I was asked several times during the week whether I would ride in Tour de Kota again next year. As the week progressed, my answer quickend. When asked Friday, I didn't even think about it and found myself blurting out "no".
This ride was tough. If you recall from my opening thoughts, I didn't feel I had the training miles logged that I should have for a ride of this magnitude. I don't really feel that was the biggest issue for me. I feel a ride this early in the season in South Dakota comes with unsettled weather. This was evidenced by facing an easterly headwind, the stormy nights, the cloudy days and the very chilly mornings.
This ride is young. This being the 4th year of Tour de Kota, many communities just aren't sure what bikers are looking for when passing through. This was clear on day four as we rode the entire day without any offering of a meal. Also, very noticeably absent were sports drinks of any kind. No Gatorade. No Propel. No Powerade. Don't get me wrong, we appreciate water, baked goodies and trail mix, but these things alone simply will not fuel you for 77 miles.
For the 2 reasons mentioned above, I prefer RAGBRAI. The weather is more predictable. It will be hot. It might rain, but probably overnight. The wind will be from the west. The communities know what bikers want.
The mere mention of RAGBRAI during Tour de Kota draws sneering comments. I'm not sure why TDK riders have such disdain for RAGBRAI, but there seems to be an underlying rivalry which is too bad. In fact when questioned further, many riders can't cite specific reasons why they don't like RAGBRAI, in fact many of those I spoke to have never ridden RAGBRAI. The size of RAGBRAI seems to be the chief complaint. To that, I say the host communities of Iowa take better care of 15,000+ riders than our fine South Dakota communities take care of 500 riders. I think they simply need a little guidance. There is *much* to be learned from RAGBRAI, it should be embraced. There is a reason it is the oldest, largest, and longest regular bike tour in the world.
Am I glad I rode TDK 2008? You bet. As I said in the beginning of this post, it was challenging and do enjoy a good challenge. It definitely helped having a co-rider along. Riding with Wags made some of the long stretches go by quickly as we chatted, complained, gossiped, and reminisced along the way.
So, will I ride TDK 2009? As of right now, no. However, I do reserve the right to change my mind. Winter in SD is long and somehow diminishes the bad memories while magnifying the good when it comes to any outdoor activity. You never know, I may sign up in a moment of weakness. RAGBRAI is probably out for next year, so it might be nice to get one tour in.
Thanks for reading our posts! We've had a great time this week, and we hope that you experienced a little piece of it right along with us!!
Look out for posts from RAGBRAI coming in late July.
Kyle & Wags.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Day 6: Brookings to Sioux Falls
Another challenging day. We knew the winds were going to be strong on Friday, but we also knew they were not going to be headwinds, however crosswinds at 25 MPH, gusting to 35 MPH can be challenging, and they were. The only thing keeping us going was the knowledge that every turn of the crank got us a little closer to the end.
The stops were very good today. The Leighton's had a wonderful stop at their family farm, and they were set to serve a lot of BBQs throughout the day. The Chester fire department was serving bratwurst and pork loin, so we ate well again.
I hope someone got a good straight on picture of the bikers today. Everyone was literally leaning to the right because the wind was so strong, it really was something to see.
After Chester the miles seemed to peel off a little easier. I think we found our groove because I know the wind didn't let up at all, in fact I think it was getting stronger.
Wags and I had decided that we were going to deviate from the route as we neared Sioux Falls. Our reason was two-fold. First, the published mileage of the day's ride was 68 miles, but Wags GPS unit, and the mapping software I used both agreed that the mileage was a touch over 80 miles. Second, with the crosswinds like they were, we just wanted to get there and get done without any westward travel into the wind.
Evidently, the folks at the Argus Leader had the same concerns, as they did deviate the route out of Crooks. A good move on their part as everyone we spoke with was planning on taking that route anyway. Wags and I further deviated our route by taking Highway 38 east, straight to the river, rather than messing around with the bike trails all the way around the airport. A few people had the same idea.
