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# Cleaning Your Bike Chain
- URL: https://andys.blog/bike-chain/
- Published: 2025-11-11T09:59:17.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-11T09:59:16.000Z
- Author: Andy Trattner

I've been biking to the gym. The tires need air. For proper care, cleaning and lubricating the chain every 1-3 weeks depends on dirt levels, usage, wetness.

Who actually does that though?

Leg day for the first time in years left all my muscles sore. I stretched extra with [living room yoga](https://andys.blog/yoga/) the next morning. A good 15 minute [session](https://youtu.be/2IcWJobNDck?si=Jex9CgtodMkMcDKk&ref=andys.blog) on 1.25x speed, not nearly enough that day.

I felt each muscle as a little bike chain, begging for mercy. The hip in particular—adductors and pectineus—called out "you don't pay enough attention to us!" They angrily got revenge.

The soreness reminded me of foot cramps while flying. I've traveled a lot, sitting hunched on airplanes for hours, occupying myself with reading or movies and trying to not visit the bathroom. Maybe I shift or stand for a brief moment if my butt falls asleep.

All day we inhabit our bodies: commuting with them, typing through them, and shoveling food into them. There are so many muscles we don't say thanks to nor proactively upkeep, just grinding them down with usage for years... 

We're shocked when things snap. But if our body is a temple, how often do we sweep the floor?