July 21, 2015
Zero kms
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We were excited about today because we realized that we had to cycle to the airport, which is a distance of 30-40 kms, with a route that follows the river. 30-40 kms of river route? Waitaminute, that's exactly our gig. So this would be Day 1!
We figured we could leave about 3 p.m., since we're taking a night flight. That left time for a walk in the rain with the girls. Rain? Yes, the forecast was for thunderstorms all day.The people here expressed confidence in umbrellas, and we set out, with Amelia and Evee looking ever so cute, sharing one. They only made it a block. The rain just blasted them out of there. Walking in the rain is fun, but this was not!
Back home, Dodie, backed up by Sabrina, developed the idea that cycling 40 km in thunderstorms would leave us too damp to comfortably fly. They said we needed a taxi. I poo poo'd this, because firstly I am so tough that no mere water can deter me (unless it's Winter, or Fall, or too splashy, or muddy, or ...). Next, I did not believe there was a taxi that could readily carry our bikes and gear.
As the day grew later, the time to leave if indeed we were cycling approached. And in fact the sun decided to come out. But we could not cancel the taxi and take off, because Amelia and Evee had gone down for their naps. We had promised that we would be here when they woke up. That settled it, of course, though I was still peevish that we had ended with this delay and cost.
I decided to take advantage of the sunshine to walk down the street to the Polish Bakery for some "Ponki". Ponki are jelly donuts, or as they are know in Europe, Berliners. (This, of course, is not to be confused with the Berliner that JFK said he was). When I got back, my box of Ponkis was confiscated by Sabrina, pending the chidren's wakeup. And I got confiscated by Dodie, to go triple check our packing. It just was not shaping up as my best day!
One of the triple check chores was to take the pedals off the bikes (since as explained, today they were pedalling nowhere ). It was at this time that I noticed that Dodie's headset was really loose, again. I thought I had really tightened it before leaving Victoria, and that, as we know, was a mere 273 km ago. So I decided to try some Loctite. I unscrewed the locknut and top race (yes, Bike Friday's default is an antique threaded headset).But Loctite did not really seem like it could work in the oily environs of the threaded fork. I started to just put it back together, but noticed some aluminum filings. Had I cross threaded the locknut? Maybe. So, with lots of time until the taxi (3 hours) I jumped on Josh's bike and zoomed off to the nearest bike shop. 1 1/4" Bike Friday lock nut? Ha ha! So I zoomed off to the next, not so near bike shop. Don"t have just the locknut, have to buy the whole set, $30. Ok, fine! Oh, oh, don't actually have one. No problem, can order it. Order it?? Yes but it will be here in 40 minutes. Ok, do it! Oh, oh, supplier does not have it. 1 1/4"" is a weird size.
So I zoomed off to a hardware store I remembered. "Avez vous le ruban pour toyau, mais fort, come pour le gaz? Jaune, je crois, pas blanc." (Do you have teflon pipe tape, but the strong stuff, like for gas, I think it's yellow, not white.) Yes, they had it - though here it is pink. I was thinking, could I find this in Brussels in under a week?
The tape seems to have firmed up what I think is just a poorly engineered cheap headset. Good thing "some of us" chickened out of riding today!
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And oh, as I type this, waiting for the taxi, there is thunder outside. And Sabrina contributes this thunder and lightening warning.The ladies are looking pretty smart again, eh!
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