Wednesday, July 16, 2014

The Sierras Part 4

Day 4 (Wednesday) we arrived in Truckee around 5:30 and landed at the first bike shop on the route. Zeke went in to talk to the mechanic and I went next door to get some drinks and pickles.

I came back and the mechanic had Zeke’s bike taken apart and was explaining to me what exactly had been causing the squeaking noise that Zeke thought “wasn’t a big deal”. Turns out it was a very big deal. The steerer tube had a line worn about halfway through it, caused by an incorrectly installed lower bearing.

The mechanic said he would need to research a new fork, and wouldn’t be able to do it until the next day (Thursday). The part wouldn’t arrive until Friday earliest.

The tricky part was that we were supposed to be meeting Zeke’s next riding buddy near Quincy, I can’t remember the name of the campground, on Thursday.

Zeke was really bummed out about the delay.

We checked into the historic Truckee Hotel and made some phone calls to figure out logistics. Truckee wasn’t a bad place to stay, there are plenty of restaurants and hiking paths nearby.

We got a good nights sleep, had breakfast the next day and popped by the bike shop a couple of times. The mechanics were researching a replacement fork, but they weren’t having a lot of luck finding a good one for touring. I appreciate the work they did, but I wish the shop had communicated with us a little more about their interest and/or limitations in helping us. They are a mostly mountain bike shop, with mostly rentals, and in the end I really felt like we were bothering them. Who knows maybe they were short handed, or not invested. It was a little uncomfortable. I brought them pizza and beer to say thanks. Anyway, I feel lucky that we have the LBS that we do in SF, let’s just leave it at that.

In the end, Zeke’s Aba (dad) ended up finding a Surly Karate Monkey fork and he had it shipped to arrive Friday morning. I took a bus at noon on Friday to Sac and missed meeting Bill and Jaye (the next riding buddies). Also missed Zeke’s excitement at getting his bike fixed at noon. I’m sure they continued on as far as possible so that Zeke could have continuity on his ride. They were scheduled to hang out at Lassen Volcanic Park a couple of days as well.

I took Amtrak Capital Corridor from Sac to Richmond, it was super easy to roll the bike on board the train. I really loved it. I feel like I'm still processing everything that happened. Trying to get back into meditating and having some loving kindness towards myself. Also, this week has been full of Apparel Arts (starting on necklines), Dr Sketchy’s (drew Roma Mafia), etc.

Major Takeaways from this Tour:

• Packing light is still the way to go. Two front bags + tent/sleeping pad strapped to the back rack is such a rocking setup.
• Per Jesse Mullan, "The Sierras have had millions of years to work on their game, and this was your first try"
• Altitude and heat are no joke
• Now I understand why riders go and train in the mountains, they make you stronger
• It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun AKA adventure is never fun while you are having it
• I’ll be processing this for a long time, I think I’m different.


That line is not supposed to be there. Grateful that Zeke did not have an accident.

The historic Truckee hotel, since 1890s. Feels like Deadwood.

Capital Corridor is easy peasy!

Taught Zeke about side eye.

Collected a Tuolmne meadows pin, a Lake Tahoe pin and still have Eeyor in a Winnie the Pooh suit.

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