On this rare holiday, mom and kids took their bikes out and did a short ride to one of our most favorite neighborhoods, West Portal. We love an out in this neighborhood, with our favorite shops being the book store and the record store. Sadly, Ambassador Toys closed down, as well as the theater. This neighborhood had everything! On a nice summer night, a walk from our house is refreshing but a good work out (4 miles!) We took a long break at Starbucks for some egg bites, before heading back home. We made a pit stop at Stern Grove. Love our family-oriented southwest corner of San Francisco! 

 

You'd better hope you're carrying a chain tool!  Which I wasn't today.  I had to coast the way back.  And in places where I couldn't coast, yeah.  It's embarrassing to walk a bike.  I had the chain for a little more than a year so it's probably best replace it anyway.

Back at the ranch, let's gather the materials.  A cheapo baking pan in which to wax the new chain, a new Shimano HG-53 9 speed chain, the trusty Park multi tool, and the Weller Portasol. 

With the new chain, I remove a couple of links so it isn't super slack.  Then I lay the chain edge-up in the pan, to be covered with dry wax.

Let's pull a chunk of ptfe-bearing molten speed wax out of the bag.

With a pair of scissors, shave wax to cover the chain completely.

The fun part: I enjoy melting the wax into the chain with the Portasol.

Once a satisfactory amount of wax is melted into the gaps of the chain, it's time to mount it.

You know that feeling you get when you have new stuff on a bike?  Yeah, we have to ride it to make sure it works :)