Busy day off the bike

Once again I got no biking done today , but it was a very productive day. 

First I finally got around to setting up the tent and I was pleasantly suppressed at how easy it went up. It’s a 3 man Gemini / Apollo tent that I bought at MEC over a month ago and have been waiting for a non windy day to set it up ( something very rare around here ). Today I got tired of waiting and put it up in the wind .

And yes I know 3 man is a bit much but I don’t have to carry it and will enjoy the extra comfort the space will give me.

They have recommended we sleep in our tents before going on the trip as it’s as much a camping trip as it’s a cycling trip, but I’m use to camping so I’ll skip that for now and enjoy my own bed for as long as I can!!!

And I’m also very happy with the Therma-Rest mattress I got , comfy and it’s self inflating so no dizzy spells blowing it up !!

After that we went down to Toronto to MEC to pick up a few things : LED light , camping pillow, a better set of waterproof booties , and I got a new rain jacket, I figure if I have all the rain gear needed it probably won’t rain and it’ll be a nice dry summer for a change !

From there up to Evolution Cycles to get new tires , tubes and pick up the “Topeak Road Morph” pump I ordered , I figure I’ll have my fair share of flats during the trip and I don’t want to find myself struggling on the side of the road with a small useless pump.

Then it was back home with all the goodies to work on the bike , first it was dealing with the blown tire , I moved the front (good) tire to the back and then put the new one on the front as recommended by the TDC vets .

Then I replaced the rear breaks , which went quite well, and then I removed the rear cassette not because I needed to but just to practice in case I ever need to replace a rear spoke. 

Tomorrow it’s back to riding to get ready for next weekends big back to back 160 km rides “ The Southern Ontario Century Ride” organized by Tour du Canada as a prep ride  for the cross Canada ride.

  

Just a month left to get ready , I find myself exited and nervous at the same time , I’m happy with the training but in the back of my mind there’s the “ what the hell have I got myself into !!!!! “