October 17, 2008
library, flats, short day
Day Twenty Six
"I stayed in a really old hotel last night. They sent me a wake-up letter."
- Stephen Wright -
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When I finally opened my eyes this morning it was 8:40. After nine and a half hours of sleep, the day is off to a great start.
As I mentioned earlier, how far I go is determined by where the next town is. Usually, about sixty miles. Today, however, there's a glitch.
My choices are: I can ride to Sonora, which is 35 miles away, or I can ride to Junction, which is 91 miles away. I could ride about sixty miles, then dry camp along the way, but if I do that tomorrow's ride will again require either a very short day or a very long day.
So, today will be a short day. Besides, I'd like to do some catching up on the blog.
Breakfast consisted of powdered donuts and chocolate milk. From reading other bike journals, it seems this isn't an uncommon meal. It's certainly easy to justify eating absolutely anything you want, and as much as you want, when you're on a bike tour.
I went to the library and worked on the blog until noon. After deciding that I should eventually start making my way towards Sonora I climbed on the bike and started pedaling.
Perhaps you've experienced them... those days, usually in the Spring or Summer, in which the weather compels a lazy, a complacent, pleasant lethargy. Today was like that. It was a beautiful day... cloudless, 68 degrees, and, the coup de grâce, a soft, caressing breeze.
I made it as far as the Subway Sandwich Shop, about a quarter of a mile, before realizing it was afternoon and that I should be hungry, so I stopped for lunch.
Thirty five minutes later I was on the road, wondering if there was anything else I could think of which would allow me to sit idly in the shade.
Riding on I-10 is generally safe enough because of the wide shoulder.
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One drawback of traveling on the interstate is that the shoulders are full of debris. I try to be careful about riding over anything, but sometimes you just can't avoid it... there's just so much there. Apparently, I ran over a piece of a steel-belted radial tire…
I had pedaled thirty miles and was within five miles of Sonora when I had the flat. It was my second one in twenty six days, and my second one in three days. This one was on the back tire.
There was a tree just ahead so I rolled the bike underneath it and started to repair the flat.
With a piece of wire sticking out of the tire it wasn't difficult to see where the puncture was, so I didn't even take the tire all the way off the rim. I just pulled the tube halfway out, patched it, slipped it back in, and after replacing the tire back on the rim pumped it up.
Sitting there in the shade and slowly working on the tire, I couldn't make myself hurry.... it was just nice being outside so I took my time, then sat there for a while after I was done.
Some scenery along the way…
In Sonora (pop 3,027), I checked in to my motel, then promptly fell asleep for twenty minutes.
Welcome to Texas!!! Instead of reading about the checkout time like in most places, there's information about the motel's "limited liability" in the event something is stolen from the safe. I thought it odd that there's even a safe. Anyone with anything valuable wouldn't be staying here - they'd go to a different motel, or maybe sleep in their car. I wondered if a brick of cocaine would fit into the tiny safe.
Dinner was at a Mexican food cafe fifty yards from my room. There were a couple of other options, but I opted for proximity. Plus, you know, Mexican food.
That evening I rode to the laundromat so I'd have some clean riding clothes to wear tomorrow. Oddly, there wasn't a change machine so I pedaled around looking for a place to get change. Down the street I found a classic car show and some live music, and enjoyed that for a while, but didn’t find a way to get change.
Eventually I tore myself away and rode to the convenience store where I was able to get some coins. Riding back, I realized that I should always keep enough change to be able to do laundry. After all of the bike trips I've taken you’d think by now I would’ve learned this, especially since this same thing happened in Silver City (except for the classic car show and live music part), but apparently not. I think it’s because coins are heavy when you start collecting them, and there’s USUALLY a way to get change.
I'm not even to the Gulf Coast yet, and the mosquitoes are as bad as I've ever seen them. Inside the laundromat they were swarming. I had to go outside and walk around to keep from becoming anemic.
Back at the motel, I blogged for a long time before going to bed.
Another slow day for you to read about... I talked to the hotel manager, my waitress, and two cashiers at stores.
It was a good day for me, though. I'm having a blast.
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distance: 39 miles
average speed: 12. 2 mph
maximum speed: 25.2 mph
time on bike: 3:11:12
cumulative: 1261 miles
Today's ride: 39 miles (63 km)
Total: 1,260 miles (2,028 km)
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