Slept great last night. Up at 3:30 am wanting to get as many miles in as possible before the wind picks up just in case it’s a head wind—got about 98 Miles to do today to Cassidy with very limited services between here and there. Will need to carry extra water strapped to back of bike this morning. 78 degrees now going up to 91 today. Rob is faster to get ready in the morning than anyone I’ve seen…he was up at 3:30 and already rolling out at 4am. I hit the road at 4:15
I’ve lost two of my riding shirts over the past few days…not sure where or how I lost them. I’m always paranoid I’m going to forget something when we stop so I’m constantly double checking I have everything. There is a bike shop 140 miles away, so will have to pick up another riding jersey there in a couple of days. Also, someone from one of the churches I stayed in called June—evidently I left my ID bracelet she bought me for this trip at that church—I guess it works 🙂
35 miles in this morning…..broke one spoke at about 20 miles….wheel is rolling fine so kept going. Now have one pinging due to it getting loose so stopped to tighten. Nothing around here for miles…broke out the beef jerky….may be awhile before breakfast 🙂
Stopped at a little corner market/gas station at about 8:30 with 43 miles down. First place to get something to eat this morning. Had turkey sandwich, orange juice, grape juice and Diet Coke. The couple that runs the place asks cross country cyclists to sign their registry and they give them plastic lizards to attach to their bike complete with a tie strap to attach it with 🙂 I attached mine to my shifter cable, named it Caroline after someone I know 🙂 and will give it a ride to the Pacific Ocean.
Stopped in Eureka at 10:45….63 miles down. The last 18 miles on hwy 54 was Terrible….one of the worst stretches yet. It has nice wide shoulders and no rumble strip, so plenty of space but there is heavy traffic on this road and lots of 18 wheelers that do at least 90 mph, they don’t move over and when they pass the wind turbulence they create jerks you all over the place and it’s always different—sometimes nearly pushing you off the road and sometimes nearly sucking you under the truck. I had another 17 miles of this after leaving Eureka….that 35 or so Miles was some of the worst conditions of the entire trip thus far—really pretty dangerous. Adventure Cycling should find a way to route riders around this even if it added 100 or more miles to the trip.
Passed 7 or 8 Race Across America riders this afternoon. These are bikers who start on the west coast and race non-stop (some single riders and I think some in teams) on racing bikes with a support vehicle following them. The support vehicle carries a spare bike, or two, and all supplies needed by the rider. It also serves to protect the rider from traffic to a certain degree since it usually follows directly behind the rider.
About 1pm I’m climbing this long hill and saw a tree I wanted to take a pic of, so pulled off took the pic, then just sat on the side of the road for about 30 min eating snacks and enjoying the cool breeze and scenery. This is the beginning of the part of the country I’ve been waiting to get to, so going to slow down a bit and enjoy it.
After turning off the nightmare road that seemed to never end, then I headed down one of the best roads and most scenic areas of the entire trip. This was for the last 17 miles of today’s trip. I was headed North and had a strong tailwind coming out of the south—it was great. Pulled into Cassoday around 3pm and stopped at the only food place in town….gas station/cafe. The owner has lots of cyclists stop there, so she had meatloaf, potatoes, salad, and bread ready—I ate a bunch of it along with two diet cokes and a bottle of tomato juice.
No hotels or campgrounds in this town, so Rob and I are sleeping in the city park tonight under a gazebo. Supposed to rain tonight. No showers here, but there is a water pipe sticking out of the ground, so I got a large cup at the store and took a cold shower using a large soda cup….and it was cold 🙂
There is a bike shop on our route in Newton — 40 miles away. Since the wheel is doing fine I’ll just stop there tomorrow and let them fix my spoke, otherwise I would have to find someone with a large adjustable wrench so I can remove my rear gear set—have everything I need except for that. Was hoping I was past these spoke issues but I guess not—guess I’ll have to pick up one of those at the next hardware store I pass and just carry the weight.
All in all, even with the nightmare stretch of road and crazy truck drivers today, it was a good day cycling. Still feeling strong—could have done a lot more miles today if I needed to.
