Tuesday, July 28, 2009
43: Getting the Bike Back
| Stoker's Log Day Forty Three |
 |
| 7/28/09 |
| Rest Day |
| Aurora, CO |
We were off to see the wizard, the one who would put our Hase Pino back together. The bike shop hadn't actually called us to say that it was done, but we were tired of waiting around the house so we grabbed Pickle and Dave's mountain bikes and rode them to downtown Englewood. To get there we took a network of trails, most of which were paved; I love this state.
We had a rough start before we got to the trails, however, when we discovered how bad we are at communicating when we're on two separate bikes instead of one. Several times I didn't understand Kyle's directions or he didn't give them quickly enough and it took time to adjust and not get frustrated with each other. I enjoyed the freedom of riding upright and being able to race each other, but I'll be glad to get our tandem back.
We weren't going to get it back right away, however; we reached the bike shop only to discover that it was still closed. We spotted the oh-so-appropriate Spicy Pickle sub shop across the street and decided to have lunch there while we waited. It was very cheery and everything was delicious except, ironically, for the spicy pickle, which was a little too hot for me.
By the time we were done the bike shop was open and to our surprise they were expecting us. They had finished up the bike and called us while we were on our way over. Recumbent Bikes & Trikes was all kinds of cool, from the bike rack to the window display to the four-person bikes suspended from the ceiling.
The owners and workers were great. They told us stories -- about everything from using newspaper as jersey insulation to couples who should really not be on a tandem together -- from all the different rides they'd done themselves or supported from their impressively stocked van. I really wish we could hire them to come with us the rest of the way.
We couldn't take all of the bikes back with us at once, though we did briefly consider whether I could hold the mountain bikes and roll them along beside the tandem. We decided that we weren't quite that talented, so we rode the mountain bikes back and then asked Ryan to drive us back to the bike shop so that we could get the tandem and ride it home. It took a lot of traveling and coordinating, but we were finally back on our bike, and it felt great. We got goofy, as we so often do: I misunderstood something Kyle said and thought that ambulances sometimes used the bike paths, and when Kyle made fun of how preposterous that was, I imagined that we were on a half-sized ambulance that wreaked havoc on the trails and had a theme song along with a siren. Watch out for Jilly's Ambulance.
When we got back it was early evening and there was still so much packing and planning to do. We were hoping to leave tomorrow, bright and early, but when we were still working steadily on everything after midnight we realized it just wasn't going to happen. Instead we'll spend one more day in Aurora, which could be the last break we take until we finish our long, hard push to the coast.
← 42: The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything | Home | 44: In Brief →
| posted at: 02:11 |
permanent link and comments
