Unfortunately, I learned today that even relatively small sticks can bring treachery. Somewhere after mile 30, I suddenly felt my rear wheel stop and skidded to a halt. As I looked back, I could see the culprit: a small but beefy stick was stuck in my spokes. As I examined further, I learned that the stick had likely traveled between my tire and rear fender before landing in my spokes, and had broken my fender apart in several places. Thankfully, between the three of us, we were able to duct-tape and zip-tie the fender together. Perhaps it was serendipitous that I had my fender repaired, for just as we pieced it together, we began to hear thunder and feel the first drops of rain. We took off quickly, with the next town less than ten miles away. We did not avoid the rain, however, and ended up fairly wet by the time we arrived in the next town. After stopping there for snacks, we checked the radar and realized that it was best to head quickly into town, as the storms had passed through but others were right behind us. We rolled into town much drier and were grateful for incredible hospitality at the Yoder guest house. Our hostess provided us with a dry place for our bikes and warm showers for us.
In town, we enjoyed a delicious dinner, an inexpensive ice cream, and are currently sipping beer in the living room of the guest house. Tomorrow, we’ll be watching storms again, but hope to make it to Paw Paw, West Virginia. We may hit a new milestone, as we’ll cross over into Maryland at the eastern continental divide, and potentially travel through three states in one day.
By the numbers:
Miles traveled: 60
Total climbing: 1378 ft.
Average pace: 11.6 mph
Current elevation: 1975 ft.
One dollar ice cream cones: 3
Cost of single slice of pepperoni: 58c
Miles to our first cornfields: 54
Feet of skid after stick was lodged into spokes: 6-8
Haha, of course Ed found a bear.
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