Box Haul via Mikado

Thursday - Jun 28 - Biking 37 km

The Norco is in many pieces scattered over my basement, so took the Mikado to work. Much cooler weather was nice to ride through. Strapped a few more boxes pilfered from the Mobile Knowledge dumpster on the ride home.

Another hot day

Wednesday - Jun 27 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work in a hot humid morning. Ran into Rick near the end, so rode the last few km along with him. Rode home in really sweltering heat. Decided to take the Norco off the road for a few days and get some repairs done as the odometer has rolled past 35000 km, and I am going to need this bike as a work horse next month while moving.

Dinner at Savana Cafe

Tuesday - Jun 27 - Biking 47 km

Rode to work. Rode home in very hot weather, stopping at Loblaws to use the bank machine. Rode down to Savana Cafe to meet Sarah for supper and then rode home later on in the evening.

Last rent cheque

Monday - Jun 25 - Biking 39 km

Rode to work, stopping by my landlord's house to drop off my final rent cheque... hopefully the last rent I pay for a very long time.

Weekend adventures

Friday - Jun 22 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work.

Saturday - Jun 23 - Biking 4 km

After spending the day blacksmithing, I rode down to Derek and Ann's to celebrate Stephanie's first birthday.

Sunday - Jun 24 - Biking 57 km

Rode the Gatineau parkway loop. Sunny but cool weather. Lots of other cyclists out. I slept in too late to ride entirely before 11 when the parkway opens to motor traffic, but there were very few non human powered vehicles out.

Weeks Total: Biking 259 km
Year to Date: Biking 3650 km, Hiking 46 km, Paddling 88 km, Skating 129 km, Skiing 187 km

Storm warning

Thursday - Jun 21 - Biking 37 km

Left for work just as it started raining. Rode about half way and then it started pouring so I put on my rain gear. Left work just as it started raining with big dark clouds and lightning. I managed to ride out of the storm and then back into another one, but never really got into the thick of it... always on the edge.

Another flat tire

Wednesday - Jun 20 - Biking 37 km

Went to leave for work and found my back tire flat. Since I was still at home I just switched over to the Mikado and rode that bike. Turns out the valve stem split on the brand new tube. Worked a little bit later than usual and then rode home with Russ, at least until Moodie where we went our separate ways. That is three bike failures in the past couple of weeks. Prior experience has shown me that these things come in waves of three, so I should not have any more break downs for the next little while.

Wind sped ride to re-Cycles

Tuesday - Jun 19 - Biking 50 km

Another nice day. Rode to work. Rode to re-Cycles with an awesome tailwind, getting me there in just over an hour. Rode home after closing.

Work

Monday - Jun 18 - Biking 37 km

Another nice day for a ride to work.

Up to Low

Saturday - Jun 16 - Biking 69 km

Rode up to Matt and Adrianne's house which is about 10 km north of Low. The ride up to Wakefield was beautiful, and I plan to make that a more regular route. It got very hot and I went through over 3 liters of water. Took the trans-canada trail from Wakefield, but it is simply a very dusty gravel road, so after about 10 or 15 km of that I switched back across the Gatineau river and got onto the 105 which I rode to Low until the trail actually became a trail. I then followed that until I arrived at the farm.

Sunday - Jun 17 - Biking 68 km, Paddling 2 km

A cooler day to bike home. Rode the trail back to Low and then took the 105 all the way to Wakefield. As I was eating lunch in the park, the steam train passed. From Wakefield I more or less took the same route that I had ridden up on Saturday. Later I went out to visit my dad for Father's Day. Went out for a short paddle with Nick through the swamp.

Weeks Total: Biking 294 km, Paddling 2 km
Year to Date: Biking 3391 km, Hiking 46 km, Paddling 88 km, Skating 129 km, Skiing 187 km

Insurance

Thursday - Jun 14 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work earlier than normal so I could arrive around 07:00 as I had lots to do today. Despite the low volume of traffic at this time, I encountered more idiot drivers than normal. Rode home early so I could meet with an insurance agent about my new house. Again despite the lower volume of traffic, I still got cut off by someone. At least the weather was nice again.

Fireflies

Wednesday - Jun 13 - Biking 46 km

Rode to work on a nice sunny day, a little bit cooler than yesterday. Rode to the OWA meeting after work, then to PJ's for a pint before coming home. While biking down the trail underneath the power lines swarms of fireflies were blinking in the field, giving the impression of crowds of invisible people with reflective clothing.

