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.