June 19, 2010
Day 21: A new state
Whoa it was quite a day!
It started out smoothly enough. I got an early start out of Moab and pedaled through a fabulous river valley. I have to say, it was one of the nicest roads of the trip.
After a couple of hours along the river I rode north towards the freeway where it was wide open spaces and a combination of strong tailwinds (good) and strong cross-winds (not so good).
After that I headed for the highway 70 where I made great time, just zipping along on the wide shoulders I pushed pretty hard because I knew that Carol and Charlie were waiting. And I was making great time. I had to stop once to bum some water (there were no stores for the first 70 or so miles), and for a snack at the state line (where I sat in the shade of the 'Welcome to Colorado' state line sign) but other than that I kept moving.
It wasn't until late in the day that I heard a 'thunk thunk thunk' coming from the Trucker. I listened--nope, not the front tire and again--rats, it was coming from the back. I rolled a little longer, hoping it was just a pebble caught between the treads but no luck. With a big downhill ahead I had better investigate...
I rolled to a stop and checked the wheel to my horror I saw the tread peeling away from the tire! This, on a brand new (when I left home) Armadillo tire. This had happened to me once before with this brand but I thought it was a fluke. But here I was, 5 plus miles from the nearest town and it was happening again.
In reality, the 'thunk thunk thunk' was coming from a staple embedded in the tire. Without that I might not have noticed the tread... So anyway, I kept the staple where it was and kept riding, hoping I would make it to the little town of Mack. I had a slow leak because of it but hoped I could make it to town to change the flat. I stopped, pumped up the tire, rode another mile....stopped, added more air, kept riding...
Finally, the last downhill into town, which I handled with care on the deflating tire. I made it and found a small convenience store in Mack. Erin was working that day and could not have been more helpful. She said the nearest bike shop was in Fuita, 8 miles away, that she would drive me but someone dropped here off and she didn't have a car that day. But she got me the name and number of bike shops and called to see when they closed. Thanks, Erin!
So, after changing the flat from the staple I moved on. The bike shop had only one tire that fit and I didn't know anything about it but it 'looked' ok? What choice did I have? I even paid the extra $6 to have them install it because by that time I had 93 miles in my legs, with 11 more to go, and I was starting to feel pretty wasted. But, soon it the bike was ready and set my Garmin for Carol and Charlie's house.
I didn't get 3 miles before I could feel the tire going soft. I couldn't deal with changing the tire again (if I could help it) so I did the 'add some air, and ride, add some air and ride' routine. There were some tough little climbs and up and down I went, pumping and riding. But, the one thing that kept me going was I knew there was a nice bed and a nice dinner waiting for me so I kept going...
Finally, a couple of hours past the time I WOULD have arrived (if it had not been for the tire problems) I rolled up to the house. And, I was NOT disappointed! Carol and Charlie were great hosts and after a great shower we sat down to a feast! And the bed? Well, I slept like a log!
Aside from the tire issues it was a great day. I was happy that I did 100 plus miles and did not feel too bad when it was over. And it sure was nice to have a nice place to stay!
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Today's ride: 104 miles (167 km)
Total: 1,533 miles (2,467 km)
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