Yesterday was a great day. The culmination of years of dreaming, planning, thinking, reading, doubting and (insert appropriate verb). My bike arrived yesterday and I got him all put back together. The doggo’s were almost as excited as I was!
The first problem I ran into was my front rack. The one that I bought from amazon fit my bike correctly but once I set my front panniers on they were not perpendicular to the ground, they sat like 20 degrees off. Ugh. So I went to the nearest bike shop and tried to buy a new set. Here I ran into my second problem: they didn’t have any and neither did the next 3 shops I went to. The last place I went the guy went into their storage room and came back with a box that he literally blew the dust off from before handing it to me. So I got home, slapped em’ on and what do you know? They worked!
So today I loaded up my panniers with all my gear so I could take the bike out for a spin and see how he handles fully loaded. I had assumed that I would have trouble stuffing everything into my packs since it seemed I had made the same newbie mistake that all freshly minted touring cyclists do: overpack. Much to my surprise everything fit and there is so much room to spare. It’s almost making me question what the actual f!@# I forgot to bring! I guess I’ll find out once I actually get on the road.
So I take the boy out for a loaded ride and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t all that much different than my regular road bike. A little more work to get him going but once you get up to cruising speed it’s like driving an old Cadillac, smooth and pleasantly floaty. I couldn’t keep the shit eating grin off of my face the entire time I was out. I’M FINALLY GOING TO DO IT!!! It probably helped that the weather today was amazing and I was riding on a beautiful designated bike path next to the Great Dismal Swamp. Seriously, this place was some AAA riding.
So that was it. A perfect day. Now I just have to will the days to go faster so I can get started for real!
❤️❤️ ❤️
God bless and keep you safe! What a wonderful adventure! Mountain passes may not be too condusive to cyclists this time of year, so take care!
Save riding friend. Oregon sends love and an invisible safety bible your way!
Bubble* * * omg. Welp.first typo winner goes to me the typo queen.