Canada to Mexico, Day 21
and 22:
We rode 75 miles to Tomales (1,004 miles total). The bad news is that we just can't seem to catch a break! One thing after another goes wrong. Between bike, health, and/or weather issues, it's been hard to make much process. We've only had one day in which we something didn't go wrong (the day we rode 70 miles in Oregon). But other than that, something keeps popping up to slow our progress and it's been pretty frustrating. So, let's see if I can sum up the last two days quickly (although I doubt it). So, yesterday, after we loaded up all the bikes and the bike trailer (which is quite the long process), we are just about ready to take off and we see that Pat has a flat tire. So we had to take everything off, fix that, and then reload everything. That made for a late start. Then, it was foggy, drizzly, and cloudy all day (plus severe headwinds). So we were all pretty sluggish all day. Riley got another flat tire, of course (more on that later). We just didn't make much progress and only rode 30 something miles. We get to our campsite and there is no phone and Internet service. Where's a pay phone when you need one? I had to go to a dinky store and pay the guy to call home really fast. We have been in and out of service for two days. It is very isolated in Northern California and these towns give the term "small town" a whole new name! Then our campsite has no flushing toilets. Of course. The next day (today), we actually got off to an early start (8:00- our best yet). We were making good progress- the sun was out and we had a tailwind. We wanted to go to Badega Bay and hit the bike shop. Pat said that he wanted to tire/rim guard for the bikes. When we got the bikes, the salesman said that we didn't them and they just "bunch up." Pat said that that is the last time he listens to anyone, because we were obviously having problems with the bikes. So we needed to hit the bike shop and get those, plus more tubes and patches. These flat tires are a huge problem. Pat is a bike and be has never encountered so many problems with flat tires. Anyway, we are 3 miles form the bike shop (which is a rare find because of scattered and dinky the towns are). Guess what? Riley gets a flat. We are out of spare tubes and patches, so Pat had to ride to the bike shop while Riley and I waited. More great luck for us- the bike shop shut down! Thankfully, Pat met some bikers who had a spare tube. So he fixes Riley's tire and we have lost all momentum at that point. But there is a tailwind and not major hills, so we are going to try to hit the campsite 40 miles away and try to make up for yesterday's lost time. About 8 miles down the road, Riley gets another flat. So much for making that campsite. Pat manages to take patches off the old tube and put it on the new tube, but we are out of supplies now (trust me, we were well stocked with spare supplies and stocked up whenever we were at a bike shop. Plus, Riley isnt riding over every piece of debris in the road. I don't know what the deal is. I feel like I'm in a Stephen King book or something). By this time, we have lost all momentum and decide to just be done for the day. We go to the next thing we see (a hotel) and there is no vacancy. So we need to ride to the next town that has a hotel, 7 miles away. About 5 miles down the road, Riley has another flat. Something is obviously wrong with his bike, but we need to get to the nearest bike shop, which isn't until San Francisco. We are out of supplies, so we need to walk the bikes about 2 miles to the next town. We didn't care if the hotel was a dive at this point. If they didn't have vacancy, we were just going to pitch our tents in a field. The good news is that the hotel has vacancy and it is really nice! It reminds me of the quaint hotels in Italy! The only bad thing is that they don't have guest laundry and it has been quite some time since we've washed our clothes and we all smell really bad! I mean, really embarrassingly bad! Managed to hand wash some clothes in the tub, which is better than nothing, but not quite the same! Summary of day 21: headwinds, flat tires, fog, drizzle, feeling sluggish, no sun, no wine, Honey Buckets, and no phone service are bad; can't think of anything good that day. Sorry! Summary of day 22: flat tires, trying to find a place for a girl to go to the bathroom while bike riding, walking to hotels, hotels with no vacancy are bad; bikers with spare tubes, hotels with vacancy, the sun, granny gear, and hope for a better tomorrow are good!
We rode 75 miles to Tomales (1,004 miles total). The bad news is that we just can't seem to catch a break! One thing after another goes wrong. Between bike, health, and/or weather issues, it's been hard to make much process. We've only had one day in which we something didn't go wrong (the day we rode 70 miles in Oregon). But other than that, something keeps popping up to slow our progress and it's been pretty frustrating. So, let's see if I can sum up the last two days quickly (although I doubt it). So, yesterday, after we loaded up all the bikes and the bike trailer (which is quite the long process), we are just about ready to take off and we see that Pat has a flat tire. So we had to take everything off, fix that, and then reload everything. That made for a late start. Then, it was foggy, drizzly, and cloudy all day (plus severe headwinds). So we were all pretty sluggish all day. Riley got another flat tire, of course (more on that later). We just didn't make much progress and only rode 30 something miles. We get to our campsite and there is no phone and Internet service. Where's a pay phone when you need one? I had to go to a dinky store and pay the guy to call home really fast. We have been in and out of service for two days. It is very isolated in Northern California and these towns give the term "small town" a whole new name! Then our campsite has no flushing toilets. Of course. The next day (today), we actually got off to an early start (8:00- our best yet). We were making good progress- the sun was out and we had a tailwind. We wanted to go to Badega Bay and hit the bike shop. Pat said that he wanted to tire/rim guard for the bikes. When we got the bikes, the salesman said that we didn't them and they just "bunch up." Pat said that that is the last time he listens to anyone, because we were obviously having problems with the bikes. So we needed to hit the bike shop and get those, plus more tubes and patches. These flat tires are a huge problem. Pat is a bike and be has never encountered so many problems with flat tires. Anyway, we are 3 miles form the bike shop (which is a rare find because of scattered and dinky the towns are). Guess what? Riley gets a flat. We are out of spare tubes and patches, so Pat had to ride to the bike shop while Riley and I waited. More great luck for us- the bike shop shut down! Thankfully, Pat met some bikers who had a spare tube. So he fixes Riley's tire and we have lost all momentum at that point. But there is a tailwind and not major hills, so we are going to try to hit the campsite 40 miles away and try to make up for yesterday's lost time. About 8 miles down the road, Riley gets another flat. So much for making that campsite. Pat manages to take patches off the old tube and put it on the new tube, but we are out of supplies now (trust me, we were well stocked with spare supplies and stocked up whenever we were at a bike shop. Plus, Riley isnt riding over every piece of debris in the road. I don't know what the deal is. I feel like I'm in a Stephen King book or something). By this time, we have lost all momentum and decide to just be done for the day. We go to the next thing we see (a hotel) and there is no vacancy. So we need to ride to the next town that has a hotel, 7 miles away. About 5 miles down the road, Riley has another flat. Something is obviously wrong with his bike, but we need to get to the nearest bike shop, which isn't until San Francisco. We are out of supplies, so we need to walk the bikes about 2 miles to the next town. We didn't care if the hotel was a dive at this point. If they didn't have vacancy, we were just going to pitch our tents in a field. The good news is that the hotel has vacancy and it is really nice! It reminds me of the quaint hotels in Italy! The only bad thing is that they don't have guest laundry and it has been quite some time since we've washed our clothes and we all smell really bad! I mean, really embarrassingly bad! Managed to hand wash some clothes in the tub, which is better than nothing, but not quite the same! Summary of day 21: headwinds, flat tires, fog, drizzle, feeling sluggish, no sun, no wine, Honey Buckets, and no phone service are bad; can't think of anything good that day. Sorry! Summary of day 22: flat tires, trying to find a place for a girl to go to the bathroom while bike riding, walking to hotels, hotels with no vacancy are bad; bikers with spare tubes, hotels with vacancy, the sun, granny gear, and hope for a better tomorrow are good!
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