Thursday, January 6, 2011

Haul'n the Holidays

Well, Christmas has come and gone and the new year has reared it's ugly cranium. Its bin a month and I finally got the beast out for some work. Down to the beer store and back 1 ( Hey ! its a meaningful climb up Lonsdale with a load ya know ? ! ) I did some cold wet riding on Tue. Jan 4. Was a fine commute with a modest load to and from Paper Poet New Westminster, BC ( 50 km total ) A normal everyday ride except for the cold factor. Around zero degrees. Yes I'm wimping out for sure. My huge lack of riding and increased beer ingesting has caused a side effect... Fat and heavy ! This will be remedied soon... I promise !
So, I was cleaning the Portland the other day when I noticed a gap in the chain-chain ring relationship. Sure enough the chain is stretched. Rats . Will see if I can get by with replacing the chain for now.  Will do the whole tranny in May. Also, was thinking of swapping out the carbon forks for chromoly to support front panniers.  I'm an idiot for buying the Portland ( Sale ) should've went with the 520. Also wondering if the wheels can support the load... Aarrgghhh.
Was planning on purchasing a netbook to update this Blog etc. while touring. Was thinking of having solar help for the batteries. Technology is too expensive right now, so I will rely on using good 'ol electrical outlets wherever they may be to stay charged. Maybe get a 5 watt fold'em system from MEC to charge AA's, cell and Pod. If I have a concern I simply go to " Crazyguyonabike.com for inspiration, ideas or specific help related to touring. While on a training ride back in July to Whistler/back, I met a couple cyclists who informed me of Crazyguy...Glad I was paying attention, useful site for certain.
Stay tuned you crazy cats !..