musings

My flight from Sydney (Australia) to Vancouver (Canada) has reinforced some past thoughts—the most clear being that I actually look forward to travelling with a pack and nothing else. As an aside, airlines are getting finicky about travelling with gear.

I arrived at the airport before the check-in counters were open, and still only just made it through to the gate just before boarding (more than 2.5 hours to process). I had to repack my CELLO (bike and trailer) twice after being told that it was 'too heavy' to be taken on a plane. When i previously travelled with my bike, I had my shoes inside the case as well. On this trip, I had my shoes in with my luggage. I also had to take my pedals out to make the weight!

I picked my bike up yesterday, after a very long and frustrating period—starting on 7 May when I first noted the problem with my headshok. After having the suspension/forks sent back to Cannondale for the first time (and the wrong replacement components being sent out to an lbs at least twice) I hope to have my first ride in some time today—as soon as the ground dries out after morning rain.

I am currently preparing/training for another big ride, this time from Vancouver through to Winnipeg (Canada). I am not taking a direct route, so it will be significantly more than the ~2200 km given by google maps.

I pick my bike up today after a full strip-down service. The forks will be getting a new cartridge installed by Cannondale next week.

I am also working on a new design (theme) for this site and porting it to the drupal CMS. I will be identifying and removing all of the gremlins that emerged when i upgraded the version of wordpress.

I will post the working concept for the new site soon, and once completed i will be updated this site with details of my rides regularly again.

EDIT (02/07/08): I will post an overview of the circus that has been getting the minor service done on my forks—when i get my bike back (over a month now)!