Saturday, May 5, 2018
It is getting late on Saturday night and I remain jet-lagged making it nigh impossible to tell you how my day went. I will say that getting out of bed this morning was where the problems started and I may choose to avoid that path tomorrow.
Today I welcomed Larry Jackson and Karen Grant aboard. I spent a couple of years screening entrepreneurial ventures for Karen at Angel One Investor Network, and Larry, her husband, is a well known broadcaster who has helped me with messaging on many occasions. Larry just passed one of those milestone birthdays, and wanted to recreate a trip from his younger years through the Aegean, so here we are swapping stories and seeing the world.
Sorry, let me back up. We are supposed to be seeing the world . . . But due to paperwork issues, we are stuck in Piraeus port (Athens). I’m sure I discussed my losing of my transit log in Milos. That occurrence has come back to haunt me. Since that time I have been using a facsimile, provided by the customs office in Milos to sign into and out of the islands. No problems … until today. The only day in a long time when the yachting schedule is important.
The port police have said they won’t sign me out without a proper transit log, and so sent me to the customs office to get one. Good news, I need to ride to get there. It’s only four or five kilometres each way, but I’ll take it. So I race over so we can get on the water today … only to find out they are closed for the weekend.
Back to the port police and there is no helping me, no alternate path, we are stuck here until I get the paperwork done correctly. My apologies to Karen and Larry who will see at least one less island during their stay aboard.
Now Karen knows me quite well, so I can leave these folks to discover the local area without me feeling bad for them. So I do that and focus on other things. Like what you might ask? Go for a bike ride? Please yes. 
The good news from the rest of my day is that I have a good idea what caused my crash a few weeks ago. The tires on my bike seem to have a bit harder, plastic like casing. Less rubbery and more firm. This reduces wear and I’m sure rolling resistance as well. It also seems to make the tire far more slippery on wet roads.
This afternoon it has been raining on and off, morphing into a good rain this evening. But the afternoon provided ample opportunity to cool down while riding in 27C heat. The roads were wet and as one might expect a bit slippery. I now have matching wounds on my left side as my slippery tires decided that the slippery roads were not to share the same space.
My crash was a bit of a low speed affair at an intersection packed with on lookers, half seemingly who wanted to sell me their services as a taxi, the other half who knew as much English as my Greek. Except for the hot girl in the car who avoided running me over. Her English was good, but she moved on after ascertaining that I was okay and prior to my asking for her number. Gotta remember if your going to crash in front of hot girls, try to get their number and ample sympathy. Next time….
Again, I’m fine except for the bleeding and frustration with a bike that has thrown me on the ground, in perfectly average conditions, twice in a month. I think this bike has to go. I will try new tires, but I think the disc brakes are a step too far for me. I ride with great confidence on flats, climbing and descending. This bike, or perhaps just the tires, won’t allow that. The medical supplies required for good recovery are expensive. I will take a loss on the bike and get something that allows me to be confident.
More stories tomorrow, time to start the healing with a peaceful sleep.
I have experience the dreaded slippery tire dilemma. I had a set of tires that would not wear out I mean really 6-7 thousand K and they were still rolling strong except in the wet. Street car tracks a little damp down I go not once but twice. I though that it was just a bad angle. Then at Calvins Challenge a little rain and they got all skittery going over expansion joints on a bridge. Well that did it for me. They came off at the end of that ride. The wear/puncture protector layer (which was black BTW) does not make for safe wet riding.
I didn’t realize Aunt Jinhee was there and didn’t bother to help you out when you crashed. At least she made sure you were ok.