Winter damage, not too bad.

Most of the Winter Trike seems unaffected by salt thanks to generous use of lubricants and a freshwater rinsing after each winter ride. Unfortunately, I didn't get to ride the trike for about 2 months. So, it sat in my garage. I found that there was some rust on some bolt tops but nothing serious. What I didn't expect was a section of rather bad rust on a small chain section! I think it might have been caused by moisture and salt sitting either in the chain tube or on the idler gear (hard to say which one). Fortunately, a generous amount of gear oil on the chain seems to have taken care of that issue or at least stopped further rusting. After that, a tire pressure check and check of lighting batteries. All fine. The bike was then ready to go....somewhere. So, I took a trip to the grocery store. It works fine!

Winter bike wash

After my last winter trip, I noticed the bike had quite a bit of salty dirt from it's travels through the snow and slush. Since salt and metal typically don't get along very well, something had to be done! Fortunately, I had a garden sprayer that I use to water my plants during the summer. After using about a gallon of plain warm water to spray it down, the bike looks much better. Hopefully, by washing away the salts, the frame and other parts won't rust away. As for drying, I simply leave it in the garage to drip dry. Fortunately, my garage is dry and seems to stay just above freezing so the water will eventually evaporate. Ah, if only my car were small enough to wash off after each of it's winter trips.