Day 20...Maintenance

Lake Gutersville, AL 

The day started with a few bike adjustments: a new battery in the cateye (bike computer) and a slight rotation of my handlebars so that I my position was more upright (more “touring” vs. “racing”). My wrists have been quite sore the past few days and I wanted to take weight off my hands and put more onto my seat…although, to be honest, my “seat” is having problems of her own! Ouch! I put a call into my good friend/PT/bike connoisseur, Sinead, and she suggested I add a few spacers or flip the stem. I figured I would see if rotating the handlebars helped and, if not, would make these additional changes.

Finally we were on the road. I soon realized that my bike computer STILL wasn’t working AND, a few miles later, realized my gears were sticking on what was a noticeably loose/stretched out chain. UGH! At least the handlebar position seemed a bit better. Add “a trip to the bike” store onto our list of things to do today.

My new iron bike.
Bike Store in Gutersville, AL

We stopped in the bike store of a cute water-side town called Gutersville, AL. The bike mechanic could see the slack in my chain and urged I get a new one within the next few days.  A chain’s life span is really no greater than 1,500 miles (so I’ve been told) and mine had about 2,000 miles on her. That was a big part of why I was having problems shifting. Unfortunately this bike store didn’t have the chain I needed. We would have to look into finding another bike store down the road that did have it.

Lunch in Arab, AL

We had a great lunch about 15 miles from Gutersville in a town called Arab. About 5 miles after setting off again, BAM, Kevin got a flat. A nail drove strait through his tire (and gator skin liner) and into his inner tube. Jim happened to be driving by us in the RV at the same time and pulled over (AAA to the rescue). 10 minutes later we were on the road. All 4 tires pumped up and ready to go.

We were headed for Cullman, AL, about 25 miles away. Jim called and said he found a bike store in town that had the chain I needed. Hooray! We rolled into town at 4:30pm and directly into the bike store. I had my new chain put on and the gears realigned. So far so good. The only thing still not working is my bike computer! (I will have to put a call into cateye or perhaps a biking friend of mine reading this blog has a suggestion? I've rebooted it and ensured all batteries are new. Cateye Strada, wireless).

The bike route today was better; better roads, less roadside debris (apart from the nail Kevin rolled over) and seemingly friendlier people on the road. The weather forecast said we would have sun today and “variable” winds today. Well, that didn't happen. In fact, it rained on us again and we hit a strong head wind after lunch. Seriously, will the meteorologists ever get it right? My friend Charles sent me a great link to local weather that I’m going to start using from now on. Hope it helps!

Crossing the Tennessee River

Today we road 70 miles from Pikeville, AL to Cullman, AL. Over 30 miles of the ride was along the water. There were many stops along the way, some necessary, some annoying. Tomorrow we are hoping to log in near 90 miles…and maybe even cross the boarder into Mississippi!