Friday, November 21, 2008

Don't Give Up Just Yet

An hour after posting last night I was back in the basement pulling the front fork and fixing an obvious error in my assembly of Eyowen. I pulled out my repair manual, two hours AFTER completing the job, and discovered the cause of the odd feeling in the fork. I had one of the bearing sets facing the wrong direction. If I left it loose the fork had play, if I tightened it up it got too stiff to steer properly. Off came the fork, pulled the bearing out and replaced in the correct direction. Everything feels much better now. I never did put any weight on the frame or test ride her so the bearings should be fine.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning thinking, I could ride Bridget one more day. Yes, no, yes, no. I flip-flopped like city council for an hour as I did my push-ups and had breakfast. At 7 I was in the basement again pulling the front wheel off Eyowen and putting it on Bridget for the ride to work. I wore just about every layer I have and was actually warm enough to stretch it into a 3 mile ride, I was sweating when I got in. The low was somewhere around -18 but the wind was up so it was a bunch colder. Only my watering eyes felt it. With Bridget I can shift up and keep the speed low while pedalling faster to stay warm. I love the feeling I get when I come in after being out in the cold long enough to have it sink in. I get that invigorated flush from head to toe as the warmth seeps back in.

I got off at 3pm for good behaviour and headed to Petries for a cable and some BS. One of the girls was putting through a sale and the customer's name on her credit card was exactly the same as her sister's. It is a long Finn last name, same first and middle names as well. Apparently they have almost exchanged surgeries a time or two. She called her sister to confirm she wasn't short a Visa card.

I got home, had some supper and then finished Eyowen. It was a bit late for a test ride and I didn't feel like suiting up again. We'll see how everything turns out in the morning as I'm on Saturday duty.

November 224 miles
11-21
Bridget: 6 miles
Ethel:3 miles
70 push-ups
70 sit-ups

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