"Keep a Journal: How else are you going to get a good look at who you were?"

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Lemme tell y'all about the Little Scout Trip that Could...

Back in march, I approached the scout leaders in our ward about going on a bike trip that was being planned.  They were looking for an experienced bike-riding adult that also knew more than a little about bicycle mechanics.  Since I qualify on both counts, I talked my way onto the roster.  We ended up with six boys, and that in itself is an interesting story...

Daniel Buzzeli was undecided about coming unless his friend Jordan could come also.  Jordan is not a registered scout, but our scout committee members decided that he could come along as a 'guest' if all the proper releases could be signed.  Unfortunately, Daniel made this decision the day before the trip was to begin; so it was a bit of a scramble to get the paperwork signed to allow Jordan to travel with us.  I don't regret him being there, he's a good kid, but Sherry Marciel pointed out that the untimely fashion in which Daniel got the committee to bend over backward to allow Jordan to come sets a really poor precedent.

Nyways, the boys all showed up at my place a day or two beforehand to have their bicycles pronounced roadworthy.  Ether Inlayo showed up with a Norco 12-speed that was both too small and too heavy.  I had got a Dept. store 18-speed basher with a bent pedalcrank donated by my father in law Bob; and now seemed like the perfect time to get it back on the road.  So, Ether got a "new" bike.  That basher was the only bike on the trip (including mine) that didn't need any sort of repairs or tweaking on the road.

Daniel Buzzeli got a new shifter, and because we lost one on the trip, a new QR skewer for his front wheel.  I got recomp'd for both.

Jake Madarang had the WORST luck with his bike.  It is a fairly new machine, but he had the chain jump a couple of times, which damaged the chain guard, and he had the rear derailleur freeze up a couple of times, which damaged the indexed grip-shifters.  "Falcon" is not a brand I would recommend buying.  Jake himself is a pretty strong rider, and not a bad camp cook, either.

Quinn Marciel was riding my old Norco Kodiak, and led the ride sessions most of the time.  He's a sharp kid, I didn't have to show him how to mount/dismount the brakes and QR wheels after the first time.

Miles Davies had a front brake lever jam and missed the turnoff back to camp during our twilight ride friday night.  He got a little lost down the trail in the daycamp area, and had a minor spill at the top of the stairs leading back to the trail.  As if that weren't bad enough, that branch of the trail was "quarantined" by parks canada to stop an infestation of Chilean Jo-Jo weed.  Miles eventually made his way back to the campground by re-tracing his steps - in the dark, no less.

Jordan smacked into a phone pole on 12th in Tswassen.  This was less than 10 mins into our ride down to the ferry terminal.  He picked up some fairly painful abrasions on his face and neck, and his front forks had to be bent back straight once we got to the Saltspring Island terminal, but he didn't complain or ask to be sent home even once.  It could have been much worse; if he had broken anything in that collision, the whole trip would likely have been cancelled.  Both myself and Scouter Dan Davies offered to send Jordan home, but he insisted he was well enough to come with us.  The road rash ought to be all healed by the time Jordan goes back to school in Sept.

Sherry Marciel packed us a verrry thorough First Aid Kit, and boy...did we NEED it!

We looked at the stars, we visited Maxwell Point, we swam in Cusheon Lake, we rode from Long Harbor to Ganges, and Ganges to Cusheon Lake.  We rode from Ruckle Point Park to the Ruckle Farm, and to the park gate, we rode from Ruckle to Fulford Harbor.  We rode the campground trails at Ruckle.

We were supposed to ride on saturday from Ganges back to Long Harbor, but we cancelled the ride in favor of another swimming session at Cusheon lake.  The blacktop was over 35 degrees C in the shade, and there wasn't much shade...

We tied knots, we identified local trees and plantlife, we took the self-guided tour of Ruckle farm.  We took a lot of pictures.  We ate ice cream.

We ended up packing ALL EIGHT BIKES in the back of Dan's Chevy Suburban...not once, not twice, but FOUR different times.

We had a really great BBQ at Dan's home in Tswassen Saturday eve after it was all over.

...and I have one small, nagging, guilty worry:

I re-set the brakes on some of the boy's bikes, including Jordan's; and I re-set them to the same pressure that I myself am accustomed to.  That may have been a mistake, because I FORGOT that the boys probably have only half the grip strength that I do.  One or two of them complained that the brakes were too loose (I set my own brakes that way to prevent the pads from wearing down too quickly), and I did wind up re-setting Jordan's brakes again.

Thursday, July 08, 2004

This system Kev built for us is giving me grief...

It overheats, so I removed one of the case covers; now we get severe interference on the cordless phones whenever the system is switched on.

The system is switched on most of the time because the HD has a tendency to implode whenever it is switched off. Laurie has just re-built all her geneology files and has finally learned to backup onto a floppy so the information won't be lost the NEXT time the system crashes. This is a fairly crappy system. Old school cellie 700 tends to freeze up at the most inopportune moments.

We went for a little Canada Day Weekend holiday to Lac La Hache. The Fir Crest Resort is a little campground by the lakeshore a few k's from 100 Mile House. We did some fishing, hung around the In Law's 5th wheel on rainy days, and even took a 300k side trip to Barkerville. Highlight of the Barkerville trip was Coral panning for gold, just as her mother did at her age. Ate some of the best donuts on earth. Laurie picked up a recipe for divinity fudge that she tried out when we got back - yumm! So good it should be illegal!

I caught no fish, which is not unusual. Bob caught no fish, which IS unusual. Laurie caught two fish, and those were the only two caught during the whole trip...my sweetee the Fishwife!

Everything got damp - including our firewood. We had exactly ONE campfire after the campfire ban on the Cariboo region was lifted. After that, the wood was too wet, along with most of our stuff. When we returned to the lower Drainland, we found sunny blue skies awaiting us and I put up the tent and camp chairs and let them "air" for a few hours before putting them back in storage.

I have decided to KEEP the custom ATB frame Bob got for me. Although the hydraulic dampers on the shocks are SHOT, I managed to rig an adapter and put a decent standard-size spring fork on it. The frame is REALLY lightweight for an ATB, and with some accessories (like the fenders from the Schwinn), it will be a fine ride. The Spring Fork was YELLOW...so I spray-bombed it black to match the frame. Looks nice.

Actually...

Now that I think of it, I'm probably gonna sell the Black Beauty anyway. I figure I can get 100$ for it easily, and that will enable me to get the set of Specialized tools at Gunnar's shop. Once I have the toolkit, I will build the 'bent I have been collecting parts for since the Spring.

Work is fine, and busy...

Church is not fine...we haven't attended regularily in a while and I am beginning to miss it again. I also need to get my HOME TEACHING DONE! and GET GOING ON MY CALLING!!!

annnnnd that's all for now.