Month: October 2011

An impostor amongst the ranks

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Today, I was mistaken for a hero.

American flags flew, people cheered and anthems boomed through the speakers. What could I do but wave? This wasn’t an intentional deception.  I was pedaling along south of San Luis Obispo, absorbed in my thoughts, when a photographer suddenly appeared on the side of the road. “There’s 200 wounded veterans catching up to you!” she yelled as I sped by.

The first group was led by one badass hand cyclist and passed me with a whir. The other riders came by at a slightly slower tempo but all of them had the same look of determination on their face. Friendly hellos were exchanged but I didn’t get a full explanation of the ride until a veteran/bike industry/support rider came along. The cyclists were all injured veterans who were in the middle of a 7 day “Ride 2 Recovery” event.

This program is designed to assist with both physical and emotional recovery from the scars of wartime. Wounded veterans are provided with custom carbon bicycles as a means of rehab and set an accompanying goal to participate in a specific ride. I witnessed touching acts of camaraderie as the men and women encouraged each other through challenging hills and descents.

These kind folks invited me to share lunch with them and even fixed my slowly leaking rear tire. Over egg salad sandwiches we shared stories of our hometowns and life on the road. I would like to extend a huge thank-you to the Ride 2 Recovery crew for keeping my morale high during a challenging day of riding. An even bigger thank-you goes out to all of our troops, at home and abroad.

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Minor surgery, minor setback

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When I set off on the SFT 6 weeks ago, I had no idea what to expect during life on the road. I did not anticipate being taken in by strangers, relishing a simple chilled apple or running out of bike tubes. I definitely did not expect to spend days convalescing in a Super 8 in San Luis Obispo after having mouth surgery!

 

I noticed a small lump in my lip swelling over the past few weeks until yesterday it was large enough to require some medical attention. After a 4 hour wait the Urgent Care doctor gave me two choices: see an ENT in 5 days or get it over with immediately. I chose the immediate solution and now here I am, one day after surgery, looking (and sounding) more like a cartoon character than sweet Sara from the School Food Tour.

I was hoping to keep riding but my injured lip is prone to drooling and we sure can’t have drool on my trusty touring bike! Luckily I have some produce and raw milk from the San Luis Obispo Farmer’s Market in my hotel room. For the next few days I’ll be taking it easy, catching up on blogging and icing my face. I’ll spare you more photos, but just imagine a pouty lower lip and then quadruple the size and you’ll have a picture of what its like.

As the title suggests, this is just a minor setback and I anticipate a full recovery in time for my next scheduled stops in Santa Barbara, LA and San Diego later in the month.

Adventures in the Central Valley

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Quiet roads, beautiful sunrises & friendly faces. These were not the dreadful sights that I was repeatedly cautioned against during my SFT planning. Usually the conversation went something like this, “The Central Valley? Worst idea ever. No one rides through there. It’s dangerous & hot. Can’t you pick a better route?”

Blue skies and golden fields in the Central Valley

Yes, it was quite warm. And yes, it was desolate. And yes, I did epic one day with a flat tire trifecta. But it was also a beautiful and fascinating 4 days of pedaling through one of the primary agricultural regions of our country. I whizzed past endless fields of tomatoes, peppers, melons, corn, grains, cotton & beans. I was shaded by orchards of almond, walnut, pistachio & pomegranate trees. Acres of vineyards, dairy cows grazing and enormous processing plants dotted the landscape as I raced farming equipment along the length of huge 5 mile ‘blocks’. I passed long hours in the saddle contemplating the scale of our food system and wondering about which path these truckfuls of tomatoes were destined to follow.

I'm not sure what sort of crop this is - someone enlighten me please!

Pomegranate trees!

Straight from the tree

Another interesting sight this week was the California Aqueduct. This waterway winds down the valley, providing irrigation to 400 miles of the valley floor. Certain sections of the Aqueduct are open to bikes and allow a welcome respite from riding along the road. My route avoided freeways entirely as I followed the less busy farm roads that parallel I-5. Campgrounds are usually my accommodations of choice, but alas, they were quite nonexistent in the area so I stuck to hotels along the freeway corridor for nighttime shelter and a shower.

The California Aqueduct bikeway

Beautiful skies over the Aqueduct

Towards the end of one particularly long day of 90+ miles in 90+ degree heat, I spotted an irresistible shortcut. I was faced with climbing one mile up a hill and then back down that same hill or a quick jaunt along a plowed field. An easy choice! However this seemingly time-saving decision quickly turned into an extended saga of flat tires and kind strangers as all three of my tires simultaneously flattened the minute that I returned to the pavement. After spending close to an hour pulling thorns out of my tires and replacing two tubes successfully, I came to the grim realization that the valve on my final replacement tube was broken. This meant patching a tube that was riddled with tiny punctures.

The infamous short/long cut

I settled into identifying all the leaks in the tube and carefully circling each one with a marker. As the hole count increased and my patch count decreased, I realized that the math didn’t add up. I was short on patches. Improvisation is key during life on the road. No patches? How about duct tape!

Hoping for a bit of luck!

Knowing that this was a temporary solution, at best, I loaded up my rig and started riding. After 8 miles and equally as many stops to pump up my deflating tire, my quick fix finally failed and I walked the last 2 miles in the twilight. I watched headlights from the freeway flicker in the distance while thoughts of an impending In N Out burger occupied my mind.

My reward after a 9+ hour and 2,000+ calorie day

The next morning I awoke and evaluated my situation. I was out of spare tubes, in the middle of the Central Valley and still 50 miles from the nearest bike shop. I could 1) Hitch a ride 2) Hitch a ride or 3) Meet a kind man named Mauricio who owns the local auto shop and just happens to have a bike tire patch kit. I chose #3.

Traveling by bicycle is unpredictable and exhilarating. You’re forced to adapt daily, reach out beyond yourself and keep your chin up at all costs. After my epic, as I was pushing my 85 pounds of gear through the soft shoulder of a construction zone for the final two miles, I found myself smiling and relishing in the experience. I am a Team Duke athlete, part of the John Wayne Cancer Foundation and I’m pedaling “to bring courage, strength and grit to the fight against cancer”. I hope that John Wayne would be proud of the grit I showed in the Central Valley.

You can see ride details on my Garmin Connect page: