On the tribulations of a trial run

I had planned to take Leonardo out for a training ride today. In fact, I got about a few blocks out before I noticed something was amiss with the front derailleur as it wasn't shifting at all. I tried to figure out what was wrong but I quickly came to the conclusion that I couldn't and what was wrong, was wrong beyond my capacity to fix it. I was somewhat annoyed by this especially as I had Leonardo tuned up a week earlier. I took it to the bike shop in question and politely grumbled as they had been remiss. The guy there concluded that a spring in the front derailleur had broken, possibly due to trauma combined with age. He said the derailleur would have to be replaced but if I left it there I could pick it up tomorrow (Sunday). When I noted I worked tomorrow, he then said I could pick it up on Tuesday, no problem. Something clicked at that point. Monday. A holiday. A chance to ride. I then said that I would in fact be picking up Leonardo on Sunday!

I walked home, and changed my cleated shoes for regular sneakers and set off on Floria die Fleddermoose. Today was too nice a day for biking not to be carpe diemed. Using bike paths, I headed first to the Old Port, then locally North to the Back River.

Along the way, I stopped at the HQ of Vélo-Québec to top up my tires with air. This did not go smoothly, as something was amiss in the way my Presta-Schraeder valve adapter was set up. It took a lot of fiddling to get my tires properly filled up. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have refilled the tires up at home with my floor pump. (I carry a mini-pump at all times, but it is intended for pumping just enough air to get me home, not to get a "standard" inflation. On tours, I carry a bigger and better Roadmorph pump with a pressure gauge.)

Once at the Back River, I hung a right and headed to the Eastern tip of the Island of Montreal. I came back up beside the Saint-Lawrence stopping to check the Montreal biking map app on my iPhone and for some soft ice cream.

Floria lacks a bike computer (just one more thing to get damaged or stolen) so I can't give you speed and exact distance. According to Google Maps using the bike setting, I covered about 75 km. I didn't make note of the time I left my flat, but I think it was about 5 hours including various stops, some of them fairly lengthy.

Not bad for a first long run of the season.