25 Days to Departure

April 2015

• Hélène got another opportunity to display her sewing skills by making a waterproof cover for the the kitchen. The "kitchen" is a trunk bag re-purposed to carry everything needed to eat well on the road. The cover will keep the trunk clean on those odd days that it rains.

  

  The kitchen cover!

• An unexpected surprise was packing the bikes in boxes. It turns out that fitting Surly Long Haul Trucker Touring bikes in a bike box is a major endeavour. First you have to find a box that is big enough to handle the longer frame. Next you have to start removing a lot more stuff than

  

  Success!

  you anticipated. Removing the pedals, the front wheel and and turning the handlebars is not enough. You have to remove the racks front and rear, the fenders front and rear, the derailleur and finally the seat and seat post. The real fun starts when you attempt to fit everything in the box. It took a few attempts to get the order right. After a couple of hours when everything was finally packed the thought did cross our minds to just leave everything in the
  boxes!
• On our first outing, April 11th, we did a conservative 50 km with rear panniers only. It was our first ride since having the bikes tuned by Jonathan at Mobivelo. We had opted for the 'Full Monty" maintenance package and we got our monies worth. For the last few years, I had issues when shifting gears. Adjustments by myself and at bike shops were never lasting. I was hoping to find someone who could fix the problem once and for all and at last I have found him. 
• We were also out the following day and rode a respectable 100 km. The little Machine (aka Hélène) and I have found that our spinning training made a big difference. 
• We are continuing with our training plan. On Tuesday evening, we substituted a quick 50 km for the spinning, carried on with the spinning and yoga on Thursday's and added metric centuries on weekends (2 x 100 km) with fully loaded bikes. On our outings, we are now starting to encounter strangers who not only encourage us but also shout out that they saw us the day before in "Chelsea, QC". 

  

  The rear of Hélène's bike showing her informative sign.

• Chelsea is a stop along one of our favorite rides that takes us across the Ottawa river to Quebec and on to Chelsea, Wakefield, Edelweiss, Lac McGregor, Perkins, Gatineau and back to Ottawa. We especially like this ride because of its challenging climbs. We like to do it in both directions just to spice things up! Lac McGregor is up on the right between the Hwy 366 sign and the 75 km marker. 

  

  The Chelsea - Lac McGregor  - Perkins Loop

• Hélène continues to work on the menu for the trip. We will post the results in the 12 days to departure update.