Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

As always, the days before a big trip are pretty full. This time the added factor has been my good friend from London sprending a few days with me on his way back from New Zealand. Luckily I was able to clear my calendar for Friday and Saturday so I could show him around (again – though it’s been a while since he was here for any length of time) and also get last loads of laundry done and all the other preparations for travel.

My last day of audio work, where of course we have been trying to tie up various loose ends, was also a day of rain, much as I hoped it would be behind us. It was heavy enough in the morning that I took the BART rather than have the longer ride to and from the ferry. At least my bike behaved; on Tuesday, when I got it out to ride down to the ferry, the back tyre was flat. I was able, with some swearing, to get a spare tube in there and still get to the ferry in time – it’s days like that make me glad I always allow an extra ten minutes on a journey that takes twenty under normal circumstances. But the spare tyre was flat before I got to work, and would not stay up for the ride home either. So that meant another switch after I got home.

At the same time I was trying to instal a new chain on my road bike; I had got the new wheel back, with fresh bearings, but when I tried to put on a more expensive chain on Saturday, I damaged the linking pin as I was trying to insert. I might have given up except for wanting my friend to have a bike to ride around while he was here; so I went to pick up a different one after work on Monday. I didn’t trust myself to trim it to the right length, so I rode it down to the shop on Wednesday for them to do that. When I rode it afterwards, it felt super smooth for a while, but when I tried climbing out of the saddle in a low gear, it was skipping. I thought the derailleur might need adjusting, but it turned out my chain ring was too worn for the new chain. So I will try to get some new chain rings while I am in England, as well as a new linking pin for the expensive chain, for next time I need to replace it…

Hopefully my next personal update will have some exciting stories and news from further afield.