys on my commuter UO8. In the process I noticed a lot of grit on the chain that was new this spring. So I thought, what's the best way to clean this quickly? Ah, slosh it around in a small tub of automatic transmission fluid. Bingo! Then I sloshed it around in a small tub of gear/differential oil. It took a lot of draining and wiping to get the excess oil off, but now it is clean and quiet. Of course, another lesson is that that when you ride enough on dirty roads the drivetrain is going to get dirty. Last Thursday they were cleaning one of the roads I commute on and I thanked the crew and gave them a thumbs-up. The shoulder was starting to look like a beach.

Then today I took the much lighter Raleigh Gran Sport out for some recreation riding. Haven't had the chance to do that much this year. Wow, a lighter bike really does go faster. Or at least it feels faster. I'd forgotten what it felt like. Also not having the aerodynamic drag of panniers makes a difference. Also a lot of riding makes you stronger. There's a hill I have to climb about two miles from the house. It's not difficult but it's a chore. Today it seemed trivial.

Simple lessons, re-learned.