Wheel Update

Before completely closing out this blog and book, we thought we'd give you a little update on "The Wheel"....

As of today, November 2, we still have not gotten our wheel back. I stopped into the bike shop several weeks ago to check on the process. Brian told me that he had gotten the wheel back from the bike company but they weren't being particularly agreeable to work with. In other words, they weren't going to do anything. He told me he was going to "take care of it" and that we were not to worry about it. In other words, he is absorbing the cost of the wheel.  

That demonstrates good business on his part and emphasizes poor business on the part of the bike company. We have been pleased with our previous dealings with Santana and with our bicycle, so we are quite disappointed with their response in this matter. We will be contacting them to express that disappointment, including our second thoughts on purchasing a second tandem from them. We have a concern that if they don't stand behind a wheel, they may not stand behind a much more costlier bicycle in the event of a problem.

In the whole scheme of life, this is very minor and, as always, we leave it in the hands of God. It's all His anyway!

Loose Ends and Learning

August 3, 2014

It's hard to believe it's been almost three weeks since we arrived home. That "normal" life that I was missing on the bike ride.....well, it's back in full swing. Work, yard, garden, house, projects, etc. It's all good.

Tonight, I want to tie up some loose ends about the trip and then share some "learnings" God showed us.

Let's start with some miscellaneous tidbits:

The amount raised to date from gifts and pledges for the RAAM scholarship endowment fund: $7,114.38

Times we were forced off the road by a vehicle:
3 (near Cushing, OK; near Arkansas City, KS; near Cooperstown, ND)

Memorable people we met:
-Day 5, Jackie in Marshall, TX who shared with us his difficult health issues then opened his wallet and gave generously to support the scholarship fund.
-Day 6, an elderly man on a bicycle in Jefferson, TX who wanted us to "greet all the cowboys in Montana from an old retired cowboy in Texas."

-Day 19, the young mother in Clay Center, KS who asked if we needed a hot meal or a shower, even though she had her hands full with a baby and a toddler.
-Day 29, the Warmshowers family in Fargo, ND that welcomed us into their home and freely fellowshipped with us.
-Day 36, the people who own and run the Westside Motel in Cooperstown, ND who weren't available to check us in so had us check ourselves in and pay the next morning before leaving.

The most enjoyable:
Both - time with each other; 92.9 miles into Junction City in 4 hrs, 38 min (flat and a good tailwind)
Pat - my arthritic hands didn't hurt; I didn't break any fingernails

The most unexpected:
Pat - all the hills in Oklahoma (I thought OK was flat.); the shin splints
Gerry - the weather and the effects of the heat; the shin splints

The most difficult/challenging:
Pat - Jamestown, ND to Bismarck, ND (105.2 miles, 70 of those were into a strong headwind; 10 hrs and 35 minutes on the road)
Gerry -

Ailments during the ride:
Pat - cramping toes, burning knees, headaches, chafing, shin splints, ear pressure, mouth sores on both corners (these started the second week and finally cleared up last week)
Gerry - groin muscle, chafing, shin splints

The wheel:
We and our bike guy, Brian, are still mystified as to what went wrong with the rear wheel. The wheel set was new when we began the ride and to have it fail with only 2614 miles on it is very unusual. This particular brand is a high end set built particularly for tandems and the weight they bear. The wheel has been sent in to the company for their opinion and, hopefully, a warranty replacement.

That narrow black 'line' running through the rim is where it separated. I could stick my fingernail into that crack.

This angle shows how warped the wheel became. I'm guessing that's from the integrity of the wheel being compromised by the separation.

 

A couple of the questions that are asked of us are:

 

1 - "How was this ride different from the first one?"

Gerry summed it up this way. The first trip was one of 'Awe and Adventure': Awe that we were actually doing what we had dreamed of for years; Adventure in riding through new terrain and states, and meeting people.

 

This second trip was one of 'Pain and Perseverance': Pain was a daily accompaniment for both of us. We called it "pain du jour"(See Ailments above.). Perseverance in forging on even in those hours when everything in us felt like quitting.

 

2 -  "What did God show you on the trip?"

Gerry - Everyone can benefit from being challenged. Pushing on through the hard days showed us that God has given us more strength and endurance than we thought we had.

Pat - We don't stop/quit just because we "feel" like it. We don't make decisions based on feelings. I've known this for a long time but it was reinforced to me.

 

The other thing that keeps coming back to me is, "What impact did I have on those I met?" Did I have any at all? If I didn't, what was it all for? If I did, was it for good?

 

When I think of our friend, Sandy, who has been living with cancer for over a year and a half, I see someone who has been challenged far more than we were for seven weeks. I see someone whose daily battle impacts those around her for good, directing our hearts toward Jesus and the hope that comes only from Him.

 

So, my prayer for all of you who have supported us in prayer, encouraged us emotionally, gave financially, and faithfully followed us right here on the blog, is that in some small way RAAM 2 has directed your hearts toward the Savior, our soon and coming King.

 

Looking up,

Pat and Gerry

Post Ride "Factoids" July 18

July 18, 2014

I forgot to post this picture of our celebration dinner with Tom and Mary on Monday evening.

We've spent this week readjusting to "normal" life. Going to the refrigerator for a drink, cooking real food on a stove, having more than two options for clothing, and driving a vehicle. We have enjoyed working outside and have the yard and garden under control. We so appreciate those who maintained them while were gone.

This is a map of our route, except that we ended in Billings rather than Bozeman.

As promised in the last post, here is some trivia from the ride.

Galveston to Billings - 2614 MILES
Average Miles Per Day - 67
Average Speed - 14.7 MPH
Saddle Time - 174 hours, 25 minutes
Longest Day - Saddle Time - 7 hours, 53 minutes
Longest Day - Mileage - 108.7 (Stillwater, OK to Arkansas City, KS
Fastest Speed - 39.7 mph (We could go faster but it's not real safe, plus the Stoker whines!)

Flats:
9 on the bike - 44 miles before the first ; 658 miles longest stretch; 10 miles shortest; 4 front, 5 rear.
2 on Bob - 2455 miles before the first; 38 until the second.

Repairs:
Day 7, June 3, Texarkana, TX - broken rear spoke
Day 29, June 25, Fargo, ND - new chains, new shift cable, new cable housings, front handle bar tape, new front tire
Day 47, July 13, Billings, MT - broken rear spoke, separated and warped rear wheel (not resolved yet)

Hardest and Longest Headwind - 70 (of 105 miles), Jamestown, ND to Bismarck, ND

Sweetest Tailwind - 92.9 miles, 20 mph avg, El Dorado, KS to Junction City, KS

Riding Days per State:
Texas - 6 (plus 1 day off)
Arkansas - 1/2
Oklahoma - 6 1/2 (plus 1 day off)
Kansas - 4 (plus 1 day off)
Nebraska - 4 (plus 1 day off)
South Dakota - 3 (plus 1 day off)
North Dakota - 11 (plus 3 days off)
Montana - 4 (plus 1 day off)

Highway Rating - Best to Worst: (road conditions-pavement-shoulders)
1-Arkansas
2-South Dakota
3-Kansas
4-Oklahoma
5-North Dakota
6-Montana
7-Nebraska
8-Texas

Driver Courteousness - Best to Worst:
1-Nebraska
2-Arkansas
3-Kansas
4-South Dakota
5-North Dakota
6-Montana
7-Oklahoma
8-Texas

Number of Different Beds Slept In: 38

Some of What We Ate:
Bagels - 66
Peanut Butter - 3 1/2 jars
Pasta Roni - 30 boxes
Instant Spuds - 23 boxes
Tuna - 17 cans
Canned chicken - 2
Oatmeal - 10 boxes
Granola Bars - 14 boxes
Chocolate Bars - 14
Large Sodas (Gerry) - 13
M&Ms - 7 bags
Trail Mix - 6 bags
Peanuts - 5 jars
Crackers - 14 boxes
Stax chips - 9
Milk - 12 half gallons
Crunch n Munch - 6 boxes
(Not exactly health food, is it? But this stuff has calories. We never eat this much boxed/prepared food at home.)

Things We Left Behind or Lost:
Steel water bottle in Witchita Falls, TX on the way down.
Washington and Montana pins from the front pack.
Sweatband in Texarkana, TX.
Camp chair in Atoka, OK (left on purpose).
Trunk pack rain cover near Stromsberg, NE.
Small American flag near Norfolk, NE.
Tent, mats, bedding, maps at Dickinson, ND (on purpose).

I don't know why, but business names would catch my eye, especially when they were names of our family members.

These are the ones I saw:
Wayne's Family Restaurant
Rogers Realty
Maggie's Specialized Grooming
Tom's Auto Shop
Tom, OK
Spencer Cattle, Sheep, Land Co.
Kelly Jewelry
Chuck's Auto Repair
Roger's Family Pharmacy
Kelly Inn
Cliff's Gunsmithing
Wayne's Auto Repair

Number of Miles on Tandem at the End: 29,696
Number of Credit Card Offers in our Mail at Home: 28

We are still mentally and spiritually processing through the trip: the highs and lows, the expected and unexpected, what we saw God do and what we think He wanted us to see and do and take away. By the end of next week, I will try to post some of our conclusions, so please check back.

