{"id":1207,"date":"2012-08-20T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2012-08-20T12:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/?p=1207"},"modified":"2024-07-29T18:04:57","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T00:04:57","slug":"day-51-guilty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/2012\/08\/20\/day-51-guilty\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 51 – Guilty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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Day 51 – Guilty<\/h2><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

8.12.2012

Start: Steamboat Springs, CO
Finish: Steamboat Springs, CO

Today\u2019s miles: 0
Total miles: 1570.8

Splats: 0
Divide crossings: 0; 15 total<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canada –> Mexico!<\/span><\/div>
<\/div>
57%<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>
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I cheated on my muni with another wheel today\u2014actually, two wheels. Don\u2019t worry; I only rode backward on the route and made no forward progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took the wheel off the uni this morning to install a new tire. In the process, I checked the bearings and discovered that one is going bad. The bearings are the pieces that connect the frame to the wheel and allow the wheel to spin. One had some play in it and felt \u2018gritty\u2019 when turned. I headed to the bike shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As expected, the bike shop did not have a bearing in the size I needed. They sent me off to an auto parts store on a rental bike to see if they might have the correct size. They had one super close, but not quite the size I needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riding the two-wheeled machine was blissful. Well, at first, it was a little scary. Having to steer with my hands was an unusual and new experience, especially at the incredible speeds I was able to attain. It took me about 100 feet to get over my fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since I was unsuccessful in procuring a new bearing, the bike shop packed the bearing with more grease to help avoid a blowout. I\u2019ll have a new one shipped to Salida, where I\u2019ll be this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you haven\u2019t figured it out already, I\u2019m in Steamboat for a third night. This may be a good time to talk about how I become a softie when I\u2019m in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I often look forward, with some nervous anticipation, to coming into town. It usually means good food, being off the seat for a while, and maybe one or more of the following: shower, bed, bad TV, laundry. I\u2019ve found that as the trip has progressed, coming into town has been more and more of a shock to the system. When I arrived in Steamboat, I immediately wanted to head out. This also happened in Rawlins and to lesser extents in towns previous. I\u2019m finding all the activity to be overwhelming. Had there been more time in the day, I\u2019d likely have resupplied and moved on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There seems to be a small window of opportunity to grab supplies and move on before I get used to not moving (and watching everything else move). If staying at a motel, a shower and changing into \u2018fresh\u2019 town clothes furthers the transition. Though not the case in Steamboat, I usually don\u2019t sleep well the first night indoors. As a result, I\u2019m tired the next day, and I often decide to take a day off. I justify this by saying that a big part of the trip is exploring the towns and meeting the people in the towns along the way, plus I just need to rest. While true, wandering around town and doing chores means returning to my room feeling like I haven\u2019t rested. Before I know it, evening has rolled around, and I need to figure out upcoming logistics. Most of the planning involves figuring out where I need upcoming supplies, what to send, when to send them, and coordinating with my fabulous resupply helpers. Most of this planning has been happening pretty last minute. I haven\u2019t gotten used to traveling as fast as I am (I\u2019ve previously been on foot), and the next maildrop points come up sooner than expected. For example, yesterday, I realized that the town I\u2019d wanted to have the last maps shipped to is less than a week away. That\u2019s barely, or possibly not enough, time to get a drop shipped out. I could have it shipped to a post office further down, but then I\u2019d have to contend with weekend post office hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As happened here in Steamboat, some of my \u2018rest\u2019 days turn into two. I always feel guilty about this; I feel guilty about spending money on lodging and feeling lazy. At the same time, being lazy is what I want\/need, and after a second day off I usually feel ready to be on my way. It\u2019s not often difficult to reason an excuse to stay over an extra day. This morning, it was a combination of the bad bearing and wanting to ensure I could get my next map set shipped out. To get a bearing shipped out to the bike shop in Salida, I need to have phone service in the morning. Even so, I may need to pay for expedited shipping or hold over in Breckenridge or Salida to wait for the part. Or, the smarter option might be just to slow down and take more time to get there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After my second day off, I usually feel it was worth it. Today, I carefully looked at the remainder of the trip to figure out when I need the last few mail drops sent out so that I\u2019m not frantically trying to arrange them last minute. I\u2019m fortunate that the lodging tonight is half that of the previous nights (Sundays are cheaper). I\u2019d have moved on if that weren\u2019t the case. Anyway, I\u2019m feeling rested now and more aware of what\u2019s coming up. I\u2019m ready to be back outside and on the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I cheated on my muni with another wheel today\u2014actually, two wheels. Don\u2019t worry; I only rode backward on the route and made no forward progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-transparent-header":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-riding","post_format-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1207"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2111,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions\/2111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatdivideride.com\/unicycle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}