Day 5 Salome, AZ

May 14

Salome, AZ

Resting and waiting for Spokes.

There are worse places than Salome, Az to be stuck for a day. For sure the desert would be worse.

I should say that more nicely. I got to know Salome a little better yesterday and there are some very nice and helpful people here.

The day started at the diner across the street with breakfast. We took full advantage of the oportunity and Chris and I slept twelve and ten hours respectively.

When we came back to the motel we sat on the portal in front of the room and read and wrote. A nice lady named Marjorie walked over asked if we were staying another night.

She is the person who actually lives here and manages the Motel. I explained our situation to her.

Marjorie told me that mail isn't delivered here. She told me there was a post office a few hundred yards down the highway and anything coming by mail would come there general delivery.

I walked down to the post office and was helped by the nicest lady. She asked what the delivery address on the package was and told me it hadn't come that morning (there is one daily mail delivery from Phoenix). She wrote down all the info and said she sorted the incoming mail and would be on the lookout for it.

I came back to the Motel and Chris was napping. I think the capacity for sleep has to be part of the adaptability and fast recovery young bodies enjoy.

As I sat outside ading I noticed a hardware store across the highway. I thought how dumb it would be if by some chance they had a spoke or two and I failed to ask. It may have been delusion caused by legs itching to turn cranks. As I crossed I started thinking like McGiver. Of course they had no spokes but they had bailing wire and needle nose vice grips. Since two spokes had broken I imagined threading the wire across the tire bed of the rim, through the spoke holes, dowto the hub, threaded through the spoke holes in the hub, and joined by twisting. I bought the items and in case I ended up having the time later I asked the woman proprieter if I was mistaken that I'd seen an add somewhere around for a barber in Salome. She said the barber was away but directed me to a salon.

I went back to the hotel and Chris was very interested in my repair idea. It was about noon by now.

I removed the single spare spoke I had installed on the road Tuesday afternoon and did my steel seamstress impression. I overtensioned the adjacent spokes on the same side of the hub and detensioned the nearby spokes on the opposite side of the hub. I thought by doing that I could get enough tension on the wire by threading it, twisting it together and then tensioning the opposite side and drawing the rim away from the wired side as the wheel came into true. I was very surprised at how well tensioned the wire became and how true I was able to get the wheel.

We put the whole thing back together and took all the panniers (saddle bags-front, back, and bars) and went for a ride. I rode down the rumble strip (the bumpy feature at the edge of the driving lane meant to wake sleeping drivers). I was surprised how stiff and true the wheel rolled and after about half a mile we turned around and went back to the Motel. For the next test I loaded the bike and did the same thing. It held and rolled true.

I asked Chris what he thought. I was itching to go but told him I needed his judgement because I was too pleased with the repair to make a good decision alone abou risking it. We are riding in an area where it's thirty miles between towns and ultimately we had about a hundred miles to the first bike shop in Phoenix . He wisely suggested we find out what time the mail would come in the morning.

We rode to the Post Office and found out it comes at 5:30 AM and is sorted by 9:00. The nice woman who had helped me earler told me she would look for our package and have it when they opened at 9:00 if it came. Her co-worker actually glared when witnessing how helpful our new friend was being.

We wisely decided to enjoy another night a Sheffler's Motel and if the package didn't come we'de put all the weight possible on Chris's bike and try for Phoenix.

It was 3:00 PM by then and I decided to go looking for a haircut. I followed the hardware store proprieter's directions and rode over to the Nu Vu salon down the road past the Post Office.

There were three ladies in chairs and one woman doing all the cosmetology. Her helper told me to come back at 4:00.

At 4:00 I headed back to Nu Vu and Pam gave me a shave with a number 4. She had seen me ride up on the bicycle and asked where I was headed. I told her the whole story. There was another, older, woman in another chair with foil in her hair who listened and then slowly said 'I know about Lance Armstrong and I think what he's doing is awesome'. It turns out her brother is recovering from acute lymphatic lukemia and had undergone chemo, whole body radiation, and bone marrow transplant. He now repairs cars for abused women anonymously.

We all had a little cry. Another highly empowering and fortifying experience.

Then it was dinner at the diner and another nine hours of sleep.

We will see what Thursday brings.