WWW

W is for wrenching, or bicycle maintenance. It was frosty this morning roundabout Exit 151, which reminded me it's time for the fall overhaul. This weekend I'm going to tune up the trusty bicycle: clean the chain, gears, shifters, and other moving parts; switch from summer wax lubricant to winter Teflon lubricant; adjust the cables; check the brake pads; inspect the tires; change the batteries in the blinky lights; wash, touch up, and wax the frame; condition the handgrips and seat; and disinfect water bottles and hydration packs. Anyone who's seen the black fur that likes to grow inside hydration bladders – eeeuuuuuwww! – knows this last step is as essential to cyclist safety as the others. Incidentally, the monkey wrench and the crescent wrench on the left are just for show (notice how shiny they are) – bicyclists use hex wrenches, on the right.

W is for whaling. Sadly, Iceland is joining Norway and Japan in breaking the international ban on hunting whales. The gambit is not without consequences – tourism to Iceland, particularly for whale watch cruises, has dropped precipitously since the hunts began.

And W is for the wool, best of knitting fibers. Some knitters use wire, too.

See the rest of my ABCs.

Categories: {ABC-along}