On a long haul of stuff

When I picked up the Kona there were a a number of issues with it. What with one thing and another, I think the bike shop made a mistake as the new frame was not compatible with my old wheels. It has fewer attachment points than one would want to the point that I was scratching my head about how to attach a rear rack suitable for a milk crate. As well, with the new parts required, the total cost came in a bit more than I was comfortable leaving out on the street. The question was rather moot as winter came early last year, so I was BMWing (Bus Metro Walk) to work.

I was still dithering about what to do about a commuting bike when this ad showed up in my mail box on Leap Day:

"Hmm", says I, "I wonder if that includes the MEC 1971?" (which had been my second choice not only for this bike decision but also back when I was buying Floria). Sure enough, the MEC 1971 was on sale at a very reasonable price. So the following Wednesday morning (I work 2-10 PM on Wednesdays), I went to MEC via Communauto equipped with shoes (for size testing), pedals (the MEC 1971 didn't come with them) and a favoured saddle. In no time at all, I was the owner of a XL MEC 1971 suitable for commuting. (I am thinking of keeping the Kona as a dedicated "whee" bike.)

The bike is named for the year MEC was founded. It was also the year that I was born. I have been casting around for a name for it and I am toying with "Justin" as he was also born that year!

That was Wednesday, March 4th. On Friday of that week, I flew to Victoria to see my brother Stephen, Margaret and Edward for a few days. 

I also got to see John, Caitlin and the adorable Arthur.

I then took the ferry over to Vancouver to spend a few days with Margo and Chris. It was there that the pandemic was declared.

There wasn't all that much to be done about it, so I helped Margo and Chris empty two of their compost bins and did some Vancouver-based shopping thanks to their newly tuned loaner bike. I wanted to repay their hospitality, so I went to Vancouver's sparkling new MEC building where after failing to find any bike reflectors on the shelves, I asked at the bike counter where they were. It turns out, MEC does not sell bike reflectors, rather it gives them away with the purchase of a bike. As some customers don't want them, there were some destined for recycling that the guy was prepared to give me for free. The following day, after due consultation with Margo and Chris, I bought a pair of second-hand flat pedals to replace the toe clip pedals it'd had. Toe clip pedals have their place, just not on a loaner bike intended for urban use.

While I was in Vancouver, I was informed by Alisa, my supervisor, that as I would be flying back to Montreal, I would have to self-isolate for two weeks. I checked Via's website only to find the Canadian was suspiciously sold out in every class. (I think it was more probable that Via stopped any new bookings.) So I flew back on the Saturday, then went into self-isolation on Sunday after stocking up on food.

The first week was still vacation, so I did some prep work on the bikes moving tires and other parts around. There is some issue with the rims on the 1971 which make it extremely tough to swap tires without damaging the inner tubes, tools or the user. I broke two plastic tire levers, two inner tubes and skinned my knuckles before giving up and putting the original tires back on. All the more frustrating as I couldn't go out to a bike shop for advice.

The second week, I started working from home via my computer. I was surprised to learn from Alisa that only three managers were in the Library building. I had somehow expected that while the Library would be closed to the public, employees, such as myself, would be allowed in order to work on the kinds of things we do that doesn't involve that public, and would even have the opportunity to embark on projects such as inventory. Later that day, the premier declared the lockdown. So, I worked from home for four days this week, mostly doing remote cataloguing but also updating a building database for the City.

At one point, the possibility was raised of taking uncatalogued books from the Library for me to catalogue at home. I asked my neighbour Jacques about potentially borrowing his bike trailer. We looked into it while maintaing social distancing. Unfortunately, his trailer is incompatible with bikes with disc brakes.

Midweek, I noticed on my electronic paystub that I was apparently taking a day off work. I scratched my head about this as tried to work out what that meant. Then I remembered that I'd had an appointment with an allergist on Friday which I had cancelled due to self-isolation, but the absence report I had filed back in February had made its way through the system. I therefore took today off.

It is a very nice day, so I took the new bike out for a spin, partly to try it out, partly for exercise, partly for mental relief and partly out of curiosity of the new reality. I went up Guy Street where I was surprised by this:

There are two uphill bike lanes! I guess it makes sense as Guy Street is one of the main ways to bike from Little Burgundy up to Downtown, but it seems extravagent. Downtown was very empty with only a few businesses open and the outdoor testing facility by the Place-des-Arts being used. There was even a tent marked "Medias" at a discrete distance from it. It was empty at that point.