I was sure that I'd blogged at least once in that timeframe but I guess not !
On the 7th I left early afternoon heading to Barrie and then on the 8th, well, 8th and part of the 9th, I rode the Parry Sound 400k. Happenings in VA and a bridge out made that a 24 hour ride ....
In VA - Early Saturday a.m. Hamid was riding with Ed Boltz, 5 miles into a ride, when Ed dropped back a few feet, let out a cry, stopped and fell down. Long story short, he had a massive heart attack and in spite of CPR, they had to let him go late Saturday. Hamid called me at 4:45 am and between then and Saturday night, I had many conversations with him. Hamid felt at fault but eventually, after the doctor told him over and over again that this could have happened in his sleep, he feels just a bit better. What with helping Liz and his sons, Hamid lived outside the ICU for two days.
Ed was a prodigious 1200k rider. Very strong, the only time that I ever finished ahead of him was on the Stelvio climb due to the heat. A very quiet guy, I would see him everywhere. It's a terrible loss to our small, weird community.
The Canning Road bridge was out about 70 kms into the 400k ride. Backtracking, working out a minimal distance ride on highway 400 was the challenge. There isn't anything else going over the Severn in that area. I did the navigating for two of us; the third eventually found his way. We were in regular contact. Another long story short ... the ride that might normally take me 20 hours clocked in at 23:51. However, it's done.
On Sunday, having finished that ride at the Tim's in Barrie at 5:51 a.m., I worked my way slowly to Britt with a number of snooze stops, deliberately taking my time, to hit 10:30 Mass in Britt. I had then snoozed enough that I lasted the day.
On Monday, I cleaned the bike. All the new work that I did held out very well - clean shifting and braking. The only annoyance was that I installed the shifters just a tad lower on the bars which makes me stretch out just a little more to ride with my hands on the brakes. I may or may not correct ... adjust ...
I've got an annoying creak/click that I can't seem to get rid of. I thought that it might go away with the new bottom bracket etc. but no. I've now greased the S&S Couplers and will see if that gets rid of it. One always worries about something being wrong. I thought at first it was the saddle or seatpost but it clicks when I stand. It could be the bars/stem and I've tightened that just a little. Now I have to find a window for some riding !
Sandy went into Sudbury yesterday for food and toes. Today, with any luck, I'll work on her brakes. I moved her car into the barn last night so that it would dry off - it rained most of the day yesterday.
This morning I was on the phone with Joe Blanchette re my Kitchen furnace & A/C. It's been non-communcative for a few days and at first I thought that it was just the internet connection but Joe found that a breaker was the problem. He's picking one up at Home Depot and will replace later today. I'm glad that it wasn't the thermostat !
Onward.
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