Fundraising update – wow!!!

I have just received the fundraising update from the CCFF and I am amazed and delighted to be able to let you know that I am well on the way to my target.  Currently I have raised a fantastic $CAD 3,721.21.  Plus I have another $CAD 200 in cash donations waiting to be sent in too.  

A great big thank you to all the people who have sponsored me so far, both from me and I’m sure also from the CCFF and the CF community at large.  Much of my current total

has been made up by two very generous sponsors, to whom I’m very grateful indeed.  I am also very grateful to all the other people who have sponsored me very generous amounts indeed, I have been impressed by everyone’s generosity.

There is further good news in that I know there are a number of people out there who I know will sponsor me but have yet to have the chance, I’m looking forward to seeing those sponsorships!  I think with these and further fundraising efforts I should get well past the total.

Bicycles in BC are exempt from BC tax

I discovered today that new bikes are exempt from BC PST, so only GST needs to be paid when buying a new bike.  That is good news if you’re planing on buying a new bike as I am! 

This was told to me today by a sales person in a bike shop, who proceeded to then tryto talk me into buying a bike I was still unsure of.  So I walked out and will not be buying it there!  If you’re buying a bike a bike shop should be happy to give you time and space to make your own decision.  My usual bike shop is like that, so I am more and more minded to give them my business. 

The reason would seem to be the BC government wishing to encourage people to cycle.  There are other things that could be done here.  I bought my first bike in the UK because my employer – Imperial College– operated a scheme whereby employees could get an interest free loan to buy a bike, which was then repaid through your salary so you never saw the money anyway – an altogether less painful way to do things!

Me down at Iona Beach this evening

Me down at Iona Beach this evening

Originally uploaded by JamesZ_Flickr.

I took this photo of me to prove I am out training – at least a bit!  This is me with my much maligned but in fact stalwart bike down at Iona Beach at about 7pm.  Today was a horrible start to the day, with a big down pour that caused me to stop on Marine Drive to fit covers to my shoes so I didn’t get completely soaked on my extended 11 mile ride into work. At this time of year the weather can change very quickly and by the afternoon it was a lovely day so I went down to the airport and Iona Beach. This is taken looking sort of eastwards towards the airport. This was the first time this year I have been able to dispense with my arm warmers.

The new bike…

Currently I have a Scott SUB (speed utility bike) 30 hybrid bike – a hybrid bike being a cross been a road bike and a mountain bike.  This has widely been derided by other more professional cyclists, from apparently being the worst in the team on the BC Lung ride (although I was one of the fastest!!) to being described as a tank by the shop that services it (despite it being far from that!!!).   It does seem clear that expecting this to get over the Rocky Mountains might be going too far (although I have done approaching 4,000 miles on it already). 

So the question then is what to get?  Most people on the gearup4cf ride last year had road bikes, except I think for David who has a touring bike.  The difference between the two apparently is that a touring bike is like a sedan, whilst a road bike is faster.  A touring bike is actually made to allow you to carry all your gear – so has lots of mounting points for panier racks – the bags that cyclists carry.

These things seem a bit bewildering at the beginning, especially faced with sales people who’s lives are often totally about bikes!  I went to one bike shop on Sunday and they said for sure I should get a road bike.  They did say that any shop that won’t let you test ride a bike is one that you should just walk out of and I was glad to hear that!  There were various other things I apparently should get too:

• carbon forks
• carbon bar (that was quite a bit more though so maybe not!)
• three front rings
• Shimano flight deck shifters (actually I’m just planing to get those  because the name sounds good!)
• Pro fit sizing

At the moment I’m looking at a Specialized Allez Sport Triple but a few more shops to go see yet, however I am minded to buy from the place that does my servicing, which is The Bike Gallery on 10th Avenue.