Present cruising speed is something on the order of 500 mph. Elevation: 35,000 feet. I am firmly belted in and enjoying the sensations of powerful acceleration, remarkable climbing and powered flight in general. I’m also relishing the brief recess from our Gentlemen’s Wager. For the next three days I will be in a corporate classroom undergoing health-and-safety propaganda, which means I will be away from the Rescue Bike, my well-worn route and the drive to ride just a few more kilometers each day.
I’d thought about surreptitiously bringing the bike with me and logging a few unexpected kilometers to keep from falling too far behind. This turns out to be a pricey proposition as the airlines find more ways to charge you for the privilege of flying. According to Westjet’s site, a bicycle is both oversized and overweight. Sort of amusing really when you figure riding a bicycle will generally alleviate you of those same symptoms. As such, transporting the Rescue Bike would have been an additional $200 plus the cost of some sort of packing device – yours for only $500 at your local bike seller.
One supposes they could have fabricated their own from a combination of coroplast and cardboard. Given the number of expect flights in my immediate future (near zero, much to my daughter’s relief), a box built from these sorts of things would likely be plenty sufficient and appropriately priced. Then I’d have to find some means to contain the fork oil in the event of an unexpected seal failure – perhaps by removing the forks and sealing them inside a plastic bag. Figure you could build the box and ship your bike round-trip for $250. I only have Tuesday and maybe Wednesday evenings (assuming no corporate dinner) available to ride – a couple of hours at best. If we assume I know where I’m going and can ride from the hotel, at an average speed of 24km/h, I might be able to squeeze in a total of 75km. If we have
Wednesday evening. $250 for 75km doesn’t seem like that smart a deal, that’s $3.33 per kilometer to ride my own bike. In Toronto.
Alas, it looks like I will lose my lead (at best), or fall terribly behind. This is, while not desired, not quite as bad as it might seem. Adam is just now recovering from a knee issue that took him down for a few days, allowing me to build up a significant lead that would surely have been smaller (or non-existent) than the 214km it was yesterday. Chris is finally in the game posting good mileage gains daily though he won’t have much chance to relax if he’s going to make an honest push for a podium position. Alberto, currently in the number two spot with (again yesterday) 589km, is in the best position to even the spread between us. While he was 103km behind on Friday, he’d fallen another 75km to 178km at last mileage check despite a valiant 100+ km Sunday.
He’s firmly convinced of my lack of sanity and Best Wife shares his belief. It’s called obsession she said to me with mixture of concern and amusement. I can’t really argue too much. A normal and sane individual would not have pointed his bicycle into the driving rain and snow (especially one without appropriate gear for such an adventure). When I told Best Wife that I’d set my alarm for 5:00am so I could get a ride in before this morning’s flight, she rolled her eyes and shook her head. I was kidding of course. Sort of.