Action Packed Weekend

It’s the last weekend before I jet off to Tech Trek for four days. The weather was forecast to be lovely, and with the exception of a brief thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, it has been.

The first thing on the list was Tammy and Ian riding to piano. Tammy was giving Miranda’s bike a try (more on that later) and they had made it five of the five and a half kilometers to the lesson when Ian crashed. He was going too fast down a hill and around a bend, and he grabbed too much brake.

I was up a ladder when Tammy’s phone call came through to come and pick him up and bring ice. His thumb was sprained and he was upset, but it seems he was certainly better off than when I have crashed. I called 811 and talked to an RN, but she recommended icing it and if it got worse to call back. It seems it’s fine and getting better. Ian knows why he crashed and hopefully won’t do the same thing again.

I was up a ladder because I was finally washing the windows. I don’t recall specifically if they were cleaned before we bought the house, but I know for certain that I have been thinking about washing them for two years now. I’m not the most confident person on a ladder, and some of the windows (master bedroom, Ian’s bedroom, big window on the stairs) are very high. Miranda and I had barely started when the call came to come and get Ian. We finished it off, with Tammy Windexing the insides and they look fabulous.

Then we headed to Home Depot to get some new blinds for the kids’ rooms. Again, this has been on the “honey do” list for a long time. The faux-wood blinds in their rooms were heavy and difficult to raise and lower and adjust. We replaced them with new vinyl horizontal blinds and Ian was proud to say yesterday evening that he “had mastered his blinds”. 🙂 We also picked up a new shower head for the kids’ bathroom.

We were pooped out by then, so watched Kindergarten Cop in the afternoon and The Good Dinosaur at dinner.

Today was my usual Bow Cyclist Club ride. The weather was awesome, and the number of riders out reflected it.

Some notes from the ride:

• Before the ride, el presidente Mark suggested splitting into two groups: one to go really hard and the rest (led by me) to go at the usual pace. He had no takers. We did end up splitting just after this photo was taken, with the “fast” riders going for a burn up Township Road 262, while Kurt and I took the rest up Gray Way and Woodlands Way.
• I gave maximum effort on Woodlands, and was rewarded with a Strava 6th best overall on the uphill segment. Woo!
• It was just a beautiful day. Might be the best conditions we see in 2017.
• Riders in the photo taken by Kurt: Kenny, Mark, Francois, Brett, Paul, Hamid, Vince, Darren?, Wing, Will, Kim, Rick, Simon, Derek, Susan, Mark and Kevin.

You’d think that would be the end of the cycling news, but it isn’t. Tammy came down to the shop after the ride. We were at the shop on Thursday evening when Miranda was at piano, and Tammy was test riding bikes. She’s looking at either replacing the brakes on her Dolce, or getting a bike that has brakes which are more powerful and she can use. She test rode a Specialized Vita, a Cannondale Quick and a 2017 Specialized Dolce, which has better brakes than her 2013. Tammy was riding Miranda’s bike, because it is a Specialized Vita, which is one of the models Tammy is looking at. Miranda’s is the low end model, but the basic size and geometry is the same. The Cannondale Quick Tammy was testing was a size small, and they were going to bring a medium from the warehouse. The medium sized Quick was at the shop, but the shop was a zoo (with the beautiful weather, you can’t be surprised). So we’re going back a little later today.

You’d think that would be the end of the cycling news, but it isn’t. 🙂 Miranda started eyeing Tammy’s bike when it started to sound like she might be replacing it. There are rumours that she would like to have it, and other rumours that she would like to try riding with the Bow Cyclist Club (maybe the ladies’ ride on Thursday night, and the Sunday ride). I went for a spin with her on Tammy’s bike, and I can say for sure that she’s a stronger rider than some who come along on the rides. Stay tuned for more developments…

Updated

It took a while, but after hours with the doors locked at Bow, we pulled the trigger on this:

The bike is still at Bow, where Tammy will pick it up this week after getting it fit to her. We were at the shop for almost two hours.

• The bike (above) that Tammy wanted to try had been brought into the store, but had been sold before we got our chance. It was really busy…
• We originally thought that we would have to wait a couple of weeks for another, but when Kurt got on the case with the exact models (Specialized and Cannondale) that we wanted, there were some still at the warehouse.
• I worked with Mark on Tammy’s old bike to improve the braking, and now it’s set up for Miranda.
• The bikes arrived at the shop at five minutes to closing, but Tammy got to take them for test rides. The Cannondale was the one that spoke to her.
• Interestingly, we got this bike for less than we paid for her old one, thanks to my discount through the Bow Cyclist Club Ambassador position.

Now we have to tally up what she needs for accessories. Pedals, bell, water bottle cage and speed/cadence meter come to mind.

More pictures after Tammy picks the bike up. The colour is really something nice.