A toast to those who will be moving on

I have been riding for a week or two now and still find myself thinking of something else I need to get for this activity, be it cycling shorts, safety lights or in today's case, a battery for my cycling computer. You just don't appreciate these things until they are gone.

Well that was the case for me today - when I went downstairs to grab my bike from the locker, I noticed that the display wasn't on. This was unusual so I tinkered with it for a minute or two until I confirmed that it was in fact dead, Jim. The problem there is that I have grown accustomed to knowing how fast I am going (do I need to speed up?) and how far I have gone (can I go home now without feeling guilty?) Riding without this information available is somehow different. Sure I know that if I circle Stanley Park enough times I will get in the required amount of distance and I can time myself to see how long it takes but that requires math skills, time and mental effort. At least two of those things are usually in short supply after I am done riding.

Saturday's ride was also a little more difficult because Friday marked the last day for the team members who got laid off from the office. We are a team that works closely together, so it wasn't easy saying goodbye to them. In honour of Greg's blog, I caught him in the act as he photographed his breakfast. He stopped by the Swiss Bakery almost every day and always got the same thing - they were so used to him that they would have it packaged and ready when he arrived.

This might still leave you wondering why my ride would be more difficult the next day. Well in typical company fashion, we ended work on Friday a little early so that we could have some drinks with everyone. I'm proud to say that I didn't go overboard but even so I am finding that all this exercise has really sapped my tolerance for the occasional beer. At least I wasn't hung over the next morning.