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Other than the fact that we were going about it all the wrong way in how we were pulling the brake hoods back to get to the thingyhoojer that holds the brifters on to the handlebars, the enthusiastically helpful 3 year old made the whole process of flipping the handlebars, removing the brifters, and reinstalling them go a lot longer than it otherwise would have taken.

Then, when all was said and done, I still needed to go to a bike shop (only now without functioning brakes or the ability to shift) because the new locations of everything meant that all the cables were too short.

However, as it meant that I showed up at the bike shop with the process already started, it made the act of explaining that "yes, I really really wanted my handlebars upside down" much easier than it might otherwise have been.

The Nitto Randonneur bars (the "not Cowchippers" I couldn't remember the name of) that I'm doing this with have all sorts of lovely sinuous curves and a gentle flare to the drops that makes the upsidedownness of the bars even odder than just y'know, being upside down but, I think I like it. In fact, after I get the fork currently on my bike changed for the fork that I actually ordered, I potentially could see myself keeping the bars in a configuration similar to this as, when touring, I'm far more likely to want to temporarily change for sitting more upright than I am to want to temporarily change for a more aerodynamic position. (Besides which, I'm lazy, and undoing everything to turn it right round again is likely to take an hour or three.)

My stuffy head and sore throat are very nearly completely better. With tomorrow being Erev Yom Kippur and a return to biking happening no earlier than the 10th (the laptop repair being a fairly important sort of thing that maybe can be done on the 10th and maybe not), I think I'll be in fine shape to continue the tour.