I have to say that riding east today was a real treat. You could feel a breeze at your back while pedalling at 20 MPH!
At the finish line, the Argus Leader had food available and drinks available and the beer tasted good. So good in fact that we moved our celebration to Falls Landing for a couple more.
Another day done, the ride completed. I will post a wrap-up with our final thoughts on Tour de Kota 2008.
Kyle & Wags.
The stops were very good today. The Leighton's had a wonderful stop at their family farm, and they were set to serve a lot of BBQs throughout the day. The Chester fire department was serving bratwurst and pork loin, so we ate well again.
I hope someone got a good straight on picture of the bikers today. Everyone was literally leaning to the right because the wind was so strong, it really was something to see.
After Chester the miles seemed to peel off a little easier. I think we found our groove because I know the wind didn't let up at all, in fact I think it was getting stronger.
Wags and I had decided that we were going to deviate from the route as we neared Sioux Falls. Our reason was two-fold. First, the published mileage of the day's ride was 68 miles, but Wags GPS unit, and the mapping software I used both agreed that the mileage was a touch over 80 miles. Second, with the crosswinds like they were, we just wanted to get there and get done without any westward travel into the wind.
Evidently, the folks at the Argus Leader had the same concerns, as they did deviate the route out of Crooks. A good move on their part as everyone we spoke with was planning on taking that route anyway. Wags and I further deviated our route by taking Highway 38 east, straight to the river, rather than messing around with the bike trails all the way around the airport. A few people had the same idea.
I have to say that riding east today was a real treat. You could feel a breeze at your back while pedalling at 20 MPH!
At the finish line, the Argus Leader had food available and drinks available and the beer tasted good. So good in fact that we moved our celebration to Falls Landing for a couple more.
Another day done, the ride completed. I will post a wrap-up with our final thoughts on Tour de Kota 2008.
Kyle & Wags.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Day 5: Huron to Brookings
Finally. Today was as close to a biker's dream as we're going to get on this ride.
I don't think while looking over the details of Tour de Kota before leaving, I expected the longest mileage day of the week would be the best day, but that is exactly what happened today.
We left Huron at 6:00 sharp, and enjoyed a tail wind almost the entire way. We went through Cavour, Iroqouis, De Smet, Oldham and Sinai before making our way to Brookings. We did head South from De Smet for about 11 miles, changing our wind to a cross wind.
Oldham's lunch stop was one of the best lunch stops we've had all week. The church ladies went all out baking pies. Wags treated himself to 2 pieces: dutch apple and Pumpkin, which he mentioned was not as good as Arlene's pumpkin pie. I limited myself to 1 piece of sour cream raisin because I had 2 hot roast beef sandwiches.
The tail wind definitely kept us going. Our average speed after lunch must have been 17 or 18 MPH, bringing our average for the day to 13.5. As we pulled in to our hotel in Brookings the odometer read 91.3 miles.
Wags and I enjoyed the hot tub at the Comfort Inn hotel before walking down the street to a Chinese buffet, which really hit the spot. After returning to our room, a severe thunderstorm rolled through Brookings with 60 MPH winds. We're sure hoping everyone at the campground is OK, and didn't get too wet. Luckily, the storm moved through at an astounding 63 MPH, so it wasn't here long!
Tomorrow's route is listed in the TDK booklet as 63 miles, but according to Wags' GPS unit, it is closer to 75. I guess we'll find out. We're keeping our eye on the wind forecast, they're saying West wind at 20 to 25, gusting to 30. Thankfully, it doesn't sound like there'll be a head wind, but a cross wind that strong will probably slow us down a bit too.
Well, this is our last post from the road. We hope to be back in Sioux Falls by 2 or 3, and then have a couple nice beverages at Falls Landing to celebrate our accomplishment. I will have a final post to wrap-up sometime over the weekend. Hopefully you've all enjoyed reading the posts, it seems to be a nice way to keep family and friends updated while we're on the road. Look for RAGBRAI posts coming in late July!!
