Weather-wise the day was great. Road-wise not so much. I started the day knowing I had about a 15 mile stretch on US27. US27 is a moderately busy 2-lane road, but I had spot checked it using Google's Satellite view and it did not look too bad. Unfortunately, I spot checked in the wrong spots. The first five miles we OK as I had a moderate shoulder, but then the traffic engineers decided to ruin a perfectly decent shoulder, and the last 10 miles looked like the photo below.
At this point I should mention that it was also not a great day for my bike, as 2 things got broken. The first incident happened in our motel room. Space was cramped, and as I tried t0 get past the bike, I bumped my knee into the front tire hard enough to break the receiver cup of my Steer-Stopper, which locks the front fork in place. I heard it pop and then I heard the piece hit the wall clear across the room, narrowly missing Jeanna. Hopefully some Super Glue will fix it.
The second incident happened when I had to duck onto those dreaded rumble strips a few times when trucks were passing me. I noticed a loud rattle when I was back on smooth pavement, so I pulled off into a parking lot where I discovered that the violent vibrations broke one of the support stays of my front rack. I was able to reposition one of the mounting brackets over the break to hold things in place. Time will tell if this fix holds up. If not, I'll just take the rack off and stow it in the car (that's one big advantage of having a supported ride :-) )
While I was repairing my front rack, I met Robert who was interested in both the bike and the trip. It was nice to meet you Robert!
The day got much better when we stopped in Berne to visit the Swiss Heritage Village & Museum. The following are photos from the self-guided tour of the museum.
Once we were done touring the museum, we took a guided tour of the "Village". Our tour guide was Penny, and she gave an excellent tour. We learned much more than if we had toured the grounds on our own. For those interested, here is a link to all the buildings on the grounds. Swiss Heritage Village & Museum
The community brought cheesemakers from Switzerland. They had to be single, as there was no family housing for them. When a cheesemaker married, a new one was brought over.
This kettle and firepit was where the cheesemaker warmed the milk to begin the cheesemaking process.
The cider mill is undergoing renovation. Penny told us that the beam overhead weighs 4,000 lbs. and is lowered to crush the apples. The press is reportedly the largest of its type in the world.
After leaning Berne, I turned of US27 and got back onto some wonderful country roads. Wonderful, that is until I hit this 3-mile stretch of gravel. A LWB recumbent gets real squirrely on gravel :-)
However, I did get get to meet my first sitting judge. The Hon. Kenton Kiracofe noticed me peeking in his courtroom and welcomed me in. Thanks, Your Honor!
