therapy with the bicycle
Monday, 19 May 2008 12:26 pm by noelposted in cycling, mine | tags: bicycle, cycling, health, therapy
as a “supplement” to my occupational therapy, i took my rear derailleur from my bike and disassembled it yesterday. 
the idea is to exercise my hands while cleaning and doing maintenance work on the bike, or at least, parts of the bike.
disassembly was relatively easy since i just needed to take out the pulleys for cleaning and relubing and not the entire derailleur. i took my sweet time cleaning and lubing the pulleys and the pulley cage as well as with the reassembly but the tedius part was when i was putting it back onto the bike. i had to align the shift points to the cogs or else shifting gears would be a messy affair. that took about three tries.
now, before i could take the derailleur from the bike, i had to break the chain first and since the chain was already out, i took the opportunity to clean the front derailleur and the chainrings as well. as i was wiping crud off the teeth of the chainrings, i remembered what lito said about cleaning. he said, “if you cannot upgrade your components, at least make them shine so they look like new.” or something to that effect. well, the chainrings do look like new as well as the front derailleur. 
the next thing on the list are the brakes. but that’s for another time.
but i honestly think i won’t be smoking again. they say the first month of quitting is the hardest. i went through the first month already so the next few should be easier. i think i have to find a good vice though and i’m leaning more into being a bike tool geek and learn to make bicycle wheels. 
