Flower Pickin' Season

My rear hub had started making that noise again. It is this sort of mid-pitched squeal that sounds like it is going to explode. It doesn't do it at low speed, it doesn't do it as long as the cranks are a turnin', but coasting at anything above twenty-mile per hour leaves me open to embarrassment if anyone else is around - "whoa, what's wrong with that dudes bike. He oughta git that thing fixed." The first time it happened I almost crashed, since then it is just an annoyance. After that first time, I noticed a bit of a side to side wobble when the wheel was secured in place. Tightening this and that seemed to work, and for most of a year now it has been fine. Until now. Here we go again. I suppose I should just buy a new wheel set, this one is as old as methuselah's grandson, which I think is pretty old, but I raced on this set in the late '90s and I think there's still some life in those alloy hoops, bladed spokes and sunburnt hubs.

Anyway...

Locking the frame onto the workstand this morning (for the maintenance mentioned above) is when I noticed them - flecks of color where there isn't usually color to be seen. Between blossoms getting snagged on various parts of the frame, to the ever present stems in the derailleur, this time of year it is nearly impossible to not arrive home after a ride, looking like some kind of May basket. Even on the gravel loop there is a lot of mustard, and it is pretty much impossible to not pick up little bouquets of it. I have no idea how, or where, I picked up that purple stuff though.

I foresee another gravel ride on Saturday, let's see if I can't bring home something new.