Kyle & Wags.
I don't think while looking over the details of Tour de Kota before leaving, I expected the longest mileage day of the week would be the best day, but that is exactly what happened today.
We left Huron at 6:00 sharp, and enjoyed a tail wind almost the entire way. We went through Cavour, Iroqouis, De Smet, Oldham and Sinai before making our way to Brookings. We did head South from De Smet for about 11 miles, changing our wind to a cross wind.
Oldham's lunch stop was one of the best lunch stops we've had all week. The church ladies went all out baking pies. Wags treated himself to 2 pieces: dutch apple and Pumpkin, which he mentioned was not as good as Arlene's pumpkin pie. I limited myself to 1 piece of sour cream raisin because I had 2 hot roast beef sandwiches.
The tail wind definitely kept us going. Our average speed after lunch must have been 17 or 18 MPH, bringing our average for the day to 13.5. As we pulled in to our hotel in Brookings the odometer read 91.3 miles.
Wags and I enjoyed the hot tub at the Comfort Inn hotel before walking down the street to a Chinese buffet, which really hit the spot. After returning to our room, a severe thunderstorm rolled through Brookings with 60 MPH winds. We're sure hoping everyone at the campground is OK, and didn't get too wet. Luckily, the storm moved through at an astounding 63 MPH, so it wasn't here long!
Tomorrow's route is listed in the TDK booklet as 63 miles, but according to Wags' GPS unit, it is closer to 75. I guess we'll find out. We're keeping our eye on the wind forecast, they're saying West wind at 20 to 25, gusting to 30. Thankfully, it doesn't sound like there'll be a head wind, but a cross wind that strong will probably slow us down a bit too.
Well, this is our last post from the road. We hope to be back in Sioux Falls by 2 or 3, and then have a couple nice beverages at Falls Landing to celebrate our accomplishment. I will have a final post to wrap-up sometime over the weekend. Hopefully you've all enjoyed reading the posts, it seems to be a nice way to keep family and friends updated while we're on the road. Look for RAGBRAI posts coming in late July!!
Kyle & Wags.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Day 4: Highmore to Huron
I've been thinking all day about how to start this entry. I think someone already used, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.", but that gets pretty close. I guess if I'm staying with the theme idea, I would say today's theme was rain.
Wags and I went to bed last night knowing that we were in for quite a day. We arose at 5:00 and were just about to leave the hotel when another group of riders informed us that they were going to wait for a couple hours before leaving to see if the Easterly head wind (yes, I did say Easterly, which is highly unusual for SD in June, or anytime for that matter) would either die down a bit or change. We thought that sounded like a good idea, but unfortunately our hotel room door had already closed and our keys were inside. The decision was made.
We grabbed an orange juice across the highway, where we confirmed with the highway patrol that our day was pretty much going to suck. We also ran into some of the SAG drivers who were already making plans for bus rentals, and had received requests to SAG from Highmore! Of course, that is not an option, you have to get out and try.
We set out. Straight into the wind. Again. Will the weather ever cooperate during this ride? About 6 miles out, the rain started. It rained fiercely and the wind drove the rain right into our faces, at times stinging pretty sharply. We made it to Ree Heights and immediately took up an offer for a ride into Miller. Yes, we SAGed. We're not proud of it, but there is no way we could have ridden the 12 miles into Miller in the very windy, very rainy, very chilly weather. We were beat.
We stayed in the school gym in Miller for 2 hours trying to warm up and dry out, along with about 200 other wet and cold riders. Finally the rain stopped and we made the painful decision to press on. The wind was still blowing, but the temp had raised by at least 15 degrees, so we were pretty happy. After a stop at Wessington, we rode South for 7 miles and noticed that the wind had turned 180 degrees and was now straight out of the West. We looked forward to our left turn 7 miles ahead, as this would give us the first real tail wind of the entire trip! Unfortunately, during this leg, Wags bike suffered 2 flat tires. He replaced the tube to fix the first one, and we managed to patch the second just before our left turn.
