The day started out good. Randall took me to where I could get on the parkway. That made me avoid 7 miles of town navigating. So glad he did because I probably wouldn’t have had enough battery to get to my motel.

I was on my last long climb on the parkway when Eby decided to flash ‘ERROR’ on my computer, and he just stopped. Never had that happened before. I didn’t know how much up I still had at that time, so when the error went away, I hopped back on my bike, but he didn’t go. I had clipped into my right foot and tried to pedal to no avail. Down I went in the middle of the road. No cars around, thankfully. Skinned my knee pretty bad and mildly scraped the elbow and top of my foot. And the road was all chipseal, so I could even see the striations on my knee. Dang! And I bleed easily. So I get up, and blood is running down my sweaty leg and arm. I grabbed my sweat rag to stop the blood, but it was refusing to clot. While pressing on the rag, I had to dig one handed for my band aids. First time I’ve had to use them and glad I had lots. But they really didn’t want to stick to sweaty skin. I always carry extra restaurant napkins just in case. Mainly if I need to use a bush. They sure came in handy today. I’m sure if anyone had been around, they would have been laughing. I finally got it so the band aids would sorta stick. What a pain.

So, then I walked to the top of the hill. I had turned off the computer, thinking maybe that would reset it. Fortunately. I was pretty close to the top, so I didn’t have to walk and push my loaded bike very far. At the top, I turned Eby on and proceeded to ride downhill and then uphill. He worked fine. Maybe he was just tired. Never had that problem on the mtn passes. I’m going to the first trek bike shop I can find to see if there’s a problem.

I did get a few pictures today.

When I got up this morning, the back of my legs hurt from bending over working in my friends yard. Guess I’m out of shape for garden work. But once on the bike, the stiffness left.

I rode down Rte 43 off the parkway and before heading down, noticed big black clouds. It wasn’t supposed to rain until about 2. Yeah, right. 10:45 downpour. One mile from the bottom of steep switchbacks for four miles, the skies opened up. I was able to get under a small overpass, but not until I was already soaked through. And once again, the blood flowed freely. It just wasn’t my day. Once the rain slowed down, I rode into town to wait it out.

I tho’t I only had 7-10 miles to go to my motel, but it turned out to be 14, and I was down to one bar. The sun had come out, and it was sweltering with the humidity. At the gas station, I was actually getting chilled. Turns out my motel was way on the other side of town. Four miles, to be exact. I tho’t I was never gonna get there.

But, all is well. I’m dry and cozy in my motel, waiting for the afternoon clouds to dump before going to dinner.