Day 6
Retirement Adventure #1
Day 6
The leg from Sparks, NV to Lovelock, NV was 90 miles of pure joy . . . almost. Hard to believe you could have a 10-15 mph tailwind for 4-6 hours, ride downhill most of the way, and have any complaints whatsoever. Well, "here's the beef." The weather was perfect and the whole group remained excited. Larry Fariss and I left the hotel and about 1.7 miles later, I experienced my first flat tire. As has been pointed out before, it is a long ride across the country and these things will happen and you just have to roll with the punches. While our ride leader can change a tire in 48 seconds, it took Larry and I about 10 minutes to fix the first one. Yes, I said the first one. Down the road we rolled and about 10 miles later, flat number two occurred. We had just entered I-80 East and that "mushy back tire" feeling happened again. Larry was again kind enough to lend me a hand and we climbed over the guard rail and well away from the 80 mph traffic. This change again took about 10 minutes and we were off again. The shoulder on I-80 really was quite smooth and had a good rolling surface. The only downside was the remainder steel belt spread in many places. These wires are of various sizes and it is the small ones that you can't see that seem to bite you. The next 50 miles were really a kick, with Larry and I riding along with David, one of our 3 UK members and Linda, a Battered Woman Shelter Director. The 4 of us motored along for a long while and kept us moving east at a good clip. Of course we found a little road construction, but our ride leader gathered the heard and gave us good advice for transiting about 4 miles of single lane traffic. With a monster red 18 wheeler at our 6 o'clock backing us up, we moved through this tight area. By now I feel like I have my "sea legs" underneath me. No aches or pains except for a slightly sore neck. As anyone who rides a bike knows, your tail, feet, hands, arms, back, knees and more can cause you problems. My minor neck tightness is nothing to worry about so far. And to our group's credit, we collectively have few injuries or issues. Keep your fingers crossed and pray for us. And with only about 10 miles to go, Mr Steel Belt bit me in the . . . tire one last time. One of those tiny wires penetrated the tire (Ultra Gator Skins--love'em!) and our man, Clarence, again came to the rescue. Clarence did the manly thing and pulled it our with his teeth. The tire remains good but the tube needs a patch and it too is "good to go . . . again." After pulling into the hotel, the Sturgeon Inn in Lovelock, NV, I gathered my bag, gathered my 6 days of dirty laundry and Larry's ugly stuff and dashed next door to the laundry room. I tossed it into the washer and returned for some quarters. Upon my return to the wash room, I found Lisa, who had just opened the one washer with our laundry in it and spewed, ". . . you _ _ _ _ _ _ _". In jest of course. Since we all have the same kinds of dirty biking stuff, we just put all of our junk in together and cleaned it up. After another great buffet featuring my favorite, fried chicken, we sat outside our rooms and cleaned our bikes and regaled our selves with tales of the ride. I hit the rack at 9 pm and was one happy biker.
Day 6
The leg from Sparks, NV to Lovelock, NV was 90 miles of pure joy . . . almost. Hard to believe you could have a 10-15 mph tailwind for 4-6 hours, ride downhill most of the way, and have any complaints whatsoever. Well, "here's the beef." The weather was perfect and the whole group remained excited. Larry Fariss and I left the hotel and about 1.7 miles later, I experienced my first flat tire. As has been pointed out before, it is a long ride across the country and these things will happen and you just have to roll with the punches. While our ride leader can change a tire in 48 seconds, it took Larry and I about 10 minutes to fix the first one. Yes, I said the first one. Down the road we rolled and about 10 miles later, flat number two occurred. We had just entered I-80 East and that "mushy back tire" feeling happened again. Larry was again kind enough to lend me a hand and we climbed over the guard rail and well away from the 80 mph traffic. This change again took about 10 minutes and we were off again. The shoulder on I-80 really was quite smooth and had a good rolling surface. The only downside was the remainder steel belt spread in many places. These wires are of various sizes and it is the small ones that you can't see that seem to bite you. The next 50 miles were really a kick, with Larry and I riding along with David, one of our 3 UK members and Linda, a Battered Woman Shelter Director. The 4 of us motored along for a long while and kept us moving east at a good clip. Of course we found a little road construction, but our ride leader gathered the heard and gave us good advice for transiting about 4 miles of single lane traffic. With a monster red 18 wheeler at our 6 o'clock backing us up, we moved through this tight area. By now I feel like I have my "sea legs" underneath me. No aches or pains except for a slightly sore neck. As anyone who rides a bike knows, your tail, feet, hands, arms, back, knees and more can cause you problems. My minor neck tightness is nothing to worry about so far. And to our group's credit, we collectively have few injuries or issues. Keep your fingers crossed and pray for us. And with only about 10 miles to go, Mr Steel Belt bit me in the . . . tire one last time. One of those tiny wires penetrated the tire (Ultra Gator Skins--love'em!) and our man, Clarence, again came to the rescue. Clarence did the manly thing and pulled it our with his teeth. The tire remains good but the tube needs a patch and it too is "good to go . . . again." After pulling into the hotel, the Sturgeon Inn in Lovelock, NV, I gathered my bag, gathered my 6 days of dirty laundry and Larry's ugly stuff and dashed next door to the laundry room. I tossed it into the washer and returned for some quarters. Upon my return to the wash room, I found Lisa, who had just opened the one washer with our laundry in it and spewed, ". . . you _ _ _ _ _ _ _". In jest of course. Since we all have the same kinds of dirty biking stuff, we just put all of our junk in together and cleaned it up. After another great buffet featuring my favorite, fried chicken, we sat outside our rooms and cleaned our bikes and regaled our selves with tales of the ride. I hit the rack at 9 pm and was one happy biker.
posted by Steve King at 2:56 PM
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