Flashbacks and Whats to Come

As I sit here in the Halifax library I realize that it has been A LONG time since my last post...oops, I suppose that's what living on your bike can do. I also realized that I wrote a post on an epic day which I neglected to both finish and post, therefore here are am with two goodies for you (or perhaps more, depending on how rambling I get).

1. FLASHBACK!! Who doesn't love a little history, right? Look below for a flashback to one crazy tour on my Otesha tour!

What a day.


Today we biked from Wolfville, NS to Kingston, NS and I cycled  with Rebecca. We had a radiculous day that started off with both of us heading backwards, to the bike shop in Wolfville to get both Bessy's (my bike) chain fixed and Sharp Tooth's (Rebecca's bike) fender fixed. Unfortunately along the way my chain was...well...unimpressed and got all tangled amongst itself so that I could not ride. Instead I got to hitch a ride with some pretty awesome para-racers (race in wheelchairs)! They told me all about their racing and how they can get up to speeds of 35km/hr, CRAZY!!

Once I arrived and Rebecca cycled in to meet me, I was promptly told the chain the bike shop sold me earlier was not needed, and would actually make my gear changing issues worse since my cogs were so worn out. Bahh, I was a little bit annoyed, but I also choked it up to learning! Now I know to changed my chain more often! So, they adjusted the tolerance and tension on my gear shifter and we were off on the road again.

To help with our morals we slapped mud from the dyke all over our faces. Now we were warriors ready to take on the world. If only we knew what the world had for us today...

It was only 15 minutes later when I noticed Sharp Tooth's back tire was looking pretty flat, alas it was. So we stopped to replace the tube, and then once we got going again it was about 5 minutes till...

"clunk, gerrr, scrap, BANG"

My chain had fallen off and got tangled, luckily I detanged it and got back on, but to no success. Annoyed I got off, and starred at Bessy with angry eyes, murmured a few inappropriate works, and played with the gears. I discovered the chain would not fall off if I forced the front derailleur to stay in a specific position. To do so I had to tap some old material with duck-tape to my frame. Didn't do engineering for nothing!

Off we went, and although I only had 2 gears for the entire ride Bessy held up, and we stopped at Bulk Barn to get candy, which helped me to keep going!

Nearing our destination suddenly all light was blocked out by the ENORMOUS farm vehicle that passed us! It came so close to both Rebecca and I that I could lick the manure off of its ginormous tires! We stopped to take and breather and freak out a little bit after that one. 

Finally, we did arrive at the church we were staying at, the rest of our team already there, ready to welcome us and laugh at our still mud painted faces! 

2. Whats to come!

Our tour ended 1 week ago, although it was only a few days ago that Nikola and I sent the last of the paperwork to the Otesha office. But it has already been ONE WEEK that the team has been separated. That's a long time in the Otesha world, yet it flew by! Now I get to think about ME as I continue habits such as consuming copious amounts of trail mix, only showering when REALLY needing to (even if the house I am staying in has 2 showers), and making it a habit to frequent a cafe everyday (when there is one in town). The habits keep me grounded while I get lost in my thoughts. 

My current plans are to travel onwards, but that means making some pretty big purchases...such as a tent, stove, and other camping essentials. This threatens my dedication to buy nothing new for a year, since all venues I have sourced out for used goods are coming up dry (friends, kijiji, thrift shops), so...I had to buy new. It was hard but I did. And it was interesting to observe how once I bought a few things new how I started to just want to buy more new things...WAIT A MINUTE...TRICIA WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! This is what I yelled in my head, which helped me stop and think about what I was buying, and why was it so easy to buy things new? Did I really need these things? What I bought I did need (tent, stove, tarp, tensor bandage, fold-able water container for gorilla camping, and chain breaker), but I really don't need an extra dry sac, those pretty looking tights, or that fancy thermos which I almost bought (before I sat down and had a chat with me).


But anyways, other then gearing up I am also getting my plans sorted out for this trip! I am excited to explore PEI, and then later Newfoundland. I am excited to become a camping super star (did you ever think you would see the day, I know I didn't), read, and enjoy the maritimes. 

I hope to keep you more posted then I have this past month. I will be flying solo, so I am sure I will be craving a little communication, even if it is with a computer screen!

Talk soon, and don't be strangers!