August 1, 2010 -- Sunday
We didn't have our spare tires with us on today's ride. Not good. One of the tire casings developed a bulge and the mechanical service warned us that we were headed for bad pavement and rumble strips. They recommended waiting at the rest stop for a spare rather than trying to limp into a later town.
Really, we weren't always changing tires or waiting for the sag service! It's just that those incidents were often the easiest times to post a quick entry via Bloggerdroid. This ride, from Columbus to Waupun, took us up and down rolling hills through cornfields and past farmyards.
The sag service was terrific. The reason we were waiting was the 16-inch non-BMX tires that we needed for the trikes. Wheel & Sprocket was providing mechanical support for the ride, and they had one of the right tires -- but it was at the "mother ship," not out on the roving sag wagon, so it took a while to get to us.
In Waupun, we stayed at the Inn Town motel, a friendly little place run by a couple from India. We enjoyed good internet service and were able to run a load of laundry at the local laundromat. The internet is great for a lot of things -- finding laundromats is one of them. We had the address of this one before we ever entered the town.
We had noticed some unevenness in the rotation of the left rear wheel on my trike, so we e-mailed Ian Sims at Greenspeed about it. By Monday morning, we had gotten a reply, had sent photos of the wheel and differential and had arranged that Ian would bring replacement parts from Australia to the Hostel Shoppe on Thursday. What terrific service! Nobody expected this kind of heavy use for these trikes and tires. Some parts around the bearings and axles need to be heavier-duty, and we plan to run on sturdier touring tires in the future.
During the next day, we continued to communicate about the wheel. We started to think of leaving SAGBRAW a day earlier than planned and ride straight west to Stevens Point rather than break off on the last day and ride north.
August 2, Monday. We rode through some glacial moraine territory, heading for Plymouth. We stayed at the Plymouth Inn, just down from the school where the campground was set up.
Here's a sample of the scenery:
The sag service was terrific. The reason we were waiting was the 16-inch non-BMX tires that we needed for the trikes. Wheel & Sprocket was providing mechanical support for the ride, and they had one of the right tires -- but it was at the "mother ship," not out on the roving sag wagon, so it took a while to get to us.
In Waupun, we stayed at the Inn Town motel, a friendly little place run by a couple from India. We enjoyed good internet service and were able to run a load of laundry at the local laundromat. The internet is great for a lot of things -- finding laundromats is one of them. We had the address of this one before we ever entered the town.
We had noticed some unevenness in the rotation of the left rear wheel on my trike, so we e-mailed Ian Sims at Greenspeed about it. By Monday morning, we had gotten a reply, had sent photos of the wheel and differential and had arranged that Ian would bring replacement parts from Australia to the Hostel Shoppe on Thursday. What terrific service! Nobody expected this kind of heavy use for these trikes and tires. Some parts around the bearings and axles need to be heavier-duty, and we plan to run on sturdier touring tires in the future.
During the next day, we continued to communicate about the wheel. We started to think of leaving SAGBRAW a day earlier than planned and ride straight west to Stevens Point rather than break off on the last day and ride north.
August 2, Monday. We rode through some glacial moraine territory, heading for Plymouth. We stayed at the Plymouth Inn, just down from the school where the campground was set up.
Here's a sample of the scenery:
Cornfields with Queen Anne's lace and blue chicory flowers, yellow goldenrod and coneflowers, and little yellow cabbage butterflies dancing all through them.
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