To keep our bodies, bikes, and blog rolling, sometimes we have to let them stop.
Yes, we know, it's turning cold. You might not know this, but almost every person we come across who has any sense of the TransAm course makes a point of informing us that it's late in the season. It's already snowed in Colorado. Oregon and California are both burning. You're really taking a rest day?
Hell yes, and glad we did. By hanging around Farmington instead of leaving at the crack of dawn, we got to be there when Trans Am Cyclery opened. Beau needed new gloves for the colder weather, and also felt like his derailleur still wasn't acting right. Turns out both of us needed new chains, and just in time to climb the Ozarks!
Seriously, getting new chains on these steeds makes them feel like new machines. If for no other reason, we're friggin glad we stuck around for the chains.
But, also, rest is important. Our bodies and our brains were getting to Fried Town City, and it was great to sleep in (which, for us these days, is 7:30am), and to catch up on this public diary of sorts. And it was good to not be on the bikes!!! The whole game of this long-term touring thing is to push yourself without breaking. We've both been having arm and hand and shoulder issues, and our thighs are somehow like both steel cables and raw chicken breasts of pain... Our necks hurt, our feet hurt. Our hamstrings are getting "chunky". We've invented a new body part to refer to where we're sore: the pickathing. Meaning everywhere. Where's it hurt? Right in my pickathing.
But we were productive on our rest day. Sara cleaned the bikes and put new bar tape on Beau's bike — his old tape was starting to get gaps. Now he's a little easier to spot, too. And we made carbonara again — it's just hard to pass up when we have access to a kitchen, or even just a pair of hotplates. And we watched Premium Rush, then found out that Sara once bought bike parts off one of the guys who did stunts for that movie — one of those parts is currently holding Beau's bike seat up. So that's cool. (Also, side note: check out Danny MacAskill. I mean, whoa…)
Zero Miles Today, folks. And better for it. Back at it early tomorrow.