STP rehash

Yes, we are some professional looking riders. But don't be fooled, we were all wearing biking shorts underneath. I foolishly applied sunscreen before removing the top shorts, and ended up burning the hell out of my knees.
50 miles into the ride (halfway to our overnight stop) Sean's rear derailleur (the bit that shifts the chain between the cogs on the back wheel) decided to snap clean off! It flew through the back wheel, taking a couple spokes with it. Essentially his bike was now a drasine (see the bike history posts) and we were 6 miles from the nearest bike shop, which closed in an hour. All looked bleak until Charlie rallied with the questionable but ultimately successful idea of using bungee cords to tow Sean into town. We limped into the shop about 10 minutes before closing, only t have them essentially say we were screwed. Fortunately, like most good bike shops, there was one old guy in the back willing to take a look. The half-assed solution...turn it into a single speed and limp on to Centralia with a severely out of true wheel. Rebuilding the back wheel would have taken at least an hour, as would installing and tuning a new derailleur. So we made our way to Centralia, WA arriving at about 11:30. But wait...why can't we find the Motel Centrailia, where we reserved a room for the night? Oh, it's actually in Centrailia Illinois?! hmm... Needless to say we found another place to stay and crashed into bed some time after midnight.

The next day we were delayed in setting out because the local bike shop didn't open until 10. The guy that worked there was a jerk, and basically told us he could help us for 45 minutes, and if anyone else need help we would have to wait longer. Ass.
Again Charlie rallied and after convincing the guy to let us use a few tools, he installed the new spokes and trued the wheel as best he could. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than the +1" play in the wheel, and the certainty that it would only get worse.

By 11 we were back on the road.
The second day proved the hardest for me, I had a hard time sustaining the same pace we had set the day before.
One of the great things about riding the STP route so soon after the official organized ride is that we could still rely on their street markings pointing out when to turn and when to go straight. the little marker above is for straight ahead, turns would have a leg off the top indicating the direction.

We knew we were close when we passed under the St. Johns Bridge...only 7 or 8 miles to go!! Eventually we made it, and were kindly entertained by Sean's friends Jordan and Anya. We destroyed some food and beer and crashed out on their floor.

The next day we walked up to the Washington park rose garden, made a quick trip to Powell's (the happiest place on earth) and then headed for the train station.
This was only my second time on a train in the US. It's nice to see that some cities are still maintaining their old stations.

And here I am rocking my cool bike hat...which I now feel I deserve to wear.

So that's the trip. It was a great experience that left me with some good memories, sunburned knees, two numb fingers, and a couple lessons in long distance riding. The first lesson is to be sure you change up your grip and don't put too much weight on the handlebars (hence the numbness) and the second is to learn how to turn a bike into a single speed and repair a wheel.

And now I am going to jump on the bike again and head to the beach to beat the 100 degree weather.