Ride into work for Tuesday, 24 May

Took a slightly different route in that I plotted last night that uses a lot more sideroads. Big difference, it was much more peaceful, plus I get the chance not to get hit by cars so much, which is always nice. Didn't quite manage to stick to the planned route as I had a car decide to pull out in front of me, so I had to swerve over to the next lane around her. I'll give it another try tomorrow and see if I can do it right this time. The only real downside is there's a few more traffic lights, and one in particular that takes quite a while to change.

Took the bike into Ideal Bikes. Roger (the mechanic) said it was probably the bottom bracket that was having problems, but he thought it just needed repacking, which saves quite a bit! Since I took the bike in for a service last month he's going to do it for no charge, can't complain there. I also asked him to change the cassette (or is it a freewheel on there? I can't remember) and chain, as they're due for replacement soon anyway, and wondered if he had any wider handlebars that would take bar-ends - I really like the longer reach on the road bike, and the hand positions that bar-ends give me. He dug around and found a downhill riser bar that would work - 4 inches longer, and because it's downhill it's solid enough to be able to take bar ends, plus it gives me a bit more height on the handlebars to play around with. The total bill for all this is probably going to be $80 + tax (if the bottom bracket needs replacing instead of just repacking it'll be more, though) and Roger's going to try and get it ready for me to ride home tonight - excellent!

Distance logged: 11.736km
Time: 34:02
Average speed: 20.7km/hr
Temperature: 3C, overcast
Cumulative distance: 2168.503km