Last night after I wrote about the wheel I came to a conclusion. It was cooked. I had come to terms with that and realized that it needed to be replaced. All it needed to do was last 120km to Beaumont where I am sure I could a bike shop.
The morning’s ride started fine. I could tell the wheel was out of true because of a slight vibration but that is no problem I have dealt with worse. The road was rolling smooth, I had a neutral wind, and I was starting to get warmed up. Even better it was not as humid as most other days. The highway that I was on turned onto a state road that was not very well travelled. In the back of my head I was counting down the miles to Beaumont, but I knew it was dangerous for me to think that far ahead. It was at 78km that I heard a slight rub on my frame. I stopped and looked and sure enough the hairline crack had spread and were starting to rip. I thought I could limp to Beaumont so I kept riding. At km 83 it hit the fan. The wheel was totalled. So im thinking I am screwed because there is literally no cars for 3 minutes passing me. On the horizon I saw a semi truck which really meant nothing to me but I figure id wave my hands anyways. Behind the semi in its blind spot was a truck that pulled over.
This is where I met Eric. Over the C.B. radio the trucker informed him that I needed help and Eric was more then happy to oblige. It really was fate because he never usually travels that route it was just because he had some time to kill in between checking up on a couple oilrigs that he was on this road. Even better he was heading to Beaumont as well so we were set.
I was so thankful that a complete stranger was happy to help me out, and even let me use his phone to look up where the bike shop was and call them. Then car ride itself was refreshing. It was my first and last taste of Louisiana. We got to talking about everything from B.B.Q. to the war overseas.
When Eric dropped me off at the bike shop (after hunting around for it) we said goodbye. Whenever someone helps me out like this I always feel like a simple goodbye and a handshake is just not good enough.
The bike shop was more then happy to help me out. The only thing was they did not have a 700c touring wheel so I thought I was screwed. Thankfully the shop manager was thinking on his feet and pulled out a 29er rear wheel. He said he had tried it before and it worked so I really had my fingers crossed, and wouldn’t you know it worked. So I guess I can thank heaven that 29ers are more popular down here in the states.
It was 12pm and I was really behind the 8 ball for the day because my legs wee stiff and I really did not have any motivation to complete the day. For some reason I decided to keep riding to the next town which was 40 miles away.
As soon as I got out of Beaumont I started to doubt my choice for a couple reasons. The first was the fact like clockwork at 1:30 the wind shifted and became a lovely headwind that was a big pain in the butt. As well I saw these super dark clouds on the horizon. I tried ignoring the weatherman from last night saying heavy rain was do for today but it was hard to do when I saw sheets of rain ahead of me. At first my luck was holding because I managed to slip between the clouds. Then they closed up and started dumping. I thought id wait it out and huddle under a tree and wait it out and maybe put on my rain gear. When I popped the pants on I took them off immediately because it was just to dang hot.
So I was really happy. Rain, a headwind, and shoes that were very quickly soaking through. I was ready to stop so I kicked up my effort level and ignored my knees screaming at me to turn down the effort level.
I pulled into liberty at 3:30 and thought I would treat myself to some ice cream and a larger then normal soda because I earned it. So I am riding down the road back to my sketchy motel with the bags on the handlebars looking more homeless then ever. I had it within sight when the topper for the day happened. The bag ripped open dropped the bottle n the ground (which because the bottle had been getting shaken) blew up and sprayed it all over me. I just kept riding because I was at that point in the day just laughing. Then I realized that had my peanut butter in it so I looped back to hunt for it but it was gone.
When I got back to the motel I realized my luck kept rolling with a rear flat tire. This one courtesy of the bead coming apart on the back now. Here comes the handy dandy tape again. I must say having a rear wheel that is round and holds spoke tension is wonderful to ride on.
Trip Distance: 154km
Ride Time: 6:56hr
Avg. Speed: 22.27km/h
Total Distance: 13805km
Total Ride Time: 638hr
Destination: Liberty, Texas
I really am not to stoked on Texas. It is big, is going to have big wind, and really a is just a mind crusher.
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