So yesterday we pushed for our longest day of the trip to make it to Silsbee where Bubba invited us to stay and eat with his Pampered Peddlers. And wow was that worth the extra miles! He took us in and treated us as special guests. The company of other cross-country cyclists alone was well worth it, but there was so much more. They had drinks, and food and a free place to camp since we were with his group. It was awesome to get to hang out with cyclists and compare adventures and notes, and to share a few hands of cribbage. In the morning they had a breakfast spread that we were invited to join which was a great change from pop-tarts. 🙂
On the road today we had a hard spot in the morning, but ended up all right. Audrey’s roll of chair/Z-rest/Tent poles came off and the strap wrapped around her wheel so she had to stop and unwind it. Then the dogs from the store we were stopped in front of came out and gave us a very enthusiastic “welcome” as they wanted us to stay away. After she got the strap fixed, the sag wagon from Bubba’s group came by and asked if we were alright, and we said yes, we were fine. Right after they left Audrey realized her derailer was not quite right, so we were a little frustrated. A little playing with it and adjusting got it fixed, but just a down moment. Mad props to his sag wagon for stopping and offering, and even more mad props to the cyclists who stopped and offered to call for it to come back if everything wasn’t fixed! We felt really lucky to meet such awesome people!
The day went well, with some sunburn, until we were almost in Louisiana. We looked at the map and realized that our planned campsite in Merryville Louisiana had a note “reservations only”, and the phone number wasn’t answering. Very frustrated since the next stop was 20 miles farther, and we did not want two long days in a row. We figured we’d try the Merryville Historical Society and Museum anyway just in case. We got there, and it was closed, but it had three phone numbers listed on the door as contacts. First number: no answer. Second number: no answer. Third number first try: bad connection. Third number second try: Very nice man named Dave said that he would be right over to help us out. And by right over he meant about 2 minutes! Awesome!
He came over and told us to make ourselves at home, and that he would have Linda come over and give us a tour of the museum and get the bathrooms unlocked for us. So we got our tent set up under the pavilion and got changed and then Linda came over. She and Bee showed us around the museum, gave us some soda, gave us the key to the bathrooms, and let us purchase some postcards.
Audrey found some stings on her foot, and Linda diagnosed them as fire ant bites. Not good, but she got them cleaned up with Hydrogen Peroxide, so hopefully they’ll be all right. We just had dinner at Stu’s Grill, and wow was that good food, with large enough servings for cross-country bicyclists.
Mad props for Campbell Street Bicycle of Arlington Heights IL and Fuji!
So if you’ve been following on facebook or our blog, you know by now that we’ve been having trouble with our rear wheels basically since we started. Most likely it started with all of the water weight we were carrying through the desert parts of west Texas, and not being able to get to a bicycle shop for a couple hundred miles. Then, since we had already weakened the wheel rims and spokes, several bicycle shops later, the wheels still have not been able to be fixed so that they aren’t badly out of true after a day of riding.
Well, the bicycle shop we originally purchased our bikes from, Campbell Street Bikes, has been following our travels and he was very upset that we were having so many mechanicals. So the owner has talked with Fuji, and together they have sent two brand new rear wheels to our next major stop in Louisiana! We are so excited!
The downside of having wobbly wheels are many, including a lot of upper body fatigue with fighting to keep the bike straight, and shorter/more tiring days because of the extra energy required in general to ride the bike. Not to mention the time and cost to fix the spokes, and have bicycle shops, when we can find them, true the wheels better than we can on the road.
Needless to say, we are very happy to be receiving such awesome service from a wonderful family owned small business. Anybody in the Chicago area, be sure to check them out!
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