Evening Chain Clear

Evening brought the run through the steel culvert to a close, so I navigated the orange bike back across the porch and crossed the threshold inside. I parked on the dry floorboards right beside the boot tray. Today's crossing over that wooden paint stick left a crust of corrugated rust dust and dry grass fibers wedged tightly against the rear chain tensioner. I propped the rear axle onto an inverted plastic soda cap to keep the knobby tire suspended off the floorboards. Taking a stiff, clean paper clip from the console dish, I worked the narrow wire tip along the lower run of links, levering out two compacted clusters of dried weeds. One solid backward spin of the rear wheel confirmed smooth rotation. Drive secured.