Friday, June 27, 2008

Spokane










Currently staying in Spokane at Gonzaga. We've made it to our first rest day without any major issues. The ride so far has exceeded my expectations. Initially I was worried I wouldn't be able ot ride a lot, and that I'd be worked to the bone. Instead, I've been able to ride a decent amount, and I've had enough down time.

The people on the ride are also far different than what I was expecting. I assumed most of the participants would be seasoned cyclists who had finally reached a point in there life where their job was secure, and their knees still had cartilidge in them. I certainly wasn't exepecting a huge portion of othe riders to be about my age, and relatively inexperienced. We had riders setting up their first pairs of clipless shoes the night before the 90-ish mile first day. Despite this, there haven't been that many issues. Unforunately, one rider was sold a bike that was far too small for him and ended up riding the first two days with his saddle about 2 inches too low. He spent a day off the bike and seems ok now. A lot of the work I've been doing is fit oriented. Saddles too low, too far back, or just at a ridiculous pitch. Aside from that, I've just been turning a lot of barrel adjusters and truing derailer hangers that were tweaked in shipping.

The daily driving is getting a bit tedious. At this point, the roads are long and straight, over rolling hills. We're on the leeward side of the cascades and everything is very dry. Having my ipod on, and being able to look forward to getting on my bike make it all bearable, though.

Yesterday morning, we left Odessa, WA. The town had about 1000 residents, and no traffic lights. We camped outside of the town's highschool, and shared the facilities with the school's football camp (the team is comprised of 8 people). Most of the towns we go through are similar in size and description to Odessa. Small town America is alive and well, apparently. I've stopped at a few retro drive-in burger jointsfor lunch. It is kind of apparent that the 'retro' vibe isn't a cultivated marketing strategy, and more of a nostaligic pining. Alot of the places remind me of towns in Bradbury stories, particularly Dandilion Wine. Maybe its just because of the handicaping nostaligia. I have some pictures that I'm waiting until I get a wi-fi connection to post. I'm used to being able to stop in any coffee shop and use wi-fi, but out here, if it does exist, it isn't free.

Again, sorry for the abrubt ending, poor spelling, odd diction, etc. Blogging gets on my nerves.

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