Mileage on the Day Off

8/29/2006: Day 10, 27.8 miles; Total 362.3 Miles

Well, I tried to take a day off, but I couldn’t do it. The TB was up at 5 and came into the room for the bathroom and I never knew it. He insists on sleeping in the Van and running electric out the window from the room, by carefully (his word) prying back the screen to make his extension cord fit. He says his 25 foot cord was always 5 feet short so he got a 30 foot cord and it’s still 5 feet short! He had already been to the “shabby” breakfast, but I asked him to join me for a cup of coffee. They had nice sweet rolls and my favorite bagels and cream cheese and a special bagel toaster that I for one know how to use. I liked it. He thought we should have had eggs. He brought me the Yellow Pages and I found that the Bike Barn was only 4 blocks away; however, at 8:05 AM they did not answer so the TB drove me to the western edge of town and I rode the British Nanny (The Raleigh spare bike) 3.85 miles across town to our Super 8 Motel. He was out looking for Wal-Mart so I put up the Nanny and rode the Stallion some ¾ mile to the Bike Barn.

At the Bike Barn I met the owner Greg Knowles, his daughter Kaylee and his top mechanic Reggie. I told them of my Cross Country Ride and presented them the Stallion with my problems. Number one I wanted the new shifter cable checked as it shifts fine but the handle indicator is not near the gear 1, 2, or 3 indicator any more. Reggie shifted her (him) and put all gears through their paces and said, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” So we didn’t, and I felt better. Next they added some Teflon Lubricant to the chain then wiped it off nicely so it didn’t get “messy.” Then when I asked them to analyze yesterday’s flat tube Greg showed how it had a “top flat.” That is, the pinhole was not on the road surface of the tube and perhaps was caused by a bad spoke or some other problem with the wheel. So he took the wheel off the bike and removed tire and tube and inspected it all finding no obvious mechanical problem and no burrs on the wheel. I then bought 5 tubes and he said that’s all I owed for. I told him we needed a labor charge, and asked if Reggie worked for free. Reggie shouted out, “I work for beer. This was a very professional establishment, and they were all wonderful people. Greg asked me to talk with Kaylee who is a sophomore in college up in Seattle. She said she “guesses” she did okay last year in school, and doesn’t know what she wants to do with the rest of her life or if she wants to be a doctor. I told her I don’t either! By now the TB had shown up and was pacing the parking lot, anxious to do something else so we left the Bike Barn. I was very happy with the visit and my 5 tubes for about a dollar less each than any other store!

As we headed back for the room he was worried about check out time sneaking up on us. It was 10 AM and check out was at noon. I wanted to drive out of town on US 12 ten or so miles and check on the Dayton Forest Fire that is burning out of control over 100 square miles right in our route. We drove about ten miles and consulted some folks who said the road was open. So we hurried back and started riding.

Three miles out of town I had a front flat tire! The same tire that had the “top flat” on the way into Walla Walla has a flat on the way out. This time I found two potential problems. There was a thorn and a piece of glass stuck in the tire. I believe the glass was the culprit. This tub was fixed in about 20 minutes and I was on my way. While I was changing it a truck pulled in carrying the beautiful alfalfa hay that grows around here and the deriver got out with half the seatbelt in his hand. He said the belt came lose, so he stopped to fix it. There are signs all along reading, “$97 Fine for Not Wearing Your Seatbelt.”

I pulled in at Dixie; a small town with a small Mom and Pop type store and the beautiful girl behind the counter was the owner. She and her husband are entrepreneur’s who live in Walla Walla. They have rental apartments in town. Some muscular young guy in t-shirt, shorts, and 12 inch work boots monopolized all of Angie’s time in the store and I don’t think it was her husband. Outside a local pulled up in his pickup truck and proceeded to tell me all about the fires. They were out of control, increased in size 30% over night, were also burning wheat fields along with forest, firefighters have been here for several weeks and have filled the ball field with tents at Waitsburg, US Route 12 was open all the way and the size of fire was over 125 square miles now—a nice report.

About that time the TB arrived with a pint of Potato Salad and some cold drinks from Wal-Mart. He still has trouble with the flavored soda, no caffeine, and diet purchase. Now he said, “You have to do the purchase yourself.” So I went back in the Dixie store and Angie sold me a diet 7-UP.

I finally got going and the TB stayed behind for an hour or so. About 2 miles out of Dixie while I was walking up a hill I could hear an approaching siren. The road was curvy so I leaned the bike against the guardrail and climbed on the other side as a police car came around the curve probably at 100 mph with the tires leaning. He didn’t slide, but it looked like he could. Soon a second one came by as I jumped over the rail once more. When I got to the top of the hill I had about 5 miles or so of downhill to Waitsburg and was cruising along at 25mph or so when I came upon an accident scene with all the flashing lights. I was a little anxious as the hill was steep, traffic heavy and I needed a quarter to half mile to stop so how much would a semi-truck need. But we all got stopped and a Jeep had hit a truck head on and the Paramedics were just leaving with the victim. No one needed an old retired ER doctor, so I got some more fire information from the flagman and was on my way coasting another 3 or 4 miles into Waitsburg.

I stopped at the first gas station and met Jim Davison, the clerk, who is a retired schoolteacher of business and driver’s education. He taught all the kids in town and most of their parents how to drive and said they were all good drivers, “because they are motivated to get their license. They only turn to bad drivers after the class is over.” I suppose he’s right; I never thought of it that way. Jim is a delightful guy who brought the chair in from out in the sun and plopped me down in front of the air conditioner where I sat drinking a cold Root Beer for 30 or more minutes until my TB showed up. Jim said there was a nice campground, The Lewis and Clark Campground, just 4 more miles down the road. I rode down there but it was a dust bowl and had no electric for the Van so I loaded up and we drove 4 more miles into Dayton and found a motel for $41.00, no tax, owned by Sam Pate. The town was said to be overrun with firefighters and smoke but we saw neither as the wind had changed; but I don’t know how the wind blew the firefighters away. All the stores have signs thanking the men from all states for their efforts against the fire.

We are now around 80 miles from leaving Washington and entering Idaho at the Snake River. Lewis and Clark traveled that route to the Pacific. On the Washington side is the town of Clarkston and on the Idaho side the town of Lewiston. Isn’t that cute. We won’t make it that far tomorrow.