Well, things have turned a little... slow. Tried to get out of town this morning but was unable. First, I my tires have thorns in them. I try to pull them out with pliers but they break off in the rubber. I need new tires; I have some old dried up ones but they are backups only. I also need a Presta valve adapter as I seem to have lost mine while changing a flat. So I am running at half pressure, which is slow and hard on the rim. My hand pump only inflates to 35psi, and the handle broke off that attaches it to the valve. There is no bike shop in Sterling. So I went to Wal Mart this morning. I bought a hand pump and some tubes. I took the hand pump outside to use it and it immediately exploded.

I have now ordered all the parts via mail. Due to the parts being esoteric and Sterling being a small town, it will take 2 days to get here. I won't be able to leave... until Thursday morning.

At first I was pretty depressed about it, but then I realized that it's all part of travel and I should just take it as a learning experience. It's not as if I have a job to go back to right now. The only thing bumming me out is that this nice weather is ticking past. When the bad weather comes, I have a feeling it's pretty extreme out in the plains.

There isn't a ton to do in Sterling, but it's not all bad. I already checked out the Overland Trail Museum. It's suprisingly pretty amazing. Then I came over to the community college where the grumpy librarian (aren't they all?) grudgingly let me use the Internet terminal. I haven't seen a movie in awhile so I guess I'll do that tonight and tomorrow night. Then maybe over to the rec center to go swimming or something.

So I'm basically trying to turn this from feeling like I'm in the Donner Party to taking a minor detour on the route. One thing is for sure, I did need a bit of a rest after yesterday.

relaxing

Finally decided to send a note via keyboard to send another note. Was
typing on my phone to send the other blog entries. It's difficult.
But now I guess I don't have much more to say except that I'm basking
in the luxurious glory of the Colonial Motel in Sterling. After a
long day, it's wonderful. Beats hanging out in the tent. I'll camp
tomorrow night. Gets down to the 20s so it's a little chilly in the
morning.

Can't say that I observed a whole bunch today, seeing as I was
concentrating on keeping the bike on the road. There's not too much
time for stopping since daylight is short and I have to get somewhere.
I did see lots of cows, farms, and, umm, farm related things like
horses and trucks. Hopefully tomorrow will bring friendly winds and
easier travel.

Sterling - windy day

well i regret once again the lack of pictures. long brutal day today,
esp the last 35 miles or so which had me going into a fierce headwind.
could hardly keep the bike upright. hard to wax philosophical in such
conditions but i thought a bit about why i wanted to do this trip. i
wanted to see the plains, experience a little of what oregon trail
emigrants must have seen. -continued


i guess what i learned today is that it gets windy out here. i
suppose today's landscape is a lot different than theirs. no barb
wire, gas wells, or cattle back then. tomorrow i'm going to get to
julesberg. need a bike shop desperately. 5 flats in 2 days. my
tires are shredded from thorns. fixing flats is tedious on this bike.
physically tired-ish but ought to be ok if i can keep pumping in
calories and water. 60 miles to julesberg tomorrow. daylight is
precious, gotta start early. fingers crossed, tailwind and no flats!

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jackson lake state park

made it here after a long day. had to go into greeley to get tubes.
they're a little small but i hope they work. may mail order some to
be picked up at a post office en route. staying at a deserted state
park campground in the middle of nowhere. kind of surreal.
everything's pretty brown in preparation for winter. guess i could
have done this in the spring. aside from aesthetics, another downside
is that the days are short. on a positive note'.. continued

as i was saying, and in the meantime spilling tea on my pillow, was
that everyone is very nice around here, if a little befuddled by my
rig. lots of waves, lots of room on the road. i hope to make it to
at least Sterling tomorrow if not beyond. the Neb border will have to
wait until another day. lots of land out here. wow. am i really
going to do this? i promise more pics tomorrow. i'll stop by a
library or find some wireless.

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