The turn. As soon as we turned and felt the tail wind, I remembered what keeps a biker going. A tail wind of 20 MPH gives the biker peace. We rode and we rode. We averaged around 18 MPH for the 25 miles left into Huron. Did you notice we haven't mentioned anything about food yet? We noticed too. None of the rest areas during today's route had any food of any substance at all. Wessington had trail mix and baked goodies and that was it. The people seemed shocked that we would want a meal while riding. I'm not really sure what that was all about. Maybe a lack of communication on the part of the Argus Leader, maybe the weather caused towns people to change their plans. We don't know. What we do know is the difficulty of riding 65 miles increases immensely when you have eaten only trail mix and orange juice all day.
We made it Huron on fumes, but feeling pretty good due to the tail wind. Once we checked in to our hotel, we pedaled post haste to the Taco Johns 1 mile down the road and consumed our daily calories right then and there. It was good. Huron has a nice shuttle system for us, and we utilized it to find a restaurant/bar with wi-fi access, which is where I write this. And yes, I'm eating again ;)
Tomorrow's route takes us to Brookings, 88 miles down the road. All indications point to a tail wind all day. Things are looking up.
See you all Friday, and you can look for our final post (form the road anyway) tomorrow evening.
Kyle and Wags.
Wags and I went to bed last night knowing that we were in for quite a day. We arose at 5:00 and were just about to leave the hotel when another group of riders informed us that they were going to wait for a couple hours before leaving to see if the Easterly head wind (yes, I did say Easterly, which is highly unusual for SD in June, or anytime for that matter) would either die down a bit or change. We thought that sounded like a good idea, but unfortunately our hotel room door had already closed and our keys were inside. The decision was made.
We grabbed an orange juice across the highway, where we confirmed with the highway patrol that our day was pretty much going to suck. We also ran into some of the SAG drivers who were already making plans for bus rentals, and had received requests to SAG from Highmore! Of course, that is not an option, you have to get out and try.
We set out. Straight into the wind. Again. Will the weather ever cooperate during this ride? About 6 miles out, the rain started. It rained fiercely and the wind drove the rain right into our faces, at times stinging pretty sharply. We made it to Ree Heights and immediately took up an offer for a ride into Miller. Yes, we SAGed. We're not proud of it, but there is no way we could have ridden the 12 miles into Miller in the very windy, very rainy, very chilly weather. We were beat.
We stayed in the school gym in Miller for 2 hours trying to warm up and dry out, along with about 200 other wet and cold riders. Finally the rain stopped and we made the painful decision to press on. The wind was still blowing, but the temp had raised by at least 15 degrees, so we were pretty happy. After a stop at Wessington, we rode South for 7 miles and noticed that the wind had turned 180 degrees and was now straight out of the West. We looked forward to our left turn 7 miles ahead, as this would give us the first real tail wind of the entire trip! Unfortunately, during this leg, Wags bike suffered 2 flat tires. He replaced the tube to fix the first one, and we managed to patch the second just before our left turn.
The turn. As soon as we turned and felt the tail wind, I remembered what keeps a biker going. A tail wind of 20 MPH gives the biker peace. We rode and we rode. We averaged around 18 MPH for the 25 miles left into Huron. Did you notice we haven't mentioned anything about food yet? We noticed too. None of the rest areas during today's route had any food of any substance at all. Wessington had trail mix and baked goodies and that was it. The people seemed shocked that we would want a meal while riding. I'm not really sure what that was all about. Maybe a lack of communication on the part of the Argus Leader, maybe the weather caused towns people to change their plans. We don't know. What we do know is the difficulty of riding 65 miles increases immensely when you have eaten only trail mix and orange juice all day.