Flat Tire

Tuesday - Jun 12 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work. I walked out to my bike after work and discovered the rear tire flat. Turns out one of the dozen patches on the tube had decided to let go (this one covering a really big hole from a roofing nail some 3 or so years ago). Replaced the tube, strapped on 5 of the rubbermaid boxes, and rode home. I meant to only bring 4 boxes, but must have mis-counted.

Hot

Monday - Jun 12 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work. Rode home in hot/humid conditions bringing another 8 box lids with me. A tree has fallen across the path near Island Park drive, meaning an off road detour around this section.

Weekend mountain biking.

Friday - Jun 8 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work. Rode home with seven of the rubbermade box lids strapped to the back rack. These are much easier to transport than the boxes themselves.

Saturday - Jun 9 - Biking 6 km

Rode to Ilona's for her 10th wedding anniversary celebration. Stayed way too late and biked home close to 04:00.

Sunday - Jun 10 - Biking 39 km

Went mountain biking with Rob. This was the first trail ride this year and we just rode up to Gatineau Park, then up to Mackenzie King. Had a brief lunch there and rode home. We took Lac Du Fees Parkway on the way home which is closed for the new highway construction, and used our off road vehicles to go through the construction site instead of taking the detour.

Weeks Total: Biking 251 km
Year to Date: Biking 3097 km, Hiking 46 km, Paddling 86 km, Skating 129 km, Skiing 187 km

House inspection part II

Thursday - Jun 7 - Biking 45 km

Rode to work. Rode home. Rode to the new house to check out a few things with Rob. Got a fairly cold reception from the owners. Biked down to Whispers after for a couple pints and supper.

Another three boxes

Wednesday - June 7 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work on a sunny but cold morning. On the way home I managed to tie three of the rubbermade boxes to the back rack. My boss brought in another 8 so I have 12 more to get home over the next few weeks.

Another rainy day

Tuesday - Jun 5 - Biking 50 km

Rode to work in a light drizzle. Despite the broken tooth, the chainring seems to be working fine. I fixed the cable the night before so my shifting is working great as well now. Rode to re-Cycles after work in the pouring rain. Rode home late at night in a light drizzle and much cooler temperature.

Broken Bike

Monday - June 4 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work in the pouring rain. About 4 km on my way my rear shift cable snapped. Why do I only break things when it is raining? Stopped to replace it on the shore of the Ottawa river. Fought a bit to get the old cable out. Then tried to install a new one. The housing loop to the derailler had started to disintegrate thanks to the top tube cable routing creating a water trap in this piece. I tried to feed a cable through it for 20 minutes, finally giving up as I could not get past a blockage somewhere inside. Decided to simply continue in a single gear. Re-installed the broken cable in the derailler, pulled it tight so I was up on the fifth cog, then tied it off. Rode on. Shortly thereafter, the cable slipped down to 6th gear. Another few 100 m, and I was slipped down to 7th. This was no good, so I stopped, pulled out a screwdriver and adjusted the limit screw to lock it into fifth. The rest of the ride was uneventful. I had three gears by shifting the front. On the way home I discovered I could strap two big rubbermaid containers onto my back rack. This is good because I have a total of 9 of these things to get home. It was still pouring rain. About half way home something felt really weird in the drive system. I thought my chain was about to break, but upon closer inspection I discovered that I had broken a tooth on my middle chain ring. Ignored the problem and finished the ride home where I finally replaced the cable and then decided to leave the chain ring for now until a few more teeth are gone or I get some slippage.

Boobies, Books, and Beer

Friday - Jun 1 - Biking 6 km

Rode over to Rob's house and then to Ilona's for beer.

Saturday - Jun 2 - Biking 56 km

Rode a short jaunt up the Gatineau Parkway just past Pink Lake. Passed a big party going on in the park by the river with lots of scantilly clad women and a van painted up as the "Boobie Express". Took me a few minutes to figure it out, but it was a fund raiser for breast cancer research. Rode down to the Book Market with a load of 51 books to sell. They bought 47 of them from me for a grand total of $11. Rode to Defalco's to pick up beer supplies. Rode to Ilona's again for more beer and some yummy nachos while watching the hockey game.

Weeks Total: Biking 230 km
Year to Date: Biking 2846 km, Hiking 46 km, Paddling 86 km, Skating 129 km, Skiing 187 km

Box Hauling

Thursday - May 31 - Biking 37 km

Rode to work in light rain. I have been collecting boxes for my move in July from the dumpster. They are piling up in my office so I strapped a bunch to the back rack and carried them home. Still have a lot more and some of them are really big... I don't want to bring the trailler all the way to work, so will just have to figure out a way to attach these to my rack.