Tomorrow I'm headed down to Red Deer to meet up with Gadjet and Sparxxx we're going to be doing a little wrenching and (hopefully) a lot of riding. As a favour I agreed to make the rounds around Edmonton to see if I could pick up a Clymer manual.
There's two ways to pick up a Clymer, you can call around to all the stores in Edmonton and see if you can find one... OR you can ride around and VISIT all the stores in Edmonton to ask in person. What would you choose?
Once again Karatechick and I set out on a ride, with an agreement to meet at the AMA building about 1/2 way between the two of us we set off bright and early. Down the Whitemud I shot, wind at my back. Yeah it was something like 17 degrees out and the wind was gusting to 60kmh. I can only imagine that KC was struggling against that wind the whole way. OUCH.
Whoooops, back in time, I forgot something important. As I made my way down Broadmore (road in Sherwood Park) I ended up in a group of vehicles all driving together. Speed limit is 60, we were doing 70. Truck and car side by side in front, I'm on the right behind the car, and there's a BIG truck on my left.
So we're clipping along slightly over the speed limit when all of a sudden I hear a horn, and I don't mean like a tap tap pay attention to me horn. I mean like a HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK get out of the way jackass horn. It's the guy next to me... now we're already speeding as a group, I figure maybe something is wrong, but a glance to the left shows me a driving leaning forward in his seat pressing down on his horn. Sigh, then he's gone, slowed way down and is out of my sight. The next place I see him is right behind me. What would you do?
Well, I cannot speed up, I cannot pull over (no room at all because of the curbs), and I need to be in this lane. So I start tapping my back brake, tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap for a good two minutes as we cruise down the road. I don't trust this guy to not do something stupid, but he DOES stay a little ways behind me. Probably because he didn't know IF or WHEN I was going to actually brake.
When I make it to Wye road (which I'm going to be crossing) and he guns it into the turning lane pulling up beside me. This means he's doing 70 in the turn lane. I glance over and clearly see him mouth "Fvck You." At me. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I did...
Anyways, I pulled off the Whitemud and turned onto Calgary Trail, I'm waiting for the light to turn green to I can get off the overpass when I see a blue bike turning right onto Calgary Trail then quickly work it's way over to the left hand lane. My light turns green and I'm off, I skip past the 2 cars between us and pull into the parking just behind the blue bike.
Rider hasn't noticed me yet... I COULD start honking, but that usually indicates danger. So I just pull in the clutch and rev really loud. That gets me some attention, with a quick wave over the shoulder we both pull in to park. We had been considering heading down to Leduc, but with the weather being what it was decided against.
So off to Cycle Works, no manual
But we did get to see some nice bikes. Sat the 650R, but it didn't really feel right, though it is a beautiful bike. Looked at some of the other bikes, though nothing really caught my eye. The ninja500 isn't a bad bike, though I don't like the reach to the bars. God I'm a picky little "poo poo".
I also got to meet Andrew, the guy who sold KC her bike. Nice guy, offered some wrenching suggestions and also suggested we try Echo Cycle for a manual. On our way out some guy wandered out behind us. We'd both geared up while talking to Andrew so we WERE ready to roll.
Over my shoulder I hear, "whose ------ is ----- llow ----- 99."
*feminine voice* "His."
"You ride that Yellow one?"
Well, "yes I do."
"Want me to lube it?"
*Mentally*"WTF?"
Outloud, "sorry, what?"
This big guy holds up a can of spray lube and says, "want me to lube your chain?"
"Uh no thanks."
"Do you want to do it?"
Now, I'll admit it's been a while since I've, "lubed my own chain." But I sure as hell didn't want some strange fat man doing it. And it isn't really something I wanted to do in public either. "No thanks, she's good."
We did chat about my bike a bit, what colors it comes in, and what years it was made. That sort of thing. I was actually rather thankful when KC backed out of the stall and it was my turn. Guy has a habit of standing a little to close when he talked, that plus the lube talk... I dunno, glad to be gone.
From there we had a spirited romp through the River Valley and up Groat Road, which I hadn't touched this year at all and over to Echo Cycle. Echo Cycle sells Triumphs! I want Triumph... I want a Daytona 576 I'm really excited. We pull into the parking lot and wander inside. It's a TINY little hole in the wall in the middle of a bad neighbourhood... at least until you get inside. Then it's out and out beautiful. We're greated at the door by a salesman,
"How you doing? How's the riding? Little windy don't you think?"
"if there's anything you need at all, just holler."
That's the first time that ever happened to me in a bike shop, and it actually felt really good, I'm going to be back there and often. I reign in my personal desires and check for the manual first. No joy. So I wander back out onto the sales floor in search of a 675 to molest... no such luck, they don't have any. I decide not to ask about it and we head out to our next stop. Riverside.
Obviously no manual there, but there were a lot of nice bikes. I got to see and complain about the new 599 while there, and look at a lot of new gear. KC tried on some Icon jeans, but they were obviously way to big. So she ordered a smaller size and they should be in within a week or two. I might have to pick up a second pair, ones that aren't fleece lined or something.
After that it's about noon and my tummy is starting to hurl vague threats at my brain indicating we (I) should be stopping for food. So off to Red Robins for some baked potato soup and cheese sticks. They're getting rid of the Baked Potato Soup at the end of the month!!!! WTF? Kill me now, that's my fav! No reason to go back there.
Lunch was good as I've come to expect and the coffee warmed me up. After that we decided to swing by 50th street and stop in at the training class where KC learned to ride. That was an enjoyable stop, I got to meet some of the instructors and we offered a little encouragement to the new riders out there.
From there it was just a run around the city back and forth, we shot past NAIT and got to see my rider training class, but didn't stop in to say hi. Maybe I'll make a trip up there sometime this summer though.
On the ride home, I got to fight the headwind down the Whitmud, that was quite the ride. Almost makes me wish I had a full fairing to hide behind. It was quite amusing to watch KC go into a full tuck everytime we crossed a bridge, while I just leaned over to the side to counteract the gusts.
All in all another great day. Maybe I should go lube my chain...
Of course I'm generalizing from a single example here, but everyone does that. At least I do.
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I'm glad people actually read it.
STILL ROFL over that one! Get those propositions from strange large men often...?
