But in the nice parts the last of the fall colors were lingering in the trees, and brown fallen leaves filled the ditches to each side of the road. There has been no standing water the last couple of days, I think because we have been at much higher altitudes, cruising up and down between about 200 and 250 feet above sea level.
Today's excitement came in the form of tire trouble. When I went to start riding this morning, my tire was soft. I have "slime" tubes which will self seal small holes so I pumped the tire back up and went on my way. Mid-morning I felt bumps in the road. "These are very evenly spaced bumps" I thought to myself, "spaced exactly one wheel rotation apart in fact!" So I pulled over and found a large blister had formed on my rear tire. I immediately let out some air thinking I may have over-inflated the tire when I pumped it up in the morning. Then because I don't carry a spare tire, started to think of ways out of this mess.
Well, I guess cell phones and good friends never go out of style. I called Cathy on her cell knowing that she was riding with Derrik who has a spare that would fit my wheel. They were about 5 miles ahead, so turned around and started riding back towards us. Having let a little air out, I was able to keep riding on the blistered tire and we met them in the next town (Franklinton). Derrik gave me his spare, so crisis averted. Whew! Thanks Derrik! I didn't change the tire then, however, opting to finish the day on the blistered tire and make the change in the controlled environment of the camp site.
Luckily the tire did hold up all day, but riding on it at lower pressure was very hard work. It was a long day too, being about 75 miles, so we made it into camp just before dark. Tent up, shower, dinner at a nearby Chinese Buffet, then changing the tire in the evening. These are full days.
We'll be up at 5:30am tomorrow, breakfast and pack lunch making at 6am then 80 miles of scenic wooded farmland with lots of evidence of work but very little of income.
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