We rode in a steady rain from our motel to the bike shop, and were there when it opened at 10 a.m. The young mechanic, L.T., was manning the shop alone today, but the rain kept away other customers while he worked on our bike.
L.T. was able to get the front derailleur fixed, so that now we can shift between the two chainrings, but as I had feared, the shifter for the rear derailleur is shot. We had him order a replacement with overnight delivery. The prospect of a rest day was agreeable to us anyway.
Across the street from the bike shop, the city has converted the old town jail into a hostel specifically for cyclists passing through on the transamerica trail. We had been joking we've stayed in every imaginable type of accommodation, but this is our first jail. It is fitted out with private bedrooms with linens, a comfortable lounge area with cable TV, a full kitchen, and a computer with a high speed connection. All for a requested donation of $20 per person. We should live here.
Our niece Carol's husband Brian grew up in Pilot Knob, the next town west of here, and Brian's father Ancel still lives near there. Carol put us in touch with Ancel and Brian's sister Heather. We had never met them before, but they graciously invited us to lunch today. Shortly after noon they (and Heather's daughter Maddie) picked us up and we had a great time getting acquainted with them and learning about this beautiful area. Really nice people; we liked them a lot. Ancel asked where we got the idea of such a bike trip. They probably think we're crazy.
We passed through Pilot Knob yesterday on the way here. It is an attractive town, previously an iron and lead mining center, and also was the site of a civil war battle. In fact. Ft. Davidson there was U.S. Grant's first command post as a general. Ancel is very content to have lived there all his life.
After lunch it was back to jail for a lazy afternoon.
Late this afternoon we were joined at the hostel by another cyclist, Samuel, who lives in Montreal. He is also heading east, but on a much faster track than we are. He covers 120-150 miles per day. What we covered all last week he rode yesterday and today. We don't want to imitate that, but we do admire it. Samuel had a scary experience today: he was chased by a pack of about six feral dogs. We take comfort in the thought that he will be riding ahead of us.
If the bike is ready to go early enough, we'll try to get at least a short way down the road tomorrow. But rain is threatening again. In fact, the forecast is for some thunderstorms each day for the rest of the week. They have gotten much more rain this year than normal, which has been true for everywhere we've been, except for the notoriously rainy Columbia River valley, where we had nothing but sunny skies.
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