Also, we will be having the blog printed into a book, hopefully some time this fall. If you're at all interested in purchasing one of these, please contact us personally or through the Heritage Christian School website.

Living Normally (kind of),
Pat

Post Ride July 16

Today is the day we had expected to arrive home. As it is, we're already trying to recuperate in the midst of catching up on mail, yard, garden, etc.

Yesterday we finally got to smooch on our Montana grandkids. Oh, what a joy that was!

 

 Then we made one of our favorite summertime meals: grilled chicken breast and salad from our garden. We didn't at all miss the Pasta Roni and tuna.

 

 

We took the bike into Brian at the Gear Wizard and he was dismayed and amazed at the wheel fail. He is working with the company on a resolution. Hopefully, we'll know something in a couple days and can pass it on to you.

 



God gave both of us encouragement and refreshment this morning in Psalms. He is so faithful to His word and to us.

 

I'm still working on the "factoid" summary and will have it posted by Friday evening at the latest, so check back if you're interested in some of the trivia of the trip.

 

Basking in Montana summer,

Pat

 

 

 



Day 48 Billings to......home

July 14, 2014

4 miles
19.52 ST
11.4 avg


Huh? Four miles? Home? What.....?

And this is where it ended today...at the bike shop in Billings.

If you recall from last night, I mentioned that we had a broken spoke and needed to have it replaced this morning before leaving for Columbus.

We knew we wanted to go to the Spoke Shop because we had stopped there on our way through Billings on our first trip six years ago. When we got there, we took the wheel off and took it in and left it with Craig, explaining what was going on. We knew it would be an hour or so because they had other work ahead of us.

As we waited outside we prayed and talked about what could be the "catastrophic" thing that would send us home early. We didn't look at all our flats, or even spoke replacements, as being in that category. We had had similar conversations earlier in the trip.

Not even five minutes later, Craig called and said he had bad news. "Ok, we're outside and will come right in." I fully expected something along the lines of needing another new tire or more spokes replaced.

I have to say we were shocked to see what he showed us. The rim is separating from the wheel in several places and the wheel itself is warped.

 See that black line running through the middle of the silver? That's the rim separating from the wheel.

 

 What you can't see is the warp in the wheel. When we take the tire off again, I'll take another pic and post that.

This wheel is totally unfixable. What? We just bought these wheels before we left.

What to do? The Spoke Shop doesn't carry tandem wheels. And even if they did, they wouldn't fit our bike because Santana's hubs are wider than other tandem bike hubs. We could possibly call Santana to get another wheel shipped, but that would take three or four days. In addition to the cost of a new wheel, there would be more motel nights while we waited. And we were only 140 miles from home!

After talking about it some more, we agreed that this was the "catastrophic" thing. And so, our trip ended in a sudden and somewhat undramatic, anticlimactic fashion.

Gerry went in to tell Craig of our decision and to pay him for what he had done. He refused any payment. (They did the same thing six years ago.) We could tell that everyone in the shop felt badly about the situation. If you're ever in need of any bicycling help while in Billings, we recommend this shop.

We called my sister, Mary, and she and Tom dropped everything and willingly drove our van over to pick us up.

As we waited, it was an interesting time of processing mentally and emotionally what was happening. Gerry has done a better job of it today than me. I'm still working through it all.

 

 This isn't how we had planned to get Silver Streak and Bob home.

Mary said we could've finished on these. ;o)

Our first trip ended with a picture of us standing in the Atlantic Ocean. Well, this isn't exactly the Atlantic, but this is how this one ended.

 We are extremely grateful to all of you who have prayed for us, expressed your love and concern for us, and followed us all the way. We KNOW this is what God had planned, even though right now we don't know why.

This isn't the end of the blog. Please check back in a few days if you're interested in the "factoids" summary of the trip and further thoughts.

And now, we're going to bed in our own bed, and looking forward to working in our garden, and seeing our grandkids, family and friends!

In Christ,
Pat

Day 47 Forsyth, MT to Billings, MT

July 13, 2014

107.7 miles
7:31 ST
14.5 avg

We left Forsyth at 5:51 this morning while it was still cool. The sun was just coming up behind us and the moon was waning before us.

We had planned to take the two lane to Hysham because it is flat and has very little traffic. We rode this road coming in on our first trip six years ago.

It was gorgeous and quiet along the Yellowstone.

We even startled some deer.

As we were riding, my thoughts were beginning to be a bit on the gloating side as I thought about the interstate in the hills above us. Then...uh oh. Big flashing sign : "Road closed 16 miles ahead".  Thankfully, it was right by an access road to the interstate. And that thing went straight up the hill. Climb #1.  Proverbs 16:18 says "Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." (In this case, a steep hill.)

