I did my first ever Festive 500 this year and finished in 6 days. I did it all on one bike and gave it a good bath today. It’s important to keep your drivetrain clean. It stays quiet, lasts much longer, and looks nice. It’s important to figure out a system that works for you. I use Morgan Blue cleaner, which is no longer sold in the U.S. but which I now get from England. I spray it on the chain, run the chain and cassette through a brush and then let it sit for a bit. Afterwards, I hose it down and run it through a rag and let it dry before lubing the chain with NFS. It also helps if you wipe down the chain after every ride, which I don’t do often enough.
There was so much more I wanted to write about this year, but it has been a challenge. On the plus side, this year has been good in terms of getting my hands on some great bikes for articles and future articles. It’s hard to write about this stuff without actually having your hands on it and being able to ride it. If I don’t consider all the bad things from 2020, it was pretty good. The biggest things were that I was able to build up the Moots and have been a long–term run with Campagnolo Super Record EPS disc brake. It’s certainly expensive, but it just feels so good. Of course, it feels all the better since the Moots is so nice and, coincidentally, easy to keep clean.
I’ll hopefully be writing and riding more in 2021. In terms of gear, I’ll be more focused on long-term reviews and since I seem to have to buy the things I want to write about, I’m not planning on building up anything in 2021 since I see no point in writing about stuff that’s about to be replaced.
The Coffee Ride Reporter 