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OK now as I've said before this is my
unedited journal entries which includes my thoughts, dreams and my
perceptions of the world around me.
So, with that said here is my latest crazy dream. In this dream
I met someone in a town I was cycling through. She said her
name was Amy Durandt and she was a Physical Therapist also.
Now I do not know anyone by that name and have never heard of anyone
by that name. All I can imagine is that the name was buried
in my subconscious from reading somewhere or hearing someone mention
the name. The funny thing is that she said that she was receiving
those e-mail healthcare newsletters I was sending out and was shocked
that she ran into me. She had dark hair, wore black clothes.
Last night the winds got really strong and I could hear it roaring
through the trees around the lake. The gusts moved through them
sounding like a plane blasting it's way through the forest.
Then the lightning and loud thunder followed. All I could think
about was whether or not lightning would strike aluminum tent poles
:) But I was soon put to sleep by the heavy rains that
followed.
Waking up this morning I noticed just a bit of poison ivy on my right
arm. I waited as long as possible to let the morning sun dry
off my tent, then I finished drying it off the best I could myself
as it started getting late in the morning. I left the park and
headed to town in search of the local bike shop. Taking 69 north
into Columbus, I found "The Hole Shot" bike shop just a
few blocks off 69 behind the Subway. Deciding my butt has been
a bit too sore lately I purchased some "Chamios Butt'r"
and I also got some more chain lube, and a pair of bike socks.
Originally I had on my packing list to include 2 pair but I only brought
one with me. I also looked at what they had for rear racks and
panniers and the guy recommended a rack that they do not have, "Bruce
Gordon Tubular Cro-Moly" racks. The extra storage
space the panniers will add I've decided will be a necessity with
the amount of food and water I'm consuming.
Leaving the bike shop, I got back on 69 and headed into downtown looking
for 45 north. Somehow I passed it as I was checking out
the old historic looking downtown area. As I approached
the edge of downtown I noticed the Bourbon Street Cafe' and decided
since it was already almost noon, I would indulge in a nice lunch.
I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and talked to the waitress a
bit about the town. As it turns out she told me her ex-boyfriend
would want to talk to me and said he worked at the bike shop.
I told her I just met him and she said, "wow, small world huh."
I thought the town was a neat little town but she wasn't too impressed
with it and had thought about leaving to a larger city.
Upon leaving, she directed me back to 45N and I hopped on my bike
to leave. While making a U-turn in the street... WHAP..
my bike slides out from under me and crashes to the pavement.
Of course I was able to very smoothly and gracefully jump off the
bike and did not fall myself :) Of course I still felt like
a dork as a car started honking at me before I could get my bike back
up. Inspecting my front tire I realized it blew. I headed
to the sidewalk and proceeded with my tire repair. Taking
the tube out I noticed it had a four inch split on the inside part
of the tube. Geeez what a bummer, I just bought this "thorn
resistant" tube in Key Largo. Must have been a weak spot
along the seam where the split is. I put in the one spare I
had with me, pumped it up and got on the road again. It really
didn't bother me I had been feeling exceptionally good today and was
just very excited to be riding.
There were some headwinds but they weren't very bad, I just pedaled
north and began singing my dorky songs with my dorky made up lyrics.
The riding felt great and for some reason I was on an exceptional
high today. And then 2 young high school age girls drove by
in a convertible silver Miata and started honking and waving as they
drove by. Folks either seem to be pleasant and friendly to a stranger
on a bicycle or they are hateful. There seems to be no in between.
I got in to downtown Aberdeen and went
directly to the Post Office. The gloves that were sent to me
were there waiting. Then I set out to look for a bike shop since
I now longer had a spare tube. Unable to find a bike shop, I
noticed a couple of bikes in the window of a hardware store.
I went inside and a tall robust man in his fifties greeted me.
He introduced himself as Walter Lann as he shook my hand.
He asked if he could help, and was able to get the tube that I needed.
Of course they only had Schrader valve tubes and he'd never
heard of Presta valves. But, anticipating tube problems like
this, I drilled my rims to accommodate Schrader valves… thanks
to some advice in the rec.bicycles.rides newsgroup J
Walter asked where I was headed and took a sincere interest
in me and my trip. We talked quite a bit and he called
the Chamber of Commerce to see if they had a state map and camping
information for me. When I pulled out money to pay for the tube
he said, "You just keep it. I know you're not poor, but
this is a gift." Come to find out, I was in Lann Hardware
Store and Walter was the owner.
I went to the Chamber of Commerce and got a map and directions
to the campground for tent camping. It was on the river and
a nice quiet place. I met the husband and wife that live
out there and care for the property. I paid $4.00 for camping
and we talked about the town. He said he's not prejudiced, but
they do have a lot of problems with many of the Blacks in town.
He also told me I might see some lovers that come out there in the
evening. "They're both married, but to different people."
Setting up my tent on the "point" by the river,
I watched a tugboat go by. One of those para-sailer things also
flew overhead. Then I went in the bathroom, locked the
door, and bathed myself standing in front of the sink because they
had no showers. After that, I fixed my last package of "Oodles
of Noodles" and added lots of TVP (texturized vegetable protein.)
Not only adds lots of proteins but lots of vitamins too
:-)
I took my old tube that was split and cut out the inside
of the tube. Then cupped the old tube around my new one that
I had taken out. Since the tube that was split was one
of those "thorn resistant" tubes it had a 4.5mm outer thickness.
So I made use of that outer thickness cupped around my other tube.
This was something Ed, the Canadian cyclist, told me he had done before.
Today - 46.02 miles
Total - 1227 miles
Average Speed: 10.5
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