So, we spent the day on the interstate -  up and down, up and down. We started playing a game of counting the climbs and the hills, hoping the hills would win at the end of the day. The difference between them: a hill is less steep than a climb, but a climb can be be less steep if it's long. It's all subject to how we're feeling at the moment. ;o) The hills barely beat out the climbs today. Hills- 15, Climbs- 14. There were plenty of "rises" that we didn't count in either category.

We also came to some construction which caused us to ride against traffic.

Believe it or not, this was safer than staying on our side. Traffic was reduced to one lane each way and our side had the very narrow shoulder which was filled with rumble strip. There was literally no room for us to ride. Now, the reason this worked for us is that it was very early and traffic was minimal.

We also had several miles of newly finished road which was nice because it was smooth and the shoulder was super clean. Not much fear of flats.

We pedaled on as the day wore on, and it got hotter and hotter. And hotter. Finally....

The road that will take us home!

We had to stop at a Town Pump just east of town to get some water and get our body temps down. We still had about eight miles to our exit and that was too far to go without a break.

Over nine hours after leaving, we got to our hotel, both very tired and hot. After a shower and a little rest, I did laundry then we went to dinner to celebrate making it through such a long day.

So, did you notice there are no pictures of Gerry fixing a flat tire? Hallelujah! 

But....... as we were coming into our room we realized something wasn't right with the back wheel. Sigh. Broken spoke. So, we have to go to the bike shop tomorrow to get that fixed before leaving. Now, what we are grateful for is that both broken spokes have happened in towns with bike shops, rather than out in the sticks somewhere.

Tomorrow will be a shorter day again as we'll aim for Columbus. By the time we finish at the bike shop and get going, we won't have time to make it to Big Timber. Plus, I don't think we'll have the energy, after today. So we'll break the remaining miles into three segments, hoping to arrive home sometime mid to late afternoon on Wednesday.

There may not be a post tomorrow evening as the hotel we'll be at doesn't have WiFi. If there's no other hotspot nearby, I'll have to do two again on Tuesday.

My shin started the day at about a two on the pain scale, rose to a six by our lunch break, and finished at a four. Gerry's has been down around a one or two for about a week now. So, thank you again for your prayer.

We're trying to not get too excited too soon about getting home. There are still three days, plenty of hills and wind to overcome. But, we ARE feeling a bit like horses heading home to the stable. 

We humbly ask you to continue in prayer and pray us all the way home.

Zzzzzzzzzzz,

Pat

Day 46 Miles City, MT to Forsyth, MT

July 12, 2014

45.3 miles
3:11 ST
14.2 avg

Lady and gentleman, start your legs! Let the hills begin!

I'm glad we had seven miles to warm up before this..

We were able to start a little later because it was a shorter distance. But, we didn't want to wait too long as we knew it was going to get hot. So, at 8:00 we rolled out of town down the flat road toward....oh, you already know what I'm going to say.

I think it was after the second climb that I looked over to the right and gazed longingly at the flatness of the river valley.

Oh, why couldn't there be ride-able roads down there?

On one of the downhills, a semi pulling two trailers (I'm sure there's a name for those.) FLEW by us, hugging the white line. His draft pushed us away then sucked us back, way more than just a one-trailer truck. Wow, it would've been nice if he had pulled over to the other lane. (We've had several of those guys that just want to "buzz" us to scare us.) 

We rode by him and his "friend" several miles down the road. Sometimes, there IS "justice". ;o)

We stopped for a break and Gerry looked down. Now, how in the world did a baseball get here, right by mile marker 102, out in the middle of nowhere?

Speaking of weird things on the side of the road, some of the more unexpected things I've seen are a double kitchen sink, a twin mattress, dozens of purple latex gloves along three quarters of a mile, and some cookie cutters.

A couple minutes later,  Gerry glanced down at Bob...

Sigh. Three flats in three days. The price we pay for riding the interstate with all the retread wires from blown truck tires. Gerry pulled out two. Maybe we should pick up a case of tubes and patch kits in Billings tomorrow.

Gerry is getting very good at fixing flats.

All in all, though, it was a good day. Eight climbs and five smaller hills didn't do us in.

We've been able to rest this afternoon so are going to push through the 105 miles tomorrow. We really don't have any other option as there's no place to stay between here and there. We plan to start by 6:00 in order to get most of the way there before the heat kicks in. The breezes are supposed to be NE and north, another plus.

Thank you for your prayer for my shin. Though it is still swollen and quite sore, the pain while riding today was much less than yesterday. I'm trusting that God will bless me with that again tomorrow.

Have a blessed Lord's day tomorrow!
Pat