June 28, 2021
Alternative methods
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I am not a big fan of camping in city parks. While it is inexpensive (free in most cases), there are some drawbacks. Last night the city park was right next to the city pool, and we could use the pool shower and bathroom. The pool closed at 8 pm, which was good because all the kids dispersed to their homes and we felt comfortable putting up our tents. However, we did not have a bathroom to use anymore. At 9:30 we walked over to the grocery store to use its bathroom before it closed at 10. We went to bed about 10:30. Some teenagers came by to swing at about 11:30. Then the sprinklers came on at about midnight and we were not prepared. We had our fly flaps open so the first round got our stuff wet. We closed the flaps and the subsequent rounds stayed outside. The sprinkler would dose our tent about every minute for about 15 minutes. Needless to say it took awhile to get to sleep.
We got up early but got on the road about the same time, around 8:10 am. We were delayed because our tents were wet and we needed them to dry out before packing them away. We went to the local convenience store for breakfast bagels and we bought sandwiches and chips for lunch. The day was sunny with temperatures expected in the mid-90’s. We had 47 miles to go until our destination of Malta and we wanted to be off the road by early afternoon. The road was pretty good today with light traffic, a pretty good shoulder most of the way and only a few hills. We made good time as we were targeting the very small town of Dodson for our lunch break. About 15 miles from Dodson a passenger van pulling a trailer slows down next to Janet and starts talking to her. The van driver tells us he is a sag wagon for a group of 11 riders who are behind us and will be passing us soon. He also said they were going to stop for lunch soon and invited us to join them for lunch. After 10 miles we see on the side of the road the passenger van and a travel trailer with a bunch of people in chairs. We pull in and have a great hot lunch sitting in chairs in the shade. The group is on a supported ride from Seattle, WA to Portland, Maine, put on by Alpaca Adventure Tours. It is a fully supported tour which means they sleep in a hotel at night, ride unloaded, and have many meals prepared for the riders. The attendees are riding their road bikes and they go longer miles than us and have more frequent rest days. Their plan is to cross the country in 2 months. It is a great alternative way to do this trip and the guys at Alpaca are great. Here is a link to get more information about touring the country this way with Alpaca: Alpaca Adventure Tours.
Just before lunch we had another alternate encounter. Over a period of 30 minutes, 5 or 6 wind turbine blades pass us on the road. They each were led by oversized load cars in front and behind the truck. One of the leading oversized load cars stopped and told us that several blades were coming and we may want to stop riding and get to the side. We gladly did just that because each blade took up most of both lanes on the road. Those blades are really large.
After lunch we had another 20 miles to get to our destination. We did pretty good riding the last segment. We arrived in Malta at around 2 pm before the big heat of the day. We are staying in a hotel tonight and the other bike group is staying at the same hotel. We ate dinner with several of the group and shared stories.
Tomorrow is a big day with 70 miles planned and the target city is Glasgow.
Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 1,193 miles (1,920 km)
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3 years ago