Rippin' apart twitch muscles

Today was a filled day of bikin', cleanin', repairin', and recreatin'. Among other things, this morning I cleaned the full-squish mtb from the buildup of mud and detritus accumulated during the past few rides. I gave everything a good scrub-down, even got the PowerLink to work. I usually am unable to do so and wind up using the chainbreak tool. I didn't take before and after pictures but should have... next time. While I was doing this, I got to thinking about how some people take their bikes apart to clean them. While this is probably good for getting the grit out of those hard to reach places, I wonder how much stress it puts on the parts to keep taking them on and off. Maybe I don't ride enough to notice the difference between a clean and really clean bike - I do notice the difference between a clean and a really clean chain though. 

I was invited to play soccer this afternoon and decided to ride my bike to the field. This was my first bike commute of any significant length in the city. It was a 7 mile round trip, the return done on very sore legs into a decent headwind. I am glad I took the road bike but wished I had taken the time to properly inflate the tires. The city streets are in need of some paving and sweeping (fortunately, I think I avoided most of the glass). Drivers seem to be somewhat tolerant of cyclists. The topography will certainly whip me into shape in no time if I have to go from hill to hill much. 

The soccer was a good compliment to riding but it makes me realize how good biking is for some things but not so good for others. I was definitely able to run around for quite a while (what I lack in skill I make up for by running around alot) but the constant sprints and stops really wore me out. I read in the biking mags about doing sprints as part of training because it helps build twitch muscles (or something like that) that are good for short bursts of activity. Maybe a few weeks of soccer will also help. Definitely a fun time but very different from what I am used to - probably played soccer last in high school and we shall not be talking about how long ago that was or that the last time I played it in any organized fashion my wrist wound up in a cast... Let's see if we can avoid any injuries both on and off the bike.