In sickness and in…

No, I didn’t get married. I got sick. Actually it seems I’ve been sick for a while now.
About 3 weeks ago, before my ride to Kapolei, I came down with a cold. It cleared up after a couple of days I thought I was good to go. Last week, just before Christmas, it reappeared. The symptoms were a bit milder, but it made for a mildly unpleasant holiday.
I did ride out to Hawaii Kai on my Quickbeam on Christmas. It was a nice low intensity ride…well going there was low intensity. Coming back I found myself at a light with a fellow on a geared bicycle who clearly had the intention of taking off quickly and showing me who was boss. He looked to be about 40. While not a spring chicken, he still had a decade on me. Off he went.
Within a quarter mile I’d passed him and over the next few miles he receded further and further in the distance.
I’m pretty sure the race was completely in my head. 🙂
Still it was nice to be faster than somebody for a change.
Anyway, I’m still not well. I went to the doctor yesterday after a week of feeling under the weather. Because of the length of my illness he suspects a bacterial chest infection and gave me a prescription for antibiotics. I hope it kicks butt.
Since Saturday I’ve slowed down a bit and have been riding my Fujiyama with the new, upgraded stem from Nashbar. It only changes the geometry of the bike a little, bringing the bars a wee bit higher and further back, while maintaining a good angle for my hands to grab the brakes. That little change is great though. The bike is much more comfortable to ride and in several days the bars have not moved in the stem. That was the problem I was trying to correct.
Another bonus is that with the new geometry the Wald Basket I have, a think it’s a 198GB, fits better and seems a lot more stable.
I’ve really gotten used to carry stuff on the front of that particular bike and look forward to doing the same on my QB once I get something to go on the front. I’ve got a Nitto Campee Mini Front Rack up there to hold…something…I just haven’t decided what yet.
There are a lot of options, from bags to baskets.
I’m tempted by the Sackville SlickerSack that Riv sells. It is slicker. It’s also $150. Of course my saddlebag was $200 so I guess it’s a bargain. The problem is that it isn’t $150. It’s really more because it requires an addition the rack I already have up front. The Nitto Platrack fits on my Mini Front and is required to support the SlickerSack.
But it is Slicker!
The thing is, I can probably get a pretty good deal on it all though. I’m told that as a member of Rivendell I will be getting a 5% credit on the stuff I ordered in 2009. That means I should have in the neighborhood of $150 to play with for all of this.
Well we’ll see what’s what when the New Year rolls around. If I get better soon, I’ll be putting in some miles on New Year’s Day. I’m thinking of riding Honolulu to Kailua, taking the bus over the Pali, then riding Honolulu to Kapolei and back. That’ll rack up a century in miles even though it’s multi-modal. Cool.
Aloha!