June 22, 2022
Click, click, click…
Springfield to Creswell
My coffee making skills improved this morning-2 cups, no overflow! We were out the door at 0800 on our way to breakfast.
As soon as we rolled it was apparent that the click in my bike was back. So strange, it made no noise yesterday while unloaded but today it made a racket. Jim thinks it ok to ride and as long as it doesn’t get worse, I guess I will go with that.
Breakfast was great at the Bumble Bee Cafe. A local spot, it caters to primarily older folks from what we could see. The portions were enormous, the food was tasty and the prices were cheap.
Once we were back on the road, the clicking noise continued. It became a distraction since I could not get away from it. It sound almost like 2 clicks that would be synchronous for about 6 crank revolutions, then lose the synchrony for 4 revolutions, then resynchronize again, over and over and… I spent a lot of the day as the caboose so as not to submit everyone else to the noise. I tried to hum songs in time with the clicks to distract myself. I started to notice that even livestock, especially horses, were disturbed by it and moved away as I approached.
As the day went on, the click got louder. At every stop I kept looking at the cranks (seem very slightly loose,) the pedals (seem fine,) the seat (making its usual noises, nothing seems out of the ordinary,) the chain and derailleurs (seem fine, nothing rubbing and shifting is smooth.)
By the end of the day, I was convinced the noise is related to the loose cranks or to bottom bracket problems. And getting worse. And so loud and pervasive, it was ruining my ride. So I decided I need to find a bike shop, even if it means going back to Eugene and missing the last 2 days of our tour.
When we reached Creswell, we found out the bike shop there is “temporarily closed.” The hotel host recommended the shop in Cottage Grove (our scheduled stop tomorrow after 34 miles of meandering but only 10 miles away by a direct route.) But we called and they are also closed because the mechanics are at a conference. (Bad luck for me but interesting to know that bike mechanics attend continuing education.)
And more bad luck-when we mentioned possibly going to Eugene a day early, the hotel host warned us that it’s graduation weekend for The University of Oregon and it’s very unlikely that we would be able to book rooms anywhere close to there for tomorrow night.
So for now the plan is for Jim and I to go to Cottage Grove tomorrow ( where we already have reservations) by the shortest route and to go to Eugene by the shortest route on Friday and find a shop.
Oh yes, we did see some bridges today as we meandered back and forth across the railroad line and a highway. The first was the Pengra Bridge.
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This bridge, built in 1938, is over Fall Creek and is named for Byron Pengra, a government surveyor. It replaced another span that was built in 1904. Weather damage caused the bridge to be closed in 1979 but it was eventually repaired and reopened in 1995.
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The Unity Bridge was built in 1936. It features full length windows on the east side so oncoming traffic is visible.
The Lowell bridge, built in 1945, stands adjacent to Dexter Reservoir, which was filled in 1955. The bridge is no longer in use but there are extensive historical exhibits surrounding and inside it.
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And finally the Parvin Bridge, a single lane structure built across Lost Creek in 1921 to replace a previously built but worm eaten covered bridge.
We also had a little cross-country adventure today. To avoid the highway traffic, we pushed our bikes through weeds and over 2 sets of railroad tracks to get to a country backroad. Jim commented that the weeds were “better mowed” when he checked this out on Google Earth.
It surprised me how difficult it was to move loaded bikes over the talus rocks around the tracks and to lift them over the tracks. Each bike required at least 2 people.
So tonight we are in Creswell. It is warm, mid-80’s, and we walked into town for lunch at the bakery shortly after arriving. We plan to repeat this exercise tonight for dinner.
Today's ride: 39 miles (63 km)
Total: 363 miles (584 km)
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I would also like to visit a bike shop. There is just one here in Taos. They open at 11 AM. I called them to see if they could look at my rough shifting ( my bike fell over, I hope it’s not a bent derailleur hanger). David was less than enthusiastic about helping me. He said they open at 11, but have 70 bikes to wheel outside and couldn’t possibly get to it before 13 or 12:30. I didn’t even get to the part about it being a recumbent.
There’s a shop in Pagosa. I think I will call them.
Best of luck getting it fixed. Maybe Richard Here’s look alike has changed shops and you will get to see him again!
2 years ago