Bike TV - PB & J

I dunno if this vid will work, but in it, I eat a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich. Riveting.

laissez les bons temps rouler

Made it to Julesberg, CO this afternoon. It was about 60 miles and
felt great. Finally I had tires that held air and were properly
inflated. The road was smooth and the winds were friendly. Followed
the Union Pacific railroad tracks, although there wasn't much train
traffic. I passed a lot of farms with cattle and various crops. Lots
of trucks went by with beets. I guess the beets go to a sugar
factory.

I stopped to buy a can of chew at a tiny store in Iliff, CO
(population approx. 12). When I told the folks there what I was up
to, they just nodded like that was normal. I'm pretty sure they were
hiding disbelief. A lot of drivers pass by staring out the window
like I came from Mars. Kids are plastered to the back window of vans,
checking me out.

I've been really glad about everybody's traffic manners. People
always give me plenty of room even when there's not much shoulder. I
got a couple friendly honks from truckers. The best by far was the
wave I got from some Harley guys. They gave me the down-low
outstreched arm biker wave. I smiled about that for awhile.

Tomorrow I'm going to try for a good 90 miler, which is do-able if I
can get out of here decently early and have good roads and wind.

holding

thanks for the well wishes all. amazing what a few words will do to
morale. i'll depart sterling as soon as i get my replacement gear out
here. can say i've seen most of this town. lots of trains carrying
coal. some cool old buildings from railroad days gone by. an
enormous post office that must've been built with the idea that this
town would be the next denver. eager to get back on the road. looks
pretty desolate out to the east. hopefully there's a radio station.

--
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ok i recant

OK, scratch all that. I mean, what self-respecting intrepid tourer would quit because of a lost wallet? Maybe a broken leg, but not a lost driver's license. As I was thinking the preceding thought, a good Samaritan farmer type dude called. Said he found my wallet in the street. I guess I owe karma now.

last straw

More woe has befallen me. I have now lost my wallet. I thought I'd cruise around town today to see the sights of Sterling. I went to the museum, the community college, and generally just rode around to see what was up. I stopped to get some food at the grocery, reached in my pocket...and nothing. I figure I didn't zip my pocket and it fell out while riding my bike. Easy to do since I'm all reclined while riding.

I rode around town trying to retrace my route, until it got dark. I looked in all the gutters and asked at the library. Nothing. So... I'm stuck with no ID and no cash. I guess I could get the bank to reissue a card and send it to me. But not having an ID really cramps things. If I need to get a hotel or something... Ugh. Really despairing.

So I think I'm going to have to cancel this thing. I've asked Jane to come pick me up from Denver. After planning this thing for months, I am now kind of up against the wall. I guess I'll go back home and find something else to do. Curses, literally.

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.