Life On A B-I7

Route

• Painesville, OH to Erie, PA

Metrics

• Miles: 73
• Average Speed: 11.6 mph
• Moving Time: 6 hours 14 minutes

Note

• Two flat tires today. The first ones on the trip!

Thought For The Day

• Spend time each day to think of things higher than yourself.

Like the note says, I had two flat tires today. Those are the first flat tires of the entire trip. They didn’t occur until after I had gone over 3,000 miles. Well, I should say there was really one flat today. The second flat occurred when I put a new tube in the first time, I pinched the tube between the tire and the rim of the wheel. It lasted about 10 miles. That 10 miles was extremely rough road which just accelerated the pinch. The first flat was caused by a wiring staple. I showed it to my navigator and he agreed that was the reason. The second flat I knew even before I tested the tube what the cause was. Sure enough, there was a puncture right at the valve stem where it had been pinched. I showed puncture to my navigator, and he didn’t say a word. He just looked at me. He didn’t even smile. That made me feel more guilty than if he had actually said something. I was very careful replacing the second tube.

I reached the campground late in the afternoon. It’s a campground right on the bay in the town of Erie, Pennsylvania. This looks to be a major shipping point on the lake. It’s a nice campground. I got all set up and had some Ramen and then crawled into my tent. About 2 AM I noticed some lightning and thunder so I jumped out of the tent and grabbed my power bank that was charging at the charging station next to my campsite. (It was in a plastic bag to protect it, but I didn’t want to leave it out there anyway.) By the time I reached the door of the tent and was crawling back in the rain had arrived. It arrived, there was no mistaking it. That was by far the worst storm I have experienced on this trip. In fact, it’s might be the worst storm I’ve experienced, period. It lasted about two hours. I was actually able to sleep through part of it. At first, I was concerned that the tent wasn’t up to the task, but it was. I was impressed by its performance and needless to say, very grateful.

I’m getting a late start today. It’s 9 AM and I’m not done packing up, but that’s OK. I only have 50 miles to go today. Yes, it looks like there’s going to be some rain today and yes, I will probably get wet, but I’m not complaining. I’ve experienced so little rain on this tour that it would be ungrateful of me to complain.

I plan to stop at a bike shop and pick up a couple spare tubes. I don’t like spending time on the road patching old tubes and putting them back into service. Call me lazy.

My Navigator confirming the cause of the first flat.

Making repairs alongside the road. It was a beautiful day. It was supposed to rain but it was sunny instead. The rain came later with a vengeance. That’s another story.

By the time I reached the campground for the night, I had traveled the entire stretch of Northwest Pennsylvania less 15 miles.

Itinerary Maps