Our friend Ward (ex-roommate of Sarah’s from the 80’s) has a trailer and offered it to us a while back but we don’t have a hitch. After getting quotes on dumpsters we decided to take him up on the offer. The install of the hitch cost less than 2 dumpster deliveries and we want to get a trailer hitch bike rack anyway, so this helped me rationalize the expense. After the reno we can buy the rack. If we can afford it.
I have never actually driven with a trailer before so it made me nervous as hell and i watch a bunch of videos on how to back up with a trailer. I went to Ward’s on Friday after work and drove home after rush hour with white knuckles the whole way. The trailer is pretty beat up and because it was empty it jumped around a lot on every bump. I have no real concept of how it changes my turning radius and changing lanes was a source of stress. I got it home ok but totally failed backing it into the driveway. Well, not totally failed but i had to disconnect it and push it into position.
Friday morning i hooked it up and loaded in a bunch of wood and bricks to take to the dump. Because we have a small tow bar, we are pretty limited with the amount of load we can haul but that is fine with me. Driving the Second Narrows bridge with a loaded trailer was way more scary than driving home the empty trailer from Burnaby. The worst part was at the transfer station. You have to back up to unload. The attendant at the entrance asked me how i was with the trailer. I was honest and told him i was awful. He laughed and pointed me to the end of the line. I was able to swing around and after a bit of effort where i am certain everyone in the shed was placing bets, i got it into position. Only problem was that i had parked it right where the guy running the loader was working. I unstuck my hands from the steering wheel and felt the cold sweat running down my back when i got out of the car, only to have the guy in the loader start shouting at me and telling me i had to move closer to the other trucks. Ulp!
I managed it but I think i was still likely too close and after watching me the loader driver just decided to let me get on with unloading. The load turned out to be pretty small but it gave me a sense of how much i could haul. I did a second load in the afternoon that was a bit heavier and ended up dropping off about 700 kg of rubble and wood with the two trips. I think i was actually worse backing up the second time both at the transfer station and at our house.
Sunday i did my final training hike with Mela up to Eagle Ridge. Lots of vertical right off the start had me sweating but once up on the mountain the hike was great. I think i was pretty much at full weight with the pack and have stopped being self conscious about it. Every time we go out someone asks me what i am training for and telling them about the trip gets me even more excited than i already am.
Finished the afternoon with a trip to the beach with Sarah and a gluten free ice cream sandwich from Innocent Ice Cream.
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