Day Fourteen (0 miles): Rest and Repairs

I wake up to find Ella taking her rest day. She's all curled up in a sheet, snug as a bug in a rug. No furry alarm clock today! The fuzzy little munchkin doesn't even move until I get back from the lobby. Of course I had my tasty Frosted Flakes! Ella crawls out of the sheet and stretches like she is doing yoga. She promptly lets me know that its time to go out.

The sky is an endless grey sheet and its beginning to drizzle. Light rain isn't so bad, then a huge thunder clap interrupts my train of thought. BOOM! Another one shatters the morning silence. FLASH! Purple and white lightning dances across the sky as we walk back inside. Looks like a storm rolling through today!

My mom calls to let me know my care package will be arriving around 9:00am. Great I can get an early start and head right to the bike shop! I load up one of my water proof panniers with all the junk I am sending home. A cool 12lbs of gear will be leaving the land yacht for the remainder of the trip. I throw on a rain jacket and some board shorts to ride comfortably in the rain. Unfortunately for Ella, she will be staying in the hotel room as I journey out into the rain. She doesn't look too pleased as I close the door behind me. The rain isn't giving in, within moments I'm completely soaked.

Without all the gear on my bike, I have no problem keeping up with traffic. I walk into the Post Office dripping and covering the floor with water. The woman at the counter saw me pull up on a bike, and already had my package on the counter for me. I realize I'm not going to be able to send my gear back in that box, and go find another. I am absolutely horrible at taping up boxes and wrapping, so I usually have my sister do that for me during Christmas. I look like a putz trying to tape up the box with all my gear loaded in it. When I am done, it looks like Franken-Box. But at least it holds! I pay to send my box back home, and I head back out into the rain.

The bike shop I wanted to go to was about two miles down the road and it doesn't take me long to get there. First bike shop doesn't have a front rack. Second bike shop doesn't have a front rack. Finally, I get to Phoenix Cycle and they have a front rack! The owner was really a nice guy and talked for a lot of the time I was waiting. They cleaned my gear set, replaced my chain, installed the rack, adjusted torque, and fixed a few other miscellaneous things on my bike. I sold my old front rack to knock down the price of the new one. While they were working on my bike, I was able to use their tools and fix a few things that I wanted done.

Outside became an absolute downpour, the water along the gutter was deep enough to cover my ankles, and cars were creating waves in the street. It felt like the beginning days of Waterworld, without the bad acting.

At last, my bike was finished around 1:00pm and Ella was still in the hotel room. I said my goodbyes and pushed out into the humidity of the afternoon. My bike was riding like a dream now. It was like riding on a cloud as I raced back to the hotel. Back in the room, Ella acted like I had abandoned her forever. She was jumping and yipping and sprinting around my heels like a fluffy maniac. After I took her outside and played for awhile, she finally calmed back down. I left her again and went to Subway across the street. I was starving and demolished the sandwich in record time.

I packed all my gear back on to the bike then spent awhile being a perfectionist distributing the weight. All ready to get out and leave in the morning! I cooked some buffalo rice and chicken for dinner in my room. It was a good end to my rest day. I have a few chocolate chip cookies in my care package, so I'm going to put down the pen and eat a few of those now. I hope you enjoy our adventures and continue to follow us on our journey!