Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Second meeting

I met another long distance cycler today, again at the top of a pass. This time we were headed in opposite directions when I met Wayne. He had pulled off at the small store at the top of the pass, marking the Continental Divide. Wayne had started on the west coast, and was headed for NY. He had gone to school at RPI, and was headed back in that direction before embarking on a multi-year backpacking stint in some third world country.

Wayne had several horror stories about the upcoming desert for me. He broke 4 spokes (I had already gotten 6 extras) as well as worn off two pairs of tires due to the heat of the desert. He mentioned it getting up to 107 degrees, which didn't seem that bad, but apparently most tires aren't made to withstand that type of heat. Fortunately he met three other bikers, who were with a SAG van, so they had extras they donated to his cause. He also mentioned several 80+ mile stretches along Utah, where he went through 8+ liters of water between stops. Sounds like I will have to get extra tires as well as more water bottles (I currently have 4 liter capacity). Good to know

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