Day 57 - A Much Needed Bike Shop Visit (July 28th, 2024)

City To City: Council - Damascus

Miles: 51

Miles Total: 3,830

Flats: 13

Video: Unavailable

Riding through Appalachia

Mark Steaming In His Rain Jacket

Chris Fixing My Dad's Clip-In Shoes

The Warning Sign

    It was chilly in the morning, and some of us decided to put on rain jackets and take them off later.  Well, Mark decided not to take his off, and on the second hill, he was pouring buckets and was happy to take it off at the top.

    The ride through the mountains was beautiful.  Mountains faded into gray in the distance.  A light fog clung to the mountaintops.  The sun's rays poked through the fog in a golden glow on the earth.  Birds chirped, and crickets chatted.  The stillness of the morning was quiet except for our tires and an occasional car.

    Along the way, we saw a sign someone had put in their front yard for all to see.  It said, "I'd turn back if I were you."  We laughed, and of course, we didn't turn back because the entire trip has been nothing but going forward, one pedal at a time.  But a big, steep, long hill was coming up, and our legs burned when we reached the top.

    We stopped with twelve miles to go to Love's gas station. Love's gas station is a huge stop, with the regular stop, plus Dunkin Donuts, Subway, and McDonald's. My dad gave me the task of making sure we bought Matt and Mark some cold drinks to return the favor.  Mark is especially hard to beat him to pay for things.  Whenever someone beats him to it, Mark looks so disappointed, as if he was promised an ice cream cone but didn't get it.  So, my strategy was to keep an eye on Matt and follow Mark discreetly.  So, I'm focusing on Mark and Matt; they happened to be in the same aisle, which made things easier for me.  Then, Matt's gone!  I look down the passageway and see Matt ordering at McDonald's.  I immediately started speedwalking in Matt's direction, and the timing was just perfect!  Matt was getting ready to pay, and I swooped down and tapped my credit card.  Matt asked why I did that, and I briefly explained my mission, then didn't waste a second to go and track Mark down.  Luckily, Mark was still in the same aisle, so I grabbed a banana for my dad and waited.  Mark gets in line, and I get in behind him.  Mark waves me ahead, which works in my favor because I was wondering how I was going to barge in right before Mark paid.  So, when the banana got scanned, I told the woman behind the counter that I would pay for Mark's drink.  She obviously didn't know that we knew each other but complied with Mark protesting over my shoulder.  But I stood firm, and once we were outside, Mark asked why, and I told him what my dad had tasked me with.  But halfway through my explanation, Mark said, "Okay, okay.  There's no need to rub it in my face any further."  We just laughed.

    We made it to a bike shop in Damascus by lunch. Since Henry's and Matt's wheels were out of truth, we didn't dilly-dally so we could have enough time to get to the bike shop in time for them to work on them as much as possible. Also, Mark's son, Adam, lives in North Carolina and came to pick Mark up so they could spend time together.

    Henry went in first, and since a mechanic was elsewhere, Chris, the top-notch bike mechanic, came over from one of his bike shops in town.

    Chris then worked the best he could on Henry's bike. He got everything straight except for a small section of the wheel, but it was better than nothing. Then Matt didn't even try to get his wheel straight. He got a new wheel and then asked Chris to look at his front shifter. Chris looked at it and didn't find an explanation, but nevertheless, it worked better than before.

    Chris reminded me a lot of a parkour coach named James. Not only is Chris's physical appearance similar to James's, with the blond hair in a man's bun and similar facial features, but his personality, too.  All the kids from Cincinnati Parkour loved hanging around Coach James and looked up to him.  When a kid was excited and told Coach James about it, James always replied with enthusiasm.  That's the same Chris is as a person.  Chris is the biker bro that everyone knows and admires.  The older ladies dote on him, his peers respected him, and the younger guys looked up to him.  One of Chris's employees was working near us and mentioned something the employee was excited about.   Chris replies enthusiastically, "No way, dude!  That's so sick!"  When my dad asked how much he owed Chris, Chris waved it off and said that since he couldn't true Henry's wheel up all the way and wasn't sure that my dad's squeaky shoes would actually stop squeaking, there was no charge.

Then, we ate lunch on the bench outside of the bike shop.

    Adam arrived and picked Mark up.  We made some small talk before Mark and Adam left.  Then, we decided to go to a coffee shop and blog.  My dad looked at the forecast and soon got anxious because the sky was darkening and calling for rain.  So, we headed off, looking for a hotel along the way.  All the hostels in the town were thirty to forty dollars a person to stay.

    So, we found the cheapest inn to stay at for the night. It was brand new, with a small kitchen to cook in and modern furniture to relax in.

    So, Henry made our meal, and Matt made his, and everyone ate both meals, until we were full.  Then I worked on more blogs, and when the lights were out by 8:30 pm, we had no trouble going to sleep.  But boy were we grateful that we were in a nice air conditioned room with no rain pouring down on our tents.