Race Prep

They call it HPV (Human Powered Vehicle) Funday, but it's actually a race. How seriously do people take it? Well, not that seriously. Competing though can always be fun. They have ribbons for the winners and this year I'm hoping to get one, but I'm not expecting anything. I haven't ridden for quite some time since the TARTAR event last month - or was it the month before?

What do I need to do to prep for the ride this afternoon?

CLEANING:

Like everyone else, I get lazy about cleaning the trike. When I come home from a ride, the last thing I want to do is clean the thing. I can't wait to hit the showers! Took some degreaser and a rag to wipe down all the dirt. 5 minutes later, it looks good as new.

REPLACED THE TIRES

The new ones have been sitting in the garage delivered from Amazon for months. Since discovering the hole from last time, I finally replaced both tires. I always wondered how I could tell when a slick tire with no tread would need to be replaced.

Turns out the curvature of the profile becomes flat over time! Notice the old wheel on the left. you can tell the tire was cambered a bit b/c the flat part isn't perpendicular to the height of the wheel. The new one's on the right. The curvature is much more pronounced.

LUBED: 

The Speed's never been lubed since I got it. I cleaned it with some degreaser and took a tool to the chain rings to clear out the crud and put some of that lube stuff on it. I put a drop on every single part of the chain! How nuts am I?

TIGHTENED CHAIN GUARD:

I only just noticed today when I accidentally knocked on the chain guard with the back of my hand that it was loose. Way loose! The thing was probably what contributed to all the rattling I've been hearing on the trike. It was ridiculously dangerously loose. I swear it would've fallen off by the end of the year if I didn't tighten it up - or maybe even sooner.

GOT RID OF SOME SOUNDS:

Speaking of sounds, there were some annoying sounds coming out the back of the drivetrain. I wasn't sure what it was and never bothered to really look carefully b/c I hadn't noticed any contact from the chain on any part of the trike when I first looked. Turns out I didn't look carefully enough b/c I found that the idler guard was loose and moved to a different angle which interfered with the movement of the chain. Turns out there was contact!

I loosened the screw, turned the guard back to the angle it's supposed to be (perpendicular to the ground) and retightened the screw. Everything should be good to go.