Day 48

52 Miles
We woke up slower than we had the last few days, but were still up and on the road by 7. This was possibly our last day with Oak and it was bittersweet. Oak and Lily carried on like caring siblings and I could help but laugh with them. It was to be a day full of laughs and adventure.
Our goal was some 70 miles away. The wind thought that was a bit lofty and tried to slow us. It succeeded by the first stop. I did not want to go that far in such wind.We set a new goal of 50 some miles. The joking continued during that first stop which was only about 12 miles in. We had been making stop usually every 20 or so miles. The wind had fooled Lily who traveled without a cyclometer that she'd gone much further than she actually had.
The next stop was probably around 25 miles total into the day. We ate at the shop/restaurant/bar. The winds were still so strong and the sun was bright and hot. Just as we are getting ready to leave two cyclists pull up heading West like us. Lily gets her normal excitement when she sees fellow cyclists, but this is doubled over when she realizes one is her long lost friend Paul. Paul was traveling from Florida up to Ohio and over to Seattle and eventually down to San Francisco. He had been on the road since May. He had three months down and a few more to go. With Paul was Matt. Matt was toward the beginning of a long trek toward Argentina. He started in Wisconsin or Minnesota, I wasn't quite sure. He was from Wisconsin. I gathered that.
There was much excitement all around. My number of riding companions doubled. No one was more excited than Lily. Her bike gang was growing. It made the idea of Oak leaving seem easier. Well, not really. It was still sad that he'd be leaving us. After some chatting we all set out again. The pace was slower with all the getting to know each other. The wind wasn't much help either.
We stopped a couple times. Each time there was more getting to know each other. Unfortunately our last stop before the place we planned to stop I could feel a headache coming on. I tipped Lily off. I hugged Oak goodbye. (We hadn't managed to convince him to stay one more night with us.) He was so close to home, just a few days away. He wanted to push on. I was sad, but I didn't blame him.
Lily, Paul, Matt and Oak all pushed on. I took some painkillers and sat in whatever shade I could find. My headaches seemed to be getting worse. I think it may have been the changes in elevation. We were climbing to higher elevations slowly every day. Eventually my headache subsided and I pushed on.
I made it to Chester and stopped at the first store I saw. I bought some more wraps and some other food. I walked outside to sit and eat. I saw Oak sitting there with his bike "Mollie" and his trailor. We sat and talked. I was glad I got to spend that little extra time with him. There was a storm rolling in. He had been hoping it would pass. It wasn't passin so he was going to brave it anyway. We hugged again. He rode off. And I went off in search of the park that my bicycle gang was supposedly setting up for the day.
After riding around for a bit, I found the park. Just as I rolled in the storm hit. I took cover under the pavillion. Paul, Lily, and Matt were there and talking and laughing. The storm turned out to be quite fierce with high wind and some brief hail. We were all worried about Oak. (Lily text him later and he was fine and in Canada. He was a happy in his homeland again.)
As we were talking about gear and bikes and all sorts of travel, Matt noticed that Juno had flat. Shortly after, I noticed that Upstate had one too. It was that back tire. It was always the back. This was especially disappointing because we all decided to skip tent set up and just sleep underneath the pavillion roof. Normally this would mean i wouldn't have to unpack very much. The flat meant I had to remove almost everything off my bike. After the flats were fixed, I set off to find a laundromat. Matt and Lily went shopping. Paul hung out at the park.
I did my laundry. And I couldn't help but laugh when I left. The tire was flat again. I walked back with my bike. I didn't want to ride it with the flat. This flat turned out to be quite the blessing. As I unloaded everything again I saw it. My wheel had a broken spoke. I had never planned for this. I don't know how long it would have been before I would have even noticed. Because I hadn't really planned for this, I didn't have a spare spoke. I started to stress. Luckily for me, Paul, the amazing man that he is, had several sizes. Not only did he provide me with a spare spoke, but he was also a bike mechanic.
The Road Shall Provide.
Paul labored over my spoke for some time. This proved quite difficult because of some plastic guarding the wheel from the cassette (the cassette are the gears on the back tire). He had to break it off. The spoke wasn't quite the right size, but it would suffice. Paul did an amazing job. And I am eternally grateful to him. The road really did provide. It seemed to be Paul's philosophy. And reflecting, I couldn't agreed more. It was also really great to learn how to change a spoke and more about truing a wheel.
After all that and fixing the innertube I packed all my stuff back up. Then we all hung out and ate. There was a grill and Matt and Paul enjoyed some fresh cooked sausages as a result.
It was still light when we all rolled out our sleeping bags under the pavillion. I took more painkillers to insure that I would sleep through. The open air was refreshing. I slept well.