Flats, Friendly Drivers and Food

The overcast sky turned out to be smoke from forest fires west of us. We could see the billowing smoke across the river closer to Mt. Adams. Our plan was to bike around 50 miles to Cascade Lochs. Yesterday I had three rear wheel flats in 1 mile. I had a feeling this was not due to road debris. I turned my tire inside out and got very intimate with all aspects of it and found nothing.  The last tube we put in stuck the last mile or so into town and was fine as we rolled out of town. At flat #2, I started yelping 'bike stores' and one that came up closest was Salmon Cycling. As we cycled out of town I spied it and suggested we stop there to restock on tubes.

The store was immaculate and its owner a great mechanic and cyclist. He added some goo-like stuff he thought would reduce the impact of the goat head thorns he thought might be the reason for the prolific flats. A few minutes later we were on the road, west.

1 mile out Charlie thought I was joking when I shouted 'flat'. I won't share the additional vocabulary I added, but you can guess. So...I have been caring zip ties with me for years. I had them when we cycled in Europe and they are always in my flat kit. I don't know why, but my friend and bike guru, Richard suggested them once and I followed his advise. This morning as we were  leaving the hotel one of the zip ties fell out and I almost tossed it and then thought better and tucked in back into my flat kit. As we sat on the side of the road those zip ties came to mind and I asked CR if he would take my rear tire back to Salmon Cycling so that Dave could start the tire investigation;  We zip tied it to his trailer and agreed I would find a good Samaritan to drive the mile back with the rest of my bike and panniers. Charlie and I made a quick bet that I would make it back to the bike shop faster than he did. We were close but he beat my about 5 minutes. The Good Samaritan was a local Toyota rep named Tony who pulled up at the gas station where I was waiting in a Sequoia  - and yes, parents, I got his license plate and texted it to CR before I hopped in. And yes, Michael, I had my Swiss Army knife on me.

After replacing the rim tape and the tube and the goo, we hit the road 2 hours later than expected. 

The ride to Hood River is 17 miles - normally a ride we'd complete by lunch. Well, the climbs were, at least to me, tremendous. We climbed for about an hour, rested and climbed some more. The resulting view was worth it (see pics) and we assumed a juxtaposed decent was in order - nope. The directions from Messier to Hood River implied there were some climbs but not a terrain change to inch thick gravel (not good for heavy bikes). We finally had to hop off and push for a half mile. On the way a car passed and let us know the path we were looking for was a half mile back :(. The next 5 miles down a car-less path included views of the river from 1/2 a mile up, a pass through a tunnel that was originally designed for the model T but is now for hikers and bikers ; we passed orchards of peach, apricot and cherry trees that were tucked into the hills. Again, all worth the effort in my opinion. I snacked on an whole avocado, Pringles and turkey jerky and went through 4 bottles of water.

We just finished dinner at Nora's in Hood River, OR where we dined on Ceviche, Gazpacho, local Salmon, etc. and returned cleaned plates to the kitchen.  All this riding makes me appreciate the food - I crave 'real' food - like an orange or tomato. I am not sure where Pringles fit in, but they were delicious dipped in peanut butter!

Tomorrow we are headed to Portland.