Crisis Created and Averted

This weekend I did my second fully loaded bike tour (first trip here and here). I made a few modifications to my bike and touring kit. I loaded up Friday and off I rode!This ride up felt so much smoother than the first time I did it. Partially it was because I was stronger. With each trip I’m building my muscles just a little bit more. But also we (the other part of the ‘we’ being the St. Pete Bike Co-op) fixed the issue with my back brake dragging. I made sure I had proper tire inflation. The headwind wasn’t nearly as strong as the previous trip. The first time I even thought about stopping was 13 miles into the trip. I snacked on a granola bar and an apple and then rode on.

I stopped again about 10 miles later. I stretched and ate a banana. I didn’t feel fatigued.

Even with riding with all of my gear, the miles felt easy. The weather was gorgeous, slightly overcast and in the low 70s. When I had to ride in the road for the lack of a trail, only one person honked at me. Even the bike lanes along the highways, which you pretty much have to take to get from the Pinellas Trail to Starkey Park, felt smooth. Cars waited for me to pass through intersections and gave me reasonable passing distances.

At 40 miles, I stopped to get important supplies. The campsite manager said they were out of firewood and recommended buying some at a nearby Publix. I stopped, and Publix did have firelogs: compressed coffee grounds, in this case, sometimes used in fireplaces. I would work. The only problem was they only sold boxes of them. Boxes of 4. Each log weighs 5 lbs. I decided to buy them. An extra 20 lbs in my panniers!! I also bought choice adult beverages and a couple of Bic lighters.

I arrived at the park at 3:00. That’s compared to a 6:00 arrival time the first time I rode there fully loaded!! Granted I left a little bit earlier this time, but overall I averaged 10.6 miles/hour for the 50-mile trip. That’s compared to 7 or 8 mph during the first trip.

After setting up camp, I puttered around the park for awhile. I tried to find the hiking trail, because I wanted to go by the river that runs through the park. I ended up on the cycling trail instead. By the time I realized my error I was really hungry, so I went back to camp and cooked up shells and cheese. Soon after that, I got my campfire going. I journaled for awhile, then I read a book until it was too dark to read and the fire was getting low.

I woke with the waking of the birds and the sun. I realized I need to bring my sleep mask with me when camping to hold off the light for just a little longer. I took my time breaking camp, washing the dishes, packing my panniers.

There was just one hiccup in the trip. When my panniers were loaded, I realized I should check my tire pressure. My back tire was a bit low. I got my pump and attached it to the valve stem. Ssssssssssssssssssssss. Air leaked out.

I unfastened the pump, the hissing stopped. I examined the tire. I examined the pump. I couldn’t determine anything wrong with either, so I tried again. Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

Shit. Now I’d led a goodly bit of air out of my tires. I couldn’t travel with a flat tire. I started panicking.

Finally, after releasing the vast majority of the air in my tires, I slowed down. I realized there wasn’t anything wrong with the tire, because it was holding air at the start of all of this. I examined the pump more closely. A connector was loose. That was where the air was coming from. I tightened the piece and pumped up my tire.

Crisis created and averted…

It felt good for the first part of this trip to feel good. Even the mini-crisis factors into that. Part of my fear about the Canada trip is that I’ll be miserable the entire time. That I won’t be able to make it up the mountains. That I’ll be so exhausted that I won’t be able to enjoy the trip. That my bike will break down and I won’t be able to fix it. 

The reality is, I might have some bad days on the Canada trip. There might be days that are really tough. But at the end of the day, I’ll have a friend to talk to. If I need help, I’m traveling with a friend. But even if I was traveling alone, doing these “practice tours” is building my skills and confidence to make traveling by bike as smooth as it can be.

Hopefully I won’t make too many crises, but whatever crises come my way I’m becoming more confident that I can avert them.