For the past couple of weeks, I have been trying to have the chain and cassette on my bicycle replaced. After the first shop told me they had to order the cassette, it would be in in a few days, it didn’t come in and would take another week, I finally found a shop that could have it done before my planned departure date. I also asked them to look at the rear brake, which was giving me trouble. At about 6:30 this evening, the mechanic called to let me know that he thought the brake lever may need to be replaced and it would probably take a day or two to get the part. About an hour and a half later, he called backed and said that the brake lever did not need to be replaced after all and the bike was ready to be picked up.

I rushed over to the shop . . . or rather, I tried to rush over to the shop but New York City Transit had other ideas. I meandered? Moseyed? Moved toward the shop with all the speed of a wounded snail? I finally reached the bike shop about ten minutes before it closed and got my bike.

For the past five days, I have been running around getting the last few things I need for my trip, packing, moving my belongings into storage and trying to clean my apartment. I got my bike home about 9:30 this evening and still had some things to finish. On top of that, in the first mile or so of the ride home, the rear shifting seemed off. After the first mile, the bike shifted smoothly, so maybe there is no problem. Rather than rush through things, get to sleep late tonight and try to get up early to start tomorrow, I have decided to take an extra day. This will also give me an opportunity to rest before I get started. I want to be able to double check that I packed what I need and give my bike a bit of a shake down ride to make sure everything is working properly.

So my start will be delayed a day or two. In the grand scheme of things, that won’t make a difference.