Day 26
Belleville IL, 78 miles
High mileage day!
So far, I’ve lost two hats on this trip and a pair of gloves. (I liked both the hats a lot, the gloves didn’t matter.) One thing I’m learning is that you really have to keep track of your things carefully. Whenever something is outside of a pannier, you have to keep it in hand. If it’s not in hand, it needs to go back inside your pannier. You would think that keeping track of the few things you carry with you on a trip like this wouldn’t be a problem, but apparently it is, at least for me.
For the second time on the trip, my right derailer downshift paddle quit working. It happened once on the Blue Ridge Parkway and happened again yesterday. There doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with the cable. The paddle just doesn’t engage. The funny thing about it is after a short period of time it starts working again. I can’t explain this. I would like to be a better mechanic so I could solve problems like that on my own, or at least understand them.
I went into a CVS yesterday to get some sunscreen and when I came out a fellow pulled up right next to me and started chatting. He asked me how far was I going and I told him Oregon. he looked at me and he said “I want to do that someday.” That led us into a very nice conversation about cross country touring, touring bikes, and the ins-and-outs of long-distance cycling. He was a cool dude. I hope he takes the opportunity to do an adventure like this some day.
I’m not sure how I’m going to get across the Mississippi tomorrow. More to follow on that…
I woke my friend early. He didn’t mind a bit. The dude abides!