Got up, got ready and began the hour long stroll to Dream Cycle - such a fitting name for the shop where I get my touring bike! They did a custom fitting and then set up my racks while I hung out at a cafe down the street. With the bike properly adjusted and fully assembled I began the maiden voyage down Commercial for some groceries. Fittingly enough it was raining. After picking up groceries I rode around, playing lost and found with the route back and giving myself time to get used to how Carrie (my stunning new Salsa Vaya) handled. I then went shopping for some cycling pants, bike computer batteries and a sleeping pad.
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When I got back to Andras' I packed up the panniers for the first time and loaded Carrie up. I was very relieved to find that all my gear fit since up to that point I was just assuming / hoping that it would. Over dinner and some beers I had some great conversations with Andras and his roommate Johnny, who is an independent film director about to shoot a pilot for the show 'Destination Shop'. We discussed everything from hockey (of course), cycling and the ways our countries differ, including government, healthcare, taxes, educaton, health and wellness, work ethic, cost of beer, consumerism and much more.
I went out for a walk around 10pm, looking for a cool bar to hang out at and have a few drinks at since I knew that trying to get to bed early would be futile. After a good bit of walking and checking different places out I settled in at Five Points. I began talking with a really nice girl, Joanne, about a lot of the same things I had discussed early with my hosts. She was very opinionated and would get pretty worked up on some issues, like how most Americans think of Canadians. I pretened to act offended until she bought the next round. It was a lot of fun.
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