Tea'm Sweet Leaf

When friends and relatives visit me here in Austin, I make sure to warn them about the tea situation.

Firstly, if you ask for "tea" at a restaurant in the South, you're likely to get cold, unsweetened tea. You need to be specific and say "hot tea", if that's what you want. Similarly, if you order an "iced tea", you'll also get cold, unsweetened tea--which we Canadians almost universally regard as totally gross and undrinkable. So to get the sweet cold stuff, you need to order a "sweet tea". Get it? They're all about specificity.

It sounds simple, but after a lifetime of ordering tea a specific way, this new format takes some getting used to, and I've pretty much resorted to not ordering cold tea in restaurants. But Sweet Leaf Tea has been one of my go-to bottled teas since I first moved here. It's not as sweet as most Canadians are probably used to, but it's good nonetheless, and the company is Austin-based and they use organic ingredients and real sugar and everything, which is cool.

Anyway, up until now I've neglected to mention that I'll be riding in the MS150 as part of Tea'm Sweet Leaf, who are an awesome bunch of folks, and who I'm totally excited about hangin' with. If you're interested in cheering us on or following our exploits, you can check out our Facebook group here. Go tea'm!

Gearing Up

Last weekend I needed to put some air in my tires, and I realized that the pump I have--the pump that's successfully inflated my bike and car tires for years now--doesn't work for fancy road bikes. The valves are different sizes. So I had to ask somebody else if I could use their pump, which was kind of embarrassing because here I was about to ride out into the middle of nowhere and I didn't even have the most basic, common-sense tools.

Turns out, you need all kinds of specialized junk to be ready for distance cycling. You've gotta have cycling shorts (or your butt gets sore). You've gotta have gloves (or your hands get sore). You've gotta have extra tubes, a patch kit, a pump, a helmet, special pedals, cycling shoes. How about a cycling computer? Jersey? CamelBak? Toe covers? Roof rack? It can add up fast.

Thankfully, what would have been my biggest single expense--the bike itself--was handed down to me by my teammate/friend/boss (thanks Jim!). But with some necessary bike repairs and base-level gear, I've still managed to sink a decent amount of money into this endeavor. And I'm still not completely geared up (I need shoes, a small toolkit, some extra tubes and a second pair of shorts before I'm at a decent level of preparedness).

Don't get me wrong--I'm not complaining about having to buy this stuff. I've actually had fun browsing though so much new gear. I guess I just didn't expect it to cost quite this much. I figured I'd just hop on the bike, and ride.