Bike detailing, the Wizard of Oz and other related topics

Hi again. This post will be a little different ( as if all my posts aren’t). I plan to touch a bit on bike detailing, waxing (again), the land of Oz and a few other things. Like why I hate ebikes

So let’s start with bike detailing. Well a month or so ago Barb was walking out of our storage room with a can on bright green spray paint. Dropped it and presto my new Roubaix with the premium chameleon paint job got a detailing as seen below.

Now to say I was unhappy would be an understatement. And how do you think a typical husband would respond? Well….. once I saw the image below. I had to laugh. (To myself of course). Though it was difficult to be the sympathetic husband while looking at my bike. But 40 years of marriage has taught me a few lessons….

So I needed to get the paint off the bike and the WWW (Wicked Witch of the West).

First the bike. Well, I did want to ruin the finish with paint thinner, I tried de-greaser with no luck. I went to NAPA auto parts. They were no help. Then a local body shop who suggested rubbing compound.

Finally, I went back to Rob my LBS guy. He had a product called Clean Streak he said would work. I thought, yeah I’ve tried everything but what the hell. To say I was amazed was an understatement. I sprayed it on and the paint wiped off like it was window spray. Bike problem solved.

On to the WWW. Ok Barb was trying to get everything to get the paint off. With little success. But the clean streak along with more rubbing finally got most of the paint and a nice layer of skin off. Hence no need to wax for awhile. You probably wondered how I was going to fit in waxing again.

She was feeling bad about the whole accident so I took her to lunch. But it did get a bit worse. In the picture below you will see paint under her arms and on her chest. Well she didn’t get that off. Our waitress remarked “Honey you must be having a bad day”. 6 weeks later we can laugh about it

So we have introduced the Land of Oz, but there is more and it involves E-bikes.

There are a lot of riders out here that wear sun protective helmets like the one below. We refer to them as the Wizard of Oz helmet. The hat in the picture is the one the coroner wore when he pronounced That the Witch was “not just merely dead, but most sincerely dead.”

Typically, you see these helmets on people riding recumbents. I think they give them away with the bike. Usually, if you are wearing a helmet like this you are not a speedy rider to say the least. (Yeah I’m a bit of a bike snob. Let me put on my “I care face”.)

Ok. Not quite the same but you get the idea

Remember I said a blow to the ego was having the lady wearing the Snoopy sweat shirt pass you on the hills? If found something even worse. We were doing a hill route last week as part of a group ride and on a 8 degree grade where is was laboring up at 5mph. I get passed by a guy my size wearing a Wizard of Oz helmet and “effing Croc’s. He was riding an E-bike. I hate them!!!!! But come on Croc’s for Pete’s sake.

I was praying the Monkey Men would swoop in and take him away. There is no god!

So that and a few flats is my week. Below are my stats. Of the 150 mile I did t130mi in the last 3 days. Cold weather will put me on the trainer this week