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I’m still here in Pinedale, but I think the unicycle is finally fixed up. The new seat base arrived, and I assembled everything this afternoon after doing some general planning for the second half of the trip. I had a scare when, after putting everything together, the brake lever sank with no pressure. I thought I’d have to stick around in the morning to have the brake bled. After 15 minutes, though, the brake suddenly began working. I just don’t understand…

While my mechanical luck has been down, I’ve met several generous people here in Pinedale. I want to thank Dale at A to Z Hardware for letting me ship the seat base to his store and for his help in creating a more reliable seat post clamp. Christy here at the Half Moon Motel has been amazing. She donated tonight’s stay at the motel and made a significant financial contribution to the trip. Thank you so much!

I’ve been thinking it might be fun to give a rundown of my typical day.

My daily routine:

Wake up. Ask: ‘Is it light out?’ If ‘no,’ think, ‘yay, more sleep!’ If ‘yes’ think, ‘this sleeping bag is so warm and comfortable’, then procrastinate exiting the bag for about an hour. During that time, put riding clothes in sleeping bag to warm them up. If really cold, try to change clothes in the mummy bag. Exit bag. Fetch food from bear bag in tree. Cross fingers that bag is still hanging from tree, intact. Then some random combination of the following: Eat cold oatmeal. Make instant coffee, if I have it. Mix a Teeccino Tee-bag in with the coffee to make it a decent caffeinated drink. Pack stuff up. Leave camp. Double back to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything. Try to get on the uni. Fail. Try again and again. Finally get on the uni. Get off after a few pedal stokes because knees are screaming. Get back on. Ride. Ride. Think ‘this is great!’ or ‘I don’t think I can do this for another 5 minutes let alone the rest of the day’. Get off of seat. Ride. Get off of seat. Ride. Repeat for 12 hours with a 30 minute break for lunch, usually tuna on tortillas. Filter water a few times during the day. Wish my snickers bar wasn’t melted. Wish I had more snickers. Wonder where the next water will be. Hope that storm misses me. Struggle. Wonder why. Find camp. Pitch tent. Prepare bear bag. Get water. Make dinner. Relax and reflect over a cup of Teeccino. Hang food in tree. Get in sleeping bag. Find snacks that I forgot to put in bear bag. Triple bag them in Ziplocks and use as pillow. Look at next motivational note in my pack of cards prepared by friends. Write journal entry. Close eyes. Wonder, ‘was that noise a bear?’ Pass out.