Skip to main content

Those Damn Ducks!

 I've been feeling pretty ready the last week or so. I've gotten good mileage and elevation in, the weather has been cooperating, and all my weatherproofing material arrived before the rain. My biggest cause of anxiety is the idea that my tent will leak and I'll get wet in the night. It keeps me up regularly.

To avoid this, I carefully sealed all the seams on the fly and gave it a coating of Kiwi waterproofing spray. It needed to cure for 24-48 hours, and the rain we really needed was going to interrupt that time span by just a few hours so I moved the whole tent into the barn to finish curing.  Greg moved it to get the mower out and put it back. No reason for concern, I thought.

I went out after supper to move it back outside. It looked funny, more like a teepee than a tent. I moved it out to it's footprint anyway, figuring it just had to be moved back into shape. It wasn't long before I realized that no amount of moving  would make THIS disaster go back into a tent form- one of the poles, previously damaged by wind, was now deadlined. Two weeks before my departure.

NOW WHAT??? I wondered. My ducks, previously marching in reasonable rows, were now wandering aimlessly around again. I was left with a quandry at 9:00 at night- not my most reasonable hour. New tent? Replacement poles? Repair the poles? I went down several internet rabbit holes, impulse ordered some Amazon items, and finally decided on a plan. Which I changed as soon as I woke up after a mere 5 hours of snoozing.

Here's the latest plan. Greg (a real life MacGuyver) is trying to fix the pole. I can call Johnson Outdoors tomorrow and see if they can get me a pole in the next two weeks. If so, I'll set the tent up and spray it with the hose to assess it's worthiness. Failing that, I can run down to LL Bean and buy a new one. Even at 250.00 it works out to 4.00 a day. Money well spent, I think.

I need to be done overthinking things!


Comments

  1. kateSeptember 14, 2022 at 5:11 PM

    don't forget to pack the butt butter!!!!!!!! I really am quite impressed, how many miles a day are you looking at? I remember training with Ron for his 500 mile Aides Ride, 50 was it for me. Now with these knees, my next purchase is a peddal assist

    ReplyDelete
  2. LydiaSeptember 21, 2022 at 6:34 AM

    We average 60 a day- but there are several 80+ days as we go along. I am keeping the butter industry alive!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousNovember 1, 2022 at 1:40 PM

    You are so amazingly resourceful and determined. Debbie

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 57- Palatka FL

 We are at the Quality Inn in Palatka on the last night of our tour. Dinner was at the Azalea brewery and awards were given out to all participants — tongue-in-cheek, of course. They were as follows, and as memory serves: Most likely to deliver an impromptu dissertation: Carl Most likely to speak up and be right: Kelly Most likely to build a bike on the side of the road: Adam Most likely to cry at the ceremony: Jack  Most likely to bribe her way to being the favorite: in  Most likely to bribe her way to being the favorite: in Most likely to use shit in a sentence: Terry Most likely to ask or something is when it’s right in front of them: Sue Most likely to ask or some thing is when it’s right in front of them: Sue Most likely to burn the house down if coffee is not ready: met Most likely to stop a stranger and ask questions: me It was not the raucous affair I think we all had hoped for, mostly because we are all a bit introspective and conflicted as the tour comes to an e...
1 comment
Read more

Day 33 Smithville Texas 53 miles

 If you had asked me at the beginning of the trip which state would have had the steepest climbs, I would not have guessed Texas; however, that seems to be the case. Today I felt right at home. We had our map meeting this morning at breakfast and all seemed doable. I did one last check with the front desk to see if my absentee ballot had caught up with me. It had not. Greg, your vote will not be canceled by me this year! We headed out through sidestreets to leave Austin, a city I can highly recommend. We traveled bike lanes and bike paths  out to some rural roads.  Of course we had to stop for second breakfast burritos! We were riding in a group of about six when we came up on a stretch of road that had house after house with loose dogs. All of them ran at us. We must’ve made a crazy sounding group. Some of us hollered. Some blasted air horns. Several of us have “dog dazers“ which is a little clicker device that is supposed to repel dogs. I’m not sure how well it really w...
6 comments
Read more

Day 53- Perry FL

 We had a very windy night which made for a great sleeping. I set an alarm for 1:00 AM so I could see the Artemis unmanned moon rocket launch, but when I got up I found it had been pushed back and well, 70 miles, so I chose sleep over history. It was gray when we got up, and gray as we headed out. And chilly! I wished I’d opted for leggings over my shorts but was happy to have gloves. Small victories.The temp said it was almost 60 – my body threw the BS flag. I was cold all day. Not much to say about this ride. We had a 20 mile bike path that took us off route 98 for a while. We met another Bike traveler named Tony who had been on the road since June 26.  He started in Connecticut and rode to Indianapolis, then back towards Pittsburgh where he rode the trails to DC. He then went to Key West and is now on his way to New Orleans. We asked questions about his gear (there wasn’t much!) and traded a few stories and wished each other well. We got off the trail and crossed the St Mar...
3 comments
Read more