Maintenance Day

Twas not a fit day out for man nor beast.
Nothing shall stop the cyclist from making his miles.
Except for gusting winds.
Yep, I wussied out today.
So instead, I called it a maintenance day.
First thing I wanted to do was fix the cleats on my shoes:



Not really the cleats, but the area just forward and aft. The Shimano SPDs are rubbing on the sole and it being carbon, well everyone knows carbon explodes catastrophically. So I bought these:



These are wonderful things called Shoeshields made by Crank Brothers. They are supposed to be for those that use egg beaters but I tried them anyway.
Well, they are for those that use egg beaters so they don't cover the affected area of my soles.
So much for that.
I did move my cleats back a bit, just to try a new position out. I've read that moving your cleats back is supposed to be better for you. I'll see about that.
I did a search to see if there was anything I could use to fix my holy shorts. First I though I would just wear them pukas and all, but I figured wearing them like that would only make the pukas bigger.
Puka is localese for hole. For instance, "eh brah, you get puka tire" translates roughly to "excuse me sir, but it appears you tire is no longer inflated."
So anyways, it seems like the best fix is to simply use a needle and thread. So here is the blessed defect:



Add some Singer Super Strong Polyester Core thread and needle:



et voila!



Next, I tackled a pesky rattle on the Beach Bike. Seems the front basket was rattling against the front rack. I let it go for a few rides, but upon inspection discovered that it was beginning to wear in to the tubing:



Off I went to the hardware store to see what they had. I ended up with some clear vinyl hose. I actually went to the auto parts store and picked up some fuel line, but this stuff looked nicer.
I cut off a two inch piece, then cut it lengthwise. I opened it up and put in on the rack tubing.
et voila!



I also got some new chain lube:



I've been using Boeshield for the last couple of months and it's been okay. It just doesn't seem to last that long. Evil Hoku rode with me one day and commented on the chain noise and it seems like I have to clean and re-lube every hundred miles or so. I need something that will shed all the dirt and sand I pick up along my route.
So I got this Dumonde Tech and I got some Rock N Roll Extreme on the way.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to try it out since I cleaned my chain last Sunday and I, ahem, haven't been on my bike since.
The massive thighs gotta rest once in a while.
Besides, twas not a fit day out for man nor beast.
Don't you know.