Tires and the chain take the most maintenance on the bike. We have had 3 flats so far and have wiped down and re-oiled our chains several times. Half way across the US we will replace the chains. We also have to pay close attention to medical issues for the engine powering the bicycle. There are 5 pressure points to monitor; the hands, feet, and sit bones. The knees are susceptible to repetitive motion stresses. Environmentally we are susceptible to hypothermia on a wet windy day, and heat exhaustion and sunburn on a sunny day. We also deal with bumps and abrasions, sore muscles, and so far 1 bee sting. Most medical issues are resolved with water, food, and rest. We are machines, our bikes and us.
Randy and I woke up at Jolly Swagmans with a drizzle outside. It’s Sunday, we’re unsure if there’s any place open for breakfast, so we share two leftover pizza slices, a couple of apples, and yogurt we had bought last night. As we are leaving we see a couple of people up and walking outside who wave and holler to us to have a nice ride. The rain is intermittent all day but OK, it keeps us cool. A headwind develops early and gradually gets stronger all day which makes the ride from Poplar to Williston seem like it’s up hill the entire way. Our plan is to stop for breakfast the first place we can, but in the first town nothing’s open. Finally we find a place called Scoop in Culbertson Montana that’s open, and full of people too, so the food must be good! We ask the waitress about breakfast, she says there’s no breakfast after 11. We’re both surprised that we’ve already ridden 3 hours, and it’s past noon. Instead we order the Fathers Day special dinner of roast beef, potatoes, and corn. We stop one more time mid afternoon and buy water. The water the past few days has been naturally soft, and to us has tasted salty. We have both been drinking much more water and yet still feeling thirsty, the salty water has made us slightly dehydrated. We bought 4 liters of water, drank about a pint each and filled water bottles. We still had 30 miles to ride, but felt refreshedfrom the water break. The wind continued, at one point a thunderstorm passed over us with heavy rain and thunder but no visible lightning. We get to our motel in Williston about 8:00, with the time zone change from Mountain to Central. We’ve ridden 80 miles, we’re tired, and we’re ready for a day off.
Greg