We made it Huron on fumes, but feeling pretty good due to the tail wind. Once we checked in to our hotel, we pedaled post haste to the Taco Johns 1 mile down the road and consumed our daily calories right then and there. It was good. Huron has a nice shuttle system for us, and we utilized it to find a restaurant/bar with wi-fi access, which is where I write this. And yes, I'm eating again ;)
Tomorrow's route takes us to Brookings, 88 miles down the road. All indications point to a tail wind all day. Things are looking up.
See you all Friday, and you can look for our final post (form the road anyway) tomorrow evening.
Kyle and Wags.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Day 3: Chamberlain to Highmore
If the theme for yesterday was wind, then the theme for today has to be hills. But that is just fine. I would take these huge Missouri valley hills over a 25 MPH head wind any day, any time, any where. Period.
Wags and I got a jump on the crowd this morning by departing at 5:30 AM. As a recumbent rider, my up-hill pushes are much slower than all the road bikes around me. As an additional bonus to starting early, Wags was the very first cyclist to arrive at an amazing breakfast rest area, I was third, someone passed me during the last mile. The rest area was a chuck wagon where some local cowboys cooked up cowboy omelets and corn bread in dutch ovens. An added bonus for me was the chance to warm my feet by the camp fires after some incredible, but very chilly, downhill runs.
After the first breakfast stop, we had a nice stop at the Lode Star Casino in Fort Thompson. I say "nice" because I plugged a .50 slot machine with a Jackson and pulled out $50.00! A nice take for 10 minutes of "work". After eating another breakfast, we were ready to roll.
All we had left was a 30 mile straight north shot to Highmore. The terrain was moderately hilly with some challenging inclines, usually followed by a great decline. This was a nice short day with a 53 mile total, bringing us into Highmore by 12:30.
We spent the day doing laundry, having minor bike repairs made, buying replacement accoutrements, etc. The Grand Lodge here in Highmore is really very nice. It is brand new, and I'm not sure that we're the first people staying in this room. It was nice to be able to 'relax' and not rush around this afternoon.
We're off to eat at the on-site restaurant and then visit the bar.
Tomorrow's ride is a 63 mile leg to Huron. The weather sounds iffy with rain very likely. The wind could be a bugger again, but I doubt that it will rival Monday's wind.
Until then!!
Kyle & Wags.
Wags and I got a jump on the crowd this morning by departing at 5:30 AM. As a recumbent rider, my up-hill pushes are much slower than all the road bikes around me. As an additional bonus to starting early, Wags was the very first cyclist to arrive at an amazing breakfast rest area, I was third, someone passed me during the last mile. The rest area was a chuck wagon where some local cowboys cooked up cowboy omelets and corn bread in dutch ovens. An added bonus for me was the chance to warm my feet by the camp fires after some incredible, but very chilly, downhill runs.
After the first breakfast stop, we had a nice stop at the Lode Star Casino in Fort Thompson. I say "nice" because I plugged a .50 slot machine with a Jackson and pulled out $50.00! A nice take for 10 minutes of "work". After eating another breakfast, we were ready to roll.
All we had left was a 30 mile straight north shot to Highmore. The terrain was moderately hilly with some challenging inclines, usually followed by a great decline. This was a nice short day with a 53 mile total, bringing us into Highmore by 12:30.
We spent the day doing laundry, having minor bike repairs made, buying replacement accoutrements, etc. The Grand Lodge here in Highmore is really very nice. It is brand new, and I'm not sure that we're the first people staying in this room. It was nice to be able to 'relax' and not rush around this afternoon.
We're off to eat at the on-site restaurant and then visit the bar.
Tomorrow's ride is a 63 mile leg to Huron. The weather sounds iffy with rain very likely. The wind could be a bugger again, but I doubt that it will rival Monday's wind.
Until then!!
Kyle & Wags.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Day 2: Mitchell to Chamberlain
So, what keeps a bicyclist motivated during a bad ride? I was asking you because sometimes I'm not sure! Today was quite possibly the worst, nay, it was the worst biking day I have ever had. That is saying a little something because I have been biking for a long, long time.
