On the first little hill after leaving Ennis, the timing chain dropped off its chainrings. I put it back on, lubed the chain, and adjusted its tension. On the Bike Friday, the adjustment is made by loosening and adjusting the frame tube clamps, using an allen wrench. When the chain dropped again later, and I went to readjust it, the multi-tool with the allen wrenches was gone: I'd stupidly left it on the roadside. The loss of the little tool itself was no big deal, but not having it could have left us stuck in some very remote location. As I was starting to put the chain back on its rings, three men on touring bikes rolled up and asked if we needed help. Hearing of our problem, one of them volunteered his multi-tool, since they had more than one between them. I gratefully paid him for it, and we had a long conversation, comparing notes about our travels. Under the circumstances, I would have let them talk all day. They were also riding cross country, but in the other direction. Two of them had started together in Virginia, while the third, a Brit, had been riding with them since Kentucky. After heading on our way, we dubbed them our three angels.
Our goal for the day was a fish camp called Driftwaters Resort. We'd called ahead and been told they had no cabin vacancies but that we could sleep in their rec room. That wasn't our ideal, but there was no alterntive except to make a very long or short day of it. When we arrived, hot and tired after only about 45 miles, it turned out they did have one cabin available, not yet cleaned up from the previous guest. I think the owner, a very nice but very flaky woman, actually turns away people to avoid housekeeping. Anyway, after the room was made up and we were settling in, we could see a pair of cyclists struggling up the valley below. They turned in to our place and we met them, a young couple from St. Louis named Mike and Jenna, on a 3-week trip from Anacortes, WA to Jackson Hole, WY. We offered to share our huge cabin, which offered plenty of room and privacy, and they were happy to accept. They had met our three angels and heard of our misadventure.
The resort's restaurant was closed because the cook and staff had just quit for non-payment of wages. The owner said she'd bake pizzas for us but when Mike and I went to get them, she'd forgotten. So we relaxed and chatted over beers long past the time when we were more hungry than thirsty. We really enjoyed getting to know them.
Mike and Jenna had just become engaged on their trip, and Jenna made several lengthy cell phone calls to start wedding plans. Welcome to the role of bridegroom, Mike: you are a bystander so stay out of the way.
The day's route was mostly along the beautiful Madison River, very popular with fly fishermen and drift boats- dories, actually. No major climbs, but relentlessly uphill.
No comments:
Post a Comment