69.97 miles (Total: 1490.69) Avg Speed: 11.7mph Max Speed: 39mph
For once the temperature cooled off last night and my tent didn’t suffer too badly from condensation as it has done. We were out of options for breakfast so rolled to McDonalds for a cheap one.
The elevations profiles on the maps showed we would continue to ride through the rolling Ozarks so it was back to the same rhythm of the past few days. Starting early in the morning means you can get around 40 miles in before the heat really picks up, so we managed to make it to a family cafe for lunch around this point. There was a sign outside saying welcome bikers, we soon realised it was motorbikers judging by the personnel.
After lunch we got riding again and I began to here a strange sound coming from my bike, it was a random clunking sound that seemed to go off regardless of me pedalling or not. It got worse so we pulled over to take a look. I spotted a broken spoke in my rear wheel on the driveside a.k.a I can’t fix those. We got to a Wal Mart and reassessed the situation, there was about 15 miles left to Fair Grove and the broke spoke hadn’t unsettled my wheel to much, it was still running pretty straight. Terry offered to switched his front panniers with my heavy rear ones to lighten my load which I was grateful for.
These are touring wheels, one broke spoke isn’t the end of the world right? There was a bike shop 20 miles off route in Springfield tomorrow I could try get too. I nervously pushed on, standing on my pedals as much as possible to distribute my weight across the bike. We made it to Fair Grove without incident and pulled up under the park pavilion where we can camp for free, they also have toilets and showers.
Once settled in I reassessed my options when some local cyclists pulled up. They were friends with a bike shop in Springfield and gave them a call to try and help out. Amazingly the owner Kay offered to send somebody across in the morning to pick me up, fix the spoke, then return me to Fair Grove. One second I’m sat considering riding 2 hours off route for this then yet again I’m saved by more generous people, when is my luck going to run out?
We sat and ate Subway when some eastbounders pulled in, 3 young guys from West Virginia. We swapped advice on the days ahead before hitting the hay, I’m being picked up at 9:15 in the morning. Terry and Joe will ride on to Golden City whilst I will catch up with them later in the day, at least thats the plan.
The heat finally let up overnight, and for once my tent came through without the usual soaking of condensation. Breakfast options were thin on the ground, so it was McDonald’s or nothing — we took McDonald’s.
The map still had us threading through the rolling Ozarks, and the day settled into the rhythm of the last few: start early, bank the miles before the sun turns serious. We managed close to forty by the time we found a family café for lunch, one that had hung out a sign welcoming bikers. Turned out to mean the leather-and-chrome kind. The parking lot made that clear before we’d even climbed off.
Back on the road after lunch, a new sound joined me — an odd clunk, there whether I was pedalling or freewheeling, and getting worse by the mile. We pulled over to find the cause: a broken spoke on the drive side of my rear wheel, which is exactly the one spoke you cannot reach in and fix on the roadside. We rode on to a Wal-Mart to take stock. Fifteen miles still stood between us and Fair Grove, and the wheel, for now, was holding its line well enough. Terry, without much fuss, swapped his front panniers for my heavier rear ones to take some of the load off it.
These are touring wheels, I told myself — one broken spoke isn’t the end of the world. There was a bike shop twenty miles off route in Springfield I could try for tomorrow if it came to that. I rode the rest of the way standing more than sitting, trying to spread my weight across a wheel I no longer entirely trusted, and we rolled into Fair Grove without further incident, pulling up under the park pavilion, where free camping came with the small luxuries of a toilet and a shower.
I was still turning the spoke problem over when some local cyclists pulled up. They knew a bike shop in Springfield and put in a call on my behalf. Kay, the owner, offered to send somebody out first thing to collect me, fix the wheel, and bring me back to Fair Grove — no argument, no fuss. One minute I was resigned to two hours off route, the next I was saved again by people who had no reason to bother. I keep waiting for that luck to run dry.
We ate Subway as the day wound down, and three eastbounders rolled in — young guys out of West Virginia — and we traded notes on the road ahead of each of us before turning in. I’m being collected at quarter past nine in the morning; Terry and Joe will push on to Golden City without me, and I’ll catch them up later in the day. That, at least, is the plan. Sixty-nine miles were already behind me for the day, fifteen hundred and counting for the trip, and none of them had gone quite the way I’d expected.
1 comment from 2010
Hi Rye,yet more amazing people,to put themselves out like that, lets hope this luck continues throughout your trip,thinking about you luv mum xxx