Surprise?

I've never really been one for surprise parties.  Which is part of the reason why I was so completely shocked when my AWESOME friends threw a surprise going away party for me last weekend.  I had been told that it was in celebration of Linda's having made partner at her law firm, but that it was being disguised as a pre-reno party for her so that she wouldn't catch on.  That Imelda... she's a cunning one.  In the end I'm not entirely sure how many people were involved in the planning but it seems to have been a fair amount of work.  Derek showcased his mastery as an artist, and the guest list was kind of like a game of "six degrees of Gregg". 

I showed up late, with Julian, who had been updating everyone as to my whereabouts - so it seemed like I fell right into their little plan quite handily.  Once I figured out that it wasn't Linda's party, but mine, (and why), my shock was apparently quite obvious as I was unusually quiet for a little while - and not because my mouth was full, either.  :p

Way too much food, some tasty beer, and a showing of the RAAM movie - "for motivation".  Right.  Well.  I've never really been one for sleep deprivation, but I do like riding long - and the RAAM is a pretty badass race. 

In keeping with my pledge to Auntie Ella that I would keep everyone up to date, and at the request of my father, I've procured a SPOT II GPS tracking device.  This works in two ways.  One way is to give me a button to push in case I'm mauled by a bear but somehow miraculously survive the attack (with the beacon).  Then I can push the SOS button and the device will send a message to a tracking service who will call in the A-Team, having pinpointed my exact location.  (A domestic terrorist bear, okay?)  With BA as my shepherd, I shall not want.  The second way (and why I chose this device over a more "hardcore" PLB) is because it provides regular tracking - that is to say, entertainment for you folks.  Every 10min it sends out a message to the system with my GPS coordinates, which can be tracked via Google Maps on a website I'll publish once I get this device figured out.  Then you can see that it took me 1.5hrs to scale a pass and only 9min to descend the other side.  Or see how fast I got through MB.  Or wonder why I stopped for 3hrs in the middle of the day, just outside Chicoutimi.  Thus, even without blog updates you'll be able to see where I am. 

That's a bit of a weird concept, actually...

A small tribute to a great friend...

Sometimes genius strikes and you can take all the credit (like riding a fixed gear bike in a half Ironman triathlon, or feasting upon hot! biryani for lunch with a time trial slated for later that evening...).  Other times it's blatantly obvious that inspiration was bestowed upon you by a greater power - something not of this world.  Something... from beyond. 

I've been riding the new bike unladen - just getting used to it, dialing in the fit and testing out certain componentry decisions.  It's going back in on Wed for some swapping of stuff, which is handy because I'll be out on Thursday night and then have to fly Friday morning - so I won't really miss riding it.  Today I thought that I really ought to break in the rack.  But how?  I guess I could fill some waterbags and put on the panniers...  But that's not really any fun.  What to do?  WWSD?  (that's What Would Simon Do?)  Just then, inspiration struck.



Only a small load for the first time out...

As a matter of fact, that box was empty for most of my ride.  But on my way home, I stopped and picked up some very special cargo.



This one's for you, Simon.

I wasn't sure that I had my 4:1 carb:protein ratio dialed, so I figured I'd best hedge my bets with a little Stumpkin...

New Bike Day! ( Redux)

For real this time.  Ed's shop has been absolutely SLAMMED for the past two weeks, so I had to wait a little longer than anticipated.  Well - maybe not had to - but I did.  It's not like I didn't have a bike to ride at all, and as I mentioned in my previous post, don't mind him taking a little longer with the build. I was very excited to get it today, though...

Took it out for a little spin this evening and I'm definitely going to have to change a few things.  Nothing major, but still things that need to be addressed.  The fit is good however, and it handles like a touring bike ought, I suppose.  It's kind of weird - everything is a little slower and smoother.  I'm used to fairly quick handling - most of my bikes are race bikes, and handle as such.  This one is definitely not a race bike.  It's kind of like going from driving a snappy little sports car to an electric sedan.  It goes, but it doesn't jump.  The steering is slow.  The center of gravity feels high.  It's inherently very stable.  And when you stomp on the pedals...  well... it does react - but it takes its own sweet time.  Like a stoned sprinter, ambling out of the blocks. 

These pictures kind of suck, but I ran out of daylight and my apartment doesn't have very good lighting for photography...  :p

I'll take it out again tomorrow for a slightly longer test ride, and then make up my mind about a few of the modifications I have in mind.  As for my fitness, isn't there yet - but it's getting better all the time...