Tune up your bike!

Greetings!  So today let's learn about how to do a basic "tune-up" on a bike. Most importantly is to be safe.  Check your brakes before riding and always be cautious.  A main thing to do is clean as much you can. A towel is good, maybe a flat-head screwdriver to clean tight spots.

   Brakes; add a bit of oil. Check for any fray or heavy rust on cables. If it seems unsafe don't ride and get it checked out first. Check that the wheel can turn without the brake pad stopping it. Adjust as necessary.  Make sure, usually with an Allen wrench, that all the screws are tightened.  Keep the part of the wheel the brake makes contact with clean of dirt and oil.

 Tires; make sure there are no visible holes or tears in your tire. If there are you are likely to keep getting flat inner tubes or won't hold air if tubeless.  New tires are reasonably priced, patching is difficult and makes your tire off balance a bit. Also check the bolts and make sure the wheels are firmly secured to the frame.  Check the wheels for roundness and that the bearing are intact. Clean and oil.

  Tires/wheel size and pressure; both tires and rims should have sizes on them, ex: 26in. x 1.5 other common sizes are 700cc x 2.  First number is the diameter width of the rim.  Second is the diameter of the tube.  Check the compatibility.  Some are tubeless. On the tire for tubes it will have a min and max p.s.i. Higher psi will be less rolling resistance, so brake sooner, more likely to get flats.  Lower psi will be a smoother ride.  Be careful not to be too low where hitting bumps could damage the rim, tube and tire.. The min and max are good for proper wear on the tire.

  Gears; now clean the gears and derailleur. Wipe the chain with a towel then add bike grease or motor oil.  Get a bit of oil in the axles and clean off more.  The chain should be on snug, enough to move easily and not fall off.  The rear derailleur usually takes care of this. Some bikes don't have them.  Adding or removing links to a chain is easy with a tool designed for it.  Then turning the bike upside-down can be helpful to check the gears. Make sure all gears can be shifted through without shifting the gear off track.

 Enjoy 

24 hour meat and sugar fast

       Fasting is something there is much debate about.  Everyone has an opinion, here's mine.  To start here's a article on an interesting study done in Utah.  http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=3988629   While I like the idea of giving my body some time to recover and cleanse itself.  During a 24 hour fast I feel like I have less energy.  So I've been thinking and reading.  I think that to fast from meats and sugars for 24 hours is really beneficial and can be done more often than a complete fast.  You wouldn't have the drop in energy either.   This is a picture of bacon peanut brittle to get an idea of what to eat with care.

       So why meat and sugar you may be asking.  Well I learned in a marine biology class that because animals are higher on the food pyramid they contain 10 times the toxins of the food they eat.  And sugar in a processed refined form also interact with our body very similarly to a toxin.  It does so by providing energy without any nutritional value, so in order for that energy to be used, it must take nutrition from the rest of the body.  Besides this the digestive system can use the time to revitalize and function at prime.

I've found this to help with stress and getting over a cold or flu faster.  As well as getting more energy on a daily basis. I hope you found something you enjoyed reading here today.  Till next time folks.

Public Transportation

      Taking the bus to work can save a lot of money.  Here's a good link with a chart showings saving by city: Bus vs. Car 

      After adding up the price it seems a great deal could be saved.  In my city it cost around $40 dollars for a monthly bus pass with unlimited rides.  Plus you will get some exercise in walking to bus stops.  Also the stress of driving is taken out of your day, allowing you to arrive at work in a great mood.

     I think this is a good choice as the funding will help develop more public transportation.  Can't forget to mention a bicycle.  Then you will be getting a good amount of exercise.  Most buses have bike racks that are pretty easy to use.  I found it quite useful.

Simply Meditation

    Think back about what you have done over the last 24 hours. How many times did you laugh? How many phone calls did you make? How many times were you stressing because you were in a rush? What ever your walk of life more likely than not there is a lot of stuff going on, day in and day out. This is wonderful, it is what makes us alive. How about a moment of peace?

    Let me begin with my introduction to meditation. Growing up I'd heard the term and knew basically what it was. During my 3rd year at SRJC, I was in an Asian Philosophy class which went over a diverse background of various spiritual movements. Meditation is essential in many of those movements. I took a yoga class, which seems to go hand and hand with meditation, and surprisingly felt relaxed, strengthened and refreshed at the end. A few months later I was driving by a local Unitarian church which had a sign posted "Meditation 7pm Wed"

    So there I find myself walking down the aisles towards these 3 individuals I'd never met before. They were surprised and glad to see someone so young, and took a few minutes to explain a bit about what we were gonna do. We sat in a circle and began to focus on deep breathing and relaxing every bit of the body starting at the tips of the toes. Once he finished explaining, a gong he rang and there we sat for 60 minutes straight. Breathing in and breathing out. I remember listening to the cars driving by. It was beautiful.

    Nowadays I find different videos on YouTube by searching for things like 'air relaxation music' or 'peaceful mediation' etc. Then will meditate at home. I have found much relaxation from taking moments now and then to let myself unwind. After tough workouts or long days at a job I'd feel much better even after just 10 -20 mins of peacefulness. I would highly recommend taking a few minutes, put on peaceful music and removing distractions if possible, and just relax. You'll feel better, and will see a difference in your ability to handle whatever it is you do on a daily basis.

Thanks for reading, let me know your thoughts on this.

Peace,

Andrew