John's Story

Packed panniers piled on the floor. Bike spiffed up with a deep clean and new cassette, chain, middle chainring, rear shifter. Waiting. Anxious. Time for some random musings.

The sometimes crappy shifting of the past 5,000 miles finally solved. You'd think that after messing that long  with rear derailleur adjustment, derailleur hanger alignment, cable and shifter tension tweaking, I'd have figured it out before now.  And not just me, bike shops in Oklahoma, Indiana, and Colorado all took unsuccessful shots at the resolution of the problem.  Why did it take so long for a bike tech to suggest that the shifter itself was wearing out? We don't know, but we have people looking into it. But now, at last, with a new microSHIFT rear shifter installed, shifting is as slick as deer guts on a doorknob, if you'll pardon the expression.

And what was that creaking noise when I cranked the pedals??  Last year I eliminated the bottom bracket, pedals, chainring bolts, seat post and other more obscure sources for the aggravating noise before I discovered that the tensioning mechanism in the nose of the Brooks saddle just needed a few drops of lube to quiet it down.  This spring the noise came back, and those few drops of lube did not do the trick.  Nor did many drops of lube. The creak got so loud I was certain I was frightening the pedestrians and small animals I passed. I remained  convinced it was the saddle, so I completely disassembled the tensioning mechanism, cleaned all the parts, used a rat-tail file to smooth metal to metal contact points, did the same with the seat clamp, then greased everything up and reassembled. Victory! Let's see how long it lasts before I'm adding lube.

The tour starts on Friday.  I will arrive in Pensacola on Wednesday, when the forecasters are calling for wind, thunderstorms and multiple inches of rain.  Not very enticing if one is hoping to walk along the beach and visit a nice seafood restaurant with good Gulf views with the wonderful wife who is driving with me over 900 miles to Pensacola from Oklahoma City.  On the flip side of the weather front, the forecast looking ahead from then promises several fine dry days to start.

My son Stanley texted me yesterday that he saw a news item about a wildfire near Pensacola. I did a little digging and discovered that the fire is just north of the road we're planning to use to leave the area.  It's small and 50%-60% contained, and I don't know if it's affecting traffic on the road. Just to be safe I've mapped out a few alternate Pensacola exits. One of them might be through the Pensacola Naval Air Station.  They do allow the public to visit at least parts of the base, in particular the National Naval Aviation Museum, but entry and exit points may not be conducive to our route, and some of their rules may make it impossible (if panniers count as backpacks we'd be denied entry). I asked Ed (a retired Navy commander, no less) to contact the base to scope it out. It may all be for naught, if the predicted Wednesday rain comes to pass and puts out the fire.

My good friend Fred, a retired Navy fighter pilot, several days ago suggested a favorite Pensacola brewery, and asked me to send his regards to the owner.  I looked up the brewery, and it looks to have permanently closed sometime in the past couple months. Sad. On the bright side, there seem to be close to a dozen other breweries to choose from in Pensacola. Thank goodness for the U.S. Navy and all those sailors who have discovered craft beer.

For some reason I don't feel as prepared for this tour as I was for last year's transcontinental tour.  Not sure why. All the heavy thinking concerning what to take and what to leave home was done last year. I don't have to worry about shipping my bike or boxing it up to go on a plane. I think it may be because I cobbled the route together myself, rather than just piecing together sections of established routes (though I did a bit of that). Maybe the thought of a much higher chance of wet weather in this part of the world at this time of year compared to last year weighs on my mind. I'm sure when I hit the road my brain waves will smooth out.

So much for today's random musings.