When spring rolls around, us seasonal mountain bikers dust off the bike and pump up those tires to get ready for another season of riding trails, hitting new features, and spending time with friends at the trailhead.

So as an ode to this transition of seasons, I set out on a task to ready my bike, with the help of an original poem.

Find the poem and full video below:

Pumped, A Poem About Springtime for A Seasonal Mountain Biker

Fresh blooms on leafy trees 

Rejoicing in the springtime breeze 

Vibrant colors showing off atop the grass 

With a chorus of birds, I begin my task 

Starting with the bike on the wall 

That has not been touched, not much at all 

Since the crispy cool short days of fall 

Beginning with the helping hand

Of my simple, trusty, cobwebbed bike stand 

Using my newfound spring time strength 

I lift up and up and up at length 

Until my bike is floating off the ground 

And I spin the clamp round and round 

And now the seat post is fully bound

Upon inspection, it’s in bad shape 

With a little love I can help it escape 

To this spring time season fresh and new 

There’s nothing a good scrub and wash can’t do 

Top tube, down tube, seat and chain stay 

Last year’s rides gets washed away 

To make room for another season of mountainous play 

Front fork, bars, spokes and wheels 

Below the layer of autumn dirt, a quick wash reveals 

The bike that has taken me to the top 

Of trails and mountains, but we just can’t stop 

Quite yet because perhaps the dirtiest of it all 

The back gears, derailleur, they let out a call 

To scrub them using a resourceful backpedal 

A wipe of the water, and then what’s next?

I start to do some bike maintenance checks 

Pumpin and pumping the brake lever

It seems to take forever and ever

But it’s better to have that working brake 

Achy and shaky hands now, I’d rather take 

Than on the first downhill of the season, where certainly more is at stake

Each part of the bike is part of the whole, 

That helps me reach some summertime goal 

So we can’t forget to attach other pieces of gear 

A phone mount up top by the bars where I steer 

Plus a compact bike bag that holds a tube, lever, and air 

For when I’m out on the trail and I need a spare

Because preparedness makes biking a much better affair 

And now these very tires need a pump 

So I attach the tube and then I jump 

Onto my tool so I can pull up and push down 

I really let myself go to town 

Only until it reaches my preferred PSI 

And I don’t hear any holes hiss or cry 

But most likely i’ll have to readjust on that first ride 

I’m almost done, just a couple more things to add 

I grab the clipless pedals that last year I had 

on a different bike, but now I put them back with a grunt 

Using a wrench that I wrench to the front 

Of the bike on both the left and the right, 

I make sure they are on, but not too tight 

That I strip the pedals because that’ll make me quite contrite. 

Yet another thing to be pumped, that is the shocks

I attach the pump and spin until it’s nearly locks

And pump again until the best PSI for me 

I give it a test, it seems to agree 

Which means that the last thing to do 

Is spin the chain and distribute the lube 

And now we have a bike that’s ready through and through. 

I wiped and I washed off the dusty cobwebs. 

I prepared the bike for the flows and the ebbs. 

I showed my bike love by giving it what it needed 

Now the first ride of the season. It can’t be impeded 

By a bike that isn’t ready to be set free

Because there’s four things that are properly pumped as can be 

Brakes, the tires, the shocks, and of, course, the rider. That’s me.

Check out the brands that we’ve been working with this year at the links below!

Bikes Online USA

Hoohah  

Coupon Code: AJ

Peak Design 

Chaco

Ombraz

Coupon code: AJCUTLER20

Wild Rye Women’s Bike Apparel

Kinfield Sunscreen

Discount code: AJ15

Your nacforadventurer and gal who had to dust off the cobwebs,

AJ