The route was laid out as a straight shot from Mithcell to Chamberlain, East to West. The terrain from Mitchell to Kimball was almost perfectly flat, which gave the 25 MPH headwind from the West an unimpeded path, acting as a virtual "wall" of wind the whole way. The wind did not let up after Kimball, but thankfully the terrain became more hilly so at least we had something to break up the unrelenting stretches of wind, wind, wind.
The rest stops were all situated in towns along the way, starting with Mt. Vernon, then Plankinton, White Lake, Kimball, Pukwana and finally Chamberlain. The stops were fairly evenly spaced, at about 12 miles between each. With the wind, it took us 2 hours to get from stop to stop! Our average speed today was a paltry 8.4 MPH! We left Mitchell at exactly 6:00 AM, and pulled in to Chamberlain at 5:45 PM, nearly 12 hours later! Of that 12 hours, we spent just over 9 hours actually pedaling!
One bright spot is the knowledge that we finished every mile. The SAG vehicles were so busy hauling riders to Chamberlain that the Argus Leader actually had to rent 2 school buses to accommodate all the saggers! We haven't heard any final numbers, but of the 450 riders that started this leg, there can't be too many of us that actually finished.
Needless to say, we are a little worn out tonight. We took alternating dips in the whirlpool and regular pool while enjoying some adult beverages, and had a nice meal at a local joint called the Anchor Grille. As soon as this post is published, we are going down for the night so we are well rested for tomorrow's leg.
Tomorrow's route preview: 53 miles *yippee!*, but mostly uphill to Highmore. For those of you familiar with the Bridges & Bluffs tour, you know what the first leg of tomorrow's route is going to be like. All reports indicate that we should have a nice tail wind most of the day ;-)
That's all for now. Enjoy your Tuesday, and we'll check in again tomorrow evening.
Kyle & Wags.
The route was laid out as a straight shot from Mithcell to Chamberlain, East to West. The terrain from Mitchell to Kimball was almost perfectly flat, which gave the 25 MPH headwind from the West an unimpeded path, acting as a virtual "wall" of wind the whole way. The wind did not let up after Kimball, but thankfully the terrain became more hilly so at least we had something to break up the unrelenting stretches of wind, wind, wind.
The rest stops were all situated in towns along the way, starting with Mt. Vernon, then Plankinton, White Lake, Kimball, Pukwana and finally Chamberlain. The stops were fairly evenly spaced, at about 12 miles between each. With the wind, it took us 2 hours to get from stop to stop! Our average speed today was a paltry 8.4 MPH! We left Mitchell at exactly 6:00 AM, and pulled in to Chamberlain at 5:45 PM, nearly 12 hours later! Of that 12 hours, we spent just over 9 hours actually pedaling!
One bright spot is the knowledge that we finished every mile. The SAG vehicles were so busy hauling riders to Chamberlain that the Argus Leader actually had to rent 2 school buses to accommodate all the saggers! We haven't heard any final numbers, but of the 450 riders that started this leg, there can't be too many of us that actually finished.
Needless to say, we are a little worn out tonight. We took alternating dips in the whirlpool and regular pool while enjoying some adult beverages, and had a nice meal at a local joint called the Anchor Grille. As soon as this post is published, we are going down for the night so we are well rested for tomorrow's leg.
Tomorrow's route preview: 53 miles *yippee!*, but mostly uphill to Highmore. For those of you familiar with the Bridges & Bluffs tour, you know what the first leg of tomorrow's route is going to be like. All reports indicate that we should have a nice tail wind most of the day ;-)
That's all for now. Enjoy your Tuesday, and we'll check in again tomorrow evening.
Kyle & Wags.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Day 1: Sioux Falls to Mitchell
Day 1 will be a day not soon forgotten. The day started off questionably with wet pavememnt from heavey overnight down pours, and intermintent sprinkles during the first hour or so, but nothing heavy. We stopped in Hartford for a quick breakfast and were back on the road in good time. After a few more sprinkles, we passed through Humboldt, shortly thereafter things took a turn...
