Maidei goes on a world tour-Part 1 of the Bicycle Mystery Tour

[pinkbikes]

OK, so Maxxxie and I had our Maidei handover this weekend. She is weathering the weather well and seems none the worse for wear for her adventures so far.

But I must make comment on the weirdness of it all. You see, Maxxxie sent me a PM to let me know we were ready for a handover and we pondered whether we could arrange a meet up or whether she should just slip Maidei in the post to me. We decided on a meet up to handover, as I figured, "What are the chances of many TE'ers actually meeting in person outside the USA? Probably not too common."

So we settled on a rendezvous point (a lovely spot on the foreshore at Shorncliffe) and Max gave me the details - will be on a blue Cannondale Synapse and wearing this year's Cycle Queensland jersey.

This is where it got weird. You see, Cycle Queensland is a 9 day cycle tour around Queensland, which attracts 1500-odd people all up. I was also on this tour this year, riding it on a tandem with my DD.

I remembered that I had chatted to a gal on a blue Synapse one day when we had both stopped for lunch in some farmer's paddock in the middle of nowhere. I had asked her about how she was enjoying her Synpase, because I will be handing my roadie down to DD before there is too much more growing, and I was interested in the various options.

So I sent a PM back to her to ask whether perhaps she was the same gal. OMG - she was! So how weird is it that you can meet somebody on a webforum from halfway around the world, and then find that you have actually met before, and also find out that you live one suburb away??!

Oh - and here is the photo of the successful handoff...

[shootingstar]

Love stories of good karma and chance like this!! And Maidei helped you 2 meet again.
Great to see!

[Bike Chick]

Love the irony! And the pic...........keep us posted on her adventures.

[crazycanuck]

Way cool! Funny how these things happen....

Off topic non cycling story...Many years ago I did a Lions club exchange to Japan. My host family took me up to Tokyo n region for a lookie see...well, who should be at the Mejijingu shrine...A high school friend...

Funky...

[Trek420]

Very cool! Tailwinds, Madei!

[Maxxxie]

So how weird is it that you can meet somebody on a webforum from halfway around the world, and then find that you have actually met before, and also find out that you live one suburb away??!

I can't tell you how much that made me laugh!!!

Pleasure to meet you again, Pinkbikes. Give me a hoy if you'd like to go for a ride sometime.

Max

[pinkbikes]

Thanks Max - we'll have to catch up for a ride one morning.

So, I had great plans of taking Maidei for a jaunt in the forests of Bunya and Ironbark on the weekend. We have a regular Sunday afternoon ride called the Bunya Sunday Afternoon Cruise (BSAC) which I figured would be about the right pace for a social outing for Maidei.

It was the last one prior to Christmas and so would be festive, people with tinsel etc. I was going to get another ride out of my Santa jersey, and hand out little Santa chockies...

Unfortunately, it became pretty clear at about 10am that the afternoon was going to be a complete fizzer. The black clouds rolled in, the thunder rolled and the lightning fizzed. It poured rain fit to bust for ages and there was NO WAY I was going out in that by choice!

So I guess Maidei will have to wait a few more days before she can have a ride in the forest. Instead she'll have to laze around and socialise with our families over Christmas, gaze upon the turkey and baked ham, and enjoy Christmas Oz-style in the heat. But then she'd be used to the heat.

[cylegoddess]

I would have gone out!!
LOL, I could have wrapped her in cling wrap!!

[crazycanuck]

Ummm Cyclegoddess....you might want to pay attention to the weather forecasts around the country....There was a weather warning for the Brisbane region... I heard the word "flooding"...in an ABC news report..

[shootingstar]

Since we get so many close-up shots of Maidei, kind of forget how small she and her bike are.

[crazycanuck]

I must mention that grass trees (aka Blackboy bushes) are really really annoying when mtn biking...The stem stumps (?) are unfriendly & not fun to run into

They're on every trail here in WA. Pea gravel & grass trees make such a nice couple

[Trek420]

I would have gone out!!
LOL, I could have wrapped her in cling wrap!!

Awwwww, now she's gonna get a tiny see-through rain jackets.

http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodLG_1030005.html

[pinkbikes]

I might have forgotten to mention it was moutain biking and just how much mud would have been involved. I probably could have wrapped Maidei in wrap, but what about me? (Good name for a song!) I just wasn't up for the surgical extraction of mud from my every orifice. Not to mention the bike's every orifice!

Actually the ride got canned because it is just too dangerous in the forest with the lightning and trees falling etc.

[cylegoddess]

'I just wasn't up for the surgical extraction of mud from my every orifice. Not to mention the bike's every orifice!'

Oh that goes so well with the little scared face icon!!

Yikes! Its not Canberra , is it?!!
Flooding.....wow.

[pinkbikes]

And it's STILL #$*()&^$% RAINING!

At the rate I'm going it will be a picture of her nose pressed up against the window looking at the rain!