The Pen

Welcome back to "The Pen!" DudeMan, I love it up here. It is always easy to feel at home in the Okanogan.

Scotty and I made the trek yesterday, driving onto the 1pm ferry having arrived in line at 12:35, just like the olden days.

We made it a relaxed trip, soaking up the coastal mountains through Hope, and rolling by the Princeton valley. Shoot North for a little ways and there's a comfortably familiar sight, Skaha lake. Almost there.

Okanogan Lake. Ahhh Pen, here we are.

I love it up here.

Perfect pre-race day. Sleep in, mount a tubular, swim, register, package pick up, run, ice, hair cut, plan the race.

The tubular mounting was definitely messy. Definitely very messy. Defintely the most messy mess I have ever created. By the time the tire was on, I had the both sidewalls entirely smothered with the most sticky of all stickiest glues.

Uh oh. I think I just wrecked my wheel. Seriously, this is the end of my friend Velomax. 360 degree coverage of the braking surface. Uh oh.

Ok. Breathe in. Breathe out. How are you going to fix this? Just start scrubbing and hope for the best.

1 hour later, 2 litres of sweat lost, 1 T-Shrit covered in glue, 2 hands stuck together, 3 Bike Barn mechanics silently laughting histarically, 1/2 a bottle of acetone, and 1 perfectly round tubular on a clean rim.

Wherever you are this weekend, enjoy the perfect suchness of each moment. I'm looking forward to the next opportunity we have to connect.

Rest well.