About 2 miles west of Humboldt, after a modest incline, which had Wags ahead of me a little bit, I had a rear tire blowout. Not to worry, right? I carry all the tools I need to fix flat tires. So I went to work. Just as I had the rear tire fixed and was in the process of putting the wheel back on my bike, I noticed the front tire was flat too! Not to worry, right? I went to work again. After putting in the new tube in the front tire, I had problems getting the tire to stay on the rim. My tire was absolutely worn out. Not to worry, right? Spoke-N-Spoke, the local bike shop supporting the ride would surely have 20" tires for sale. Nope. After waiting for over an hour for Spoke-N-Sport to save the day, a sag wagon pulled up and phoned them, only to find out they didn't bring any 20" tires along.
In the meantime, Wags came back to check on me. He had made it to Montrose, and began hearing reports of a stranded recumbent rider back by Humboldt. What a friend to double-back up hill to come check on me! Thanks Wags!!! We decided to work with my paper-thin tire and try to get it to stay on the rim. Success! I was a little leary because I did not want to have a front tire blow out while flying down a big hill somewhere.
After Montrose came a nice lunch stop in Salem. After eating my favorite bike ride delicassy (a walking taco) and some nice fruit, we found ourselves underway yet again. After passing Spencer and the Farmer corner, my front tire went flat again! Since I had already used my spare front tube, we managed to patch the tube, and somehow get the tire back on the rim again!
After losing a total of an hour and half due to flats, we arrived safely in Mitchell around 3:30. I was able to find a tire downtown, had Spoke-N-Sport install it, and purchased all the supplies I went through today fixing the flats.
The ride is turning out to be great fun, believe it or not. The people are great, there are bigger numbers of riders than I expected. The weather actually provided us a great riding day. We are looking forward to tomorrow's leg to Chamberlain after a sound night's rest.
We'll check back in tomorrow!!
About 2 miles west of Humboldt, after a modest incline, which had Wags ahead of me a little bit, I had a rear tire blowout. Not to worry, right? I carry all the tools I need to fix flat tires. So I went to work. Just as I had the rear tire fixed and was in the process of putting the wheel back on my bike, I noticed the front tire was flat too! Not to worry, right? I went to work again. After putting in the new tube in the front tire, I had problems getting the tire to stay on the rim. My tire was absolutely worn out. Not to worry, right? Spoke-N-Spoke, the local bike shop supporting the ride would surely have 20" tires for sale. Nope. After waiting for over an hour for Spoke-N-Sport to save the day, a sag wagon pulled up and phoned them, only to find out they didn't bring any 20" tires along.
In the meantime, Wags came back to check on me. He had made it to Montrose, and began hearing reports of a stranded recumbent rider back by Humboldt. What a friend to double-back up hill to come check on me! Thanks Wags!!! We decided to work with my paper-thin tire and try to get it to stay on the rim. Success! I was a little leary because I did not want to have a front tire blow out while flying down a big hill somewhere.
After Montrose came a nice lunch stop in Salem. After eating my favorite bike ride delicassy (a walking taco) and some nice fruit, we found ourselves underway yet again. After passing Spencer and the Farmer corner, my front tire went flat again! Since I had already used my spare front tube, we managed to patch the tube, and somehow get the tire back on the rim again!
After losing a total of an hour and half due to flats, we arrived safely in Mitchell around 3:30. I was able to find a tire downtown, had Spoke-N-Sport install it, and purchased all the supplies I went through today fixing the flats.
The ride is turning out to be great fun, believe it or not. The people are great, there are bigger numbers of riders than I expected. The weather actually provided us a great riding day. We are looking forward to tomorrow's leg to Chamberlain after a sound night's rest.
We'll check back in tomorrow!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)