Bad brakes can lead to bad breaks, right? Like broken arms or legs or collarbones, when  bad brakes can\’t stop you in time. I sure don\’t want to  join the \”bad break club\”.

Lately it seemed to me that the hybrid\’s brakes hadn\’t been catching very well. Then, yesterday, I had to run a quick errand over lunch time. I got caught in the rain, and those brake pads did almost nothing!

That was scary. Relying on putting a foot down to help myself stop is rather hard on my knee, and a busted knee won\’t help me train for Tour de Cure.

I thought I would have to take the bike in to the shop for new brake pads. Then I remembered something. Rim brakes don\’t work as well if they\’re dirty and gritty. Add wetness, and dirt and grit are made, if anything, worse.

It had been quite a while since I had cleaned the hybrid\’s wheel rims. So I hooked the bike into the trainer…

Why the trainer? If I don\’t do that, turning the back wheel is rather a problem. I don\’t have a bicycle repair stand; but fastening the hybrid\’s rear wheel into the trainer lets the bike stay up without the kickstand. Then I can turn the wheel freely as I clean the rims.

After I finished tending to those rims, I unhooked the bike from the trainer. I tested  the brakes by rolling the bicycle a few feet and then grabbing the brake levers. The brakes worked MUCH better!

If cleanliness is next to godliness, clean wheel rims are next to safety.