After being reunited with my phone after it spent the night in a Park Tool caliper case at work, I slipped it in my jersey pocket and prepared my bike for a long ride. Monday was a civic holiday: BC day. It was fitting that I had the day off while Yann, a Québecois, had to work.
It was going to be a warm day, so before leaving, I made sure to freshen the cats’ water dish. I waved goodbye to Bubble who was tucked into a cat loaf on the couch. Enfoiré, our round son, was neither on the couch nor in the cat tree. I checked the bed: not there. On the fridge with his front paws hanging over the freezer door? Nope. Had he slipped into the washroom without me noticing and was now gnawing on the plastic shower curtain? No.
In under 24 hours, I had lost my phone AND eighteen-pound cat!
Luckily, Enfoiré is highly food-motivated and sprints so hard that he tends to skid to a stop at the rattle of the cat food container. Naturally, I got very concerned when he didn’t take the bait. He must be trapped somewhere, I figured.
He must’ve climbed into Yann’s sock drawer for a respite from the heat. I don’t think he could’ve closed the drawer himself, and it’s doubtful he would’ve gotten out again had I not done my pre-ride pet check. Or else he’d have busted out of that drawer like the Kool-Aid man as soon as he heard the rattle of kitty kibbles!
His reaction to the rescue was pretty much, “Whatever, I guess I’ll come out now.”
I went on to ride the Galloping Goose Trail up to Tod Creek Trestle, which is closed off for restoration. A detour using the equestrian bypass would’ve let me continue to the end, but a turnaround at the closed-off section would make the ride an even 100km. For someone who rarely does solo rides over 20km, this was good enough for me. I think this might’ve even been my first solo 100km ride!
This was the ride to determine whether the Fizik Luna X5 saddle that I had clamped to my seatpost a few days earlier was a keeper. My initial impression of this saddle was positive; however, the saddle I had been using on both bikes for the last three years, the Fabric Scoop Shallow also performs well on shorter rides. Only on long rides would I start feeling some tenderness in my, uh, no-no area. I knew there had to be something better, but 100km later I concluded that it was a no-no for my no-no area.
I’ve found my phone and Enfoiré, but the search for the saddle of my dreams continues.
Credit for the above saddle goes to Clem Chen.
squaremeat.com 