It’s Saturday morning and time to get back on the road after my rest day in Atascadero. Five days of riding left, and today’s is the last one with any real hills in it. Emily gives the Hulk bike and me a lift back to the gas station I rode to the day before yesterday, and I’m off to work my way around Vandenberg Air Force Base on my way to Gaviota State Beach.

a neighbor

The ride out of town went fine; I missed a couple of turns (which is pretty much par for the course) but no big deal in terms of backtracking. The weather was perfect, overcast to keep the sun off but warm enough that I didn’t need my jacket. (After the sunny day yesterday I had recharged my internal solar battery and was fine again with the clouds.)

I rolled on past Pismo Beach and was treated to an assortment of smells. The aroma of several roadside restaurants worked up my appetite, including a couple of barbeque joints… oh man. The temptation was almost too much to resist, but then I was hit with the wet dog smell from Pismo Beach itself and had no problems keeping the tires turning.

I stopped in Guadalupe for a nice lunch at an old Mexican place. A couple of other touring cyclists stopped in who were on their way to Lompoc. They were from somewhere international but I couldn’t place it.

over a thousand miles away from home, even by car… I’m getting close

I rolled on through more farmland. The sky now seemed to be indecisive over whether it was going to rain or not. A few drops would fall here and there, not enough to really get me wet but raindrops nonetheless (not sprinkle-sized). I adjusted my torn compression bag around my sleeping bag as best I could and tucked in the Shamwow around the exposed end to keep it dry.

At 2:30pm I reached a fork in the road: either follow the sign to Lompoc, which was on the route; or, stay on 135 like I think the map is telling me to go. The road going to Lompoc is up a steep hill, which isn’t listed on the elevation profile… I go with the 135. A spray-painted message from the 3 Amigos confirms I picked the right direction. Did not want to get caught in the wrong place if it does start pouring down.

you can find these road markers all along the Pacific Coast Bike Route from several different years

A little ways later I hit the Harris Grade Road and my legs just didn’t want to go anymore. The grade wasn’t very steep, but my legs just didn’t have the oomph. I think was still adjusting to being back on the road after the day off. I trudged on, making frequent stops and marveling at the sheer amount of trash strewn about this road, more roadside dumping than I’d seen the entire trip. (I had to organize the Roadkill Report into sections there was so much stuff today.) Eventually I had made it over the hill and headed down towards Lompoc increasing my pace as the rain did the same.

I stopped in town at a donut shop and had a cup of coffee to pep me up with an apple fritter and a sugar coated donut for vitamins and minerals. I rode out a bit after 5pm. The sky had settled on not raining for today, which I was just fine with. Just as I pulled out into the street, my back wheel felt like it hit an uneven spot in the road and the bike went sideways for a second… a weird momentary loss of control, but it regrouped shortly thereafter. I looked back and saw my rear tire had lost at least half of its air in whatever just happened.

I pulled into a gas station lot and checked out the tire. I couldn’t see any punctures or other damage. I got out the pump and filled it up, and it seemed to be holding the air… strange. Could my tire somehow have twisted and air got out, but without a puncture to the tube? Didn’t make sense logically, but there it was holding its air. I asked the gas station attendant about bike shops in town and he said they were all closed at that point. If it was a flat I’d be dealing with it on my own anyway, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ride on. I had about 15 miles left until Gaviota State Beach and wanted to get there and over that last hill before dark.

I rode out of Lompoc and was back on the 1, heading for the hill. I never made it. About 2 miles in my rear tire was flat again. I popped the tire off and had a look… wouldn’t you know it, there was a thorn that had made a bullseye into the hole where my tire had been hit by a staple in Coos Bay. A small puncture, but I decided to go with a fresh tube anyway. I cut a section of the old tube and wrapped it around that spot on the new tube in case lightning struck twice, filled up the tire, and mounted the wheel back on the bike.

wrestling with the flat on the side of the highway

I made it maybe half a mile or so until my rear tire started hissing loudly. Arrgh! Now what?

I got the tire off again and that’s when I saw that my tire had actually been cut, and the cut went all the way through the Kevlar bead in the tire. The raw inner edge of this cut had slashed the new tube I just put in – the tire itself caused the flat.

Shit.

Remember how just the day before I was in a bike shop saying I wouldn’t need a spare tire? Yeah, uh huh.

This wasn’t working out. I weighed my options and decided pretty quick I needed to double back to Lompoc; it didn’t look like I was making it to Gaviota tonight. Already I had lost a decent amount of time changing the tube once… I needed to get off the road before it got too late. Unable to ride it, I tried filling the tire so I could push the bike along as I walked but it wouldn’t hold any air long enough even for that. I was stuck there.

As luck would have it, I just happened to have the break down right next to a call box on the side of the road. I gave it a ring, told the operator of my problem, and he said “sorry, we only handle automobile emergencies.” So much for that.

I tried thumbing a ride with a truck but no one would stop. Not sure if it’s a sign of the times or a sign of me not shaving for three weeks, but either way I was screwed. I figured my best bet was to try and patch up the tire as best I could so I could make it the few miles back to Lompoc, find a place to stay, and deal with it in the morning. I pulled the wheel off again, patched the tube, wrapped the cut section with another segment from the old tube, and reassembled it. It seemed to be holding but I didn’t get a chance to test it out as a truck pulled up to see if I needed a hand. It was a couple who lived in Lompoc. We loaded up the bike in the back and they gave me a lift to the Best Western back in town.

I walked into the lobby and asked the clerk if they had any rooms… only ones with one bed, she said. Fine by me, I usually sleep in just one anyway. They cut me a deal for $99 for the night and I started to fill out the paperwork. I noticed a big list of movies on the counter; turns out they have DVDs to rent for free. Not bad. Oh, and by the way, the rooms have big screen TVs and 500+ channels… oh really? And breakfast is free too… the made-to-order kind, not some “continental breakfast” muffin they call a meal joke. You don’t say? I asked if they had a washer and dryer; that’s free too, do you need some soap? I had apparently stumbled upon the Super Motel.

When I entered my room I laughed; the TV looked like it might be even bigger than the 56” I have at home. Holy crap, is that a Comcast digital box?!? HBO On Demand!!! True Blood!!! I hadn’t seen the past 6 episodes – I know what I’m doing tonight! I headed next door to pick up a burger for dinner and let myself relax as I watched the episodes I’d missed… the tire’s not going anywhere until morning.

I had made it most of the way to where I was going, but had a 90+ mile day scheduled for tomorrow already, and with the extra 15 or so miles I would need to roll out as soon as possible. Hopefully I could get the tire taken dealt with early… I’m quickly running out of time.

Most Exciting Moment
Besides catching up on True Blood? Hitchhiking. First time I tried. Also a frustrating experience as my thumb did nothing for me. Maybe I needed to show more leg or something. (Or not covered in road grime and chain grease from wrestling with my bike on the side of the road for over 2 hours.)

Roadkill Report

• Creatures
  • 2 raccoons
  • white bird
  • bluebird
  • 3 rats
  • 3 small birds
  • mouse
  • possum
  • 2 gophers
  • small coyote
• Gloves
  • garden glove
  • blue industrial glove
  • blue latex glove
  • small blue garden glove
  • green latex glove
  • black work glove
  • 2 latex gloves
  • grey padded glove
• Household
  • TV/VCR combo
  • refrigerator
  • bed frame
• Miscellaneous
  • broken pallet
  • the gas cap to a car
  • my rear tire