Saturday 8 March 2014

oil, leather, grease, metal, and proofide

Spring fever has hit me full force. After this past winter, with its excessive snow and frequent very cold days with no real mid winter thaw, the merest hint of spring is enough to drive me away from the house in search of my favourite outdoor distractions.

Walks with family and friends, roams with the cameras, exploratory drives through the countryside, and protracted wanders with the bicycles top the list of "must do" things at this time of year. Anything which allows me to breath fresh, growing, spring air gets a happy nod. Smells during the spring play a powerful role in my enjoyment of the season.

My commuter bicycle has taken a pounding this winter. Salt, water, and crashing over ice and potholed roads have done their negative magic to the machine. The thing needs refreshing. Maintenance checklists need compiling. It is an annual and important ritual done in the early spring. And it carries with it its own combination of smells, some of which date back to my childhood.

I am, at best, a poor bicycle mechanic. I know how to mount various parts to my bicycles, and how to overhaul some of the basics, but much of how to adjust my bicycle properly remains a mystery to me even after years of trying to make things work. Despite that, the smells of metal and broken down grease which assault the nose when a hub is disassembled make me smile. The odour of a cleaned and lubricated chain has the same effect. Proofide rubbed into the leather of a saddle until it shines... Enough said.

It is not so much the smells on their own which please, but the promise of a future escape on two wheels they represent.

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