No bike? Rent one! A good One!!!!!!!!!!

There is nothing like being away from home and taking the opportunity to tour unfamiliar territory. One of my favorite ways to explore my surroundings is on a mountain bike. Unfortunately when traveling by air to your destination it is not convenient to bring your own bike. There is another option though, and that’s the use of a rental bike. Rental bikes can be a bit of a gamble. I’ve seen rental shops that have top of the line “Specialized”, or “Giant”, brand bicycles, and then again others don’t even have a notable brand on them.

Today I ventured out from my temporary living quarters to discover what lay beyond the paths traditional methods of travel had already taken me. There happens to be a bike rental shop a couple blocks down, so I convinced a coworker to rent a bike and explore with me. Entering the shop, it was obvious that bikes were merely a small portion of the many activities supported by this establishment. I saw ski’s on the ceiling, Frisbees on the shelf and lots of fishing equipment. We were greeted by three men who, judging by their stature, had little concern for the value of a good bike ride. When we asked about the bikes a conversation sprung up between the three men about how people where tearing up their newly acquired mountain bikes. I chimed in with my 2 cents about how they probably just needed proper adjusted, but they didn’t seem to care. We signed for keys to a lock, and helmets and we were set to go.

On our way back to our rooms we couldn’t help but talk about how poorly people were treating the equipment. It was obvious the bikes were not very old, and the only logical explanation for their destruction was stupidity, ignorance and user error.

Finally, after dinner the time had come to explore. We get geared up in our cheap gaudy helmets and bright florescent reflective belts and we were off. I had set my Garmin watch to track where and how far we were going to travel. I glance down at my watch to ensure it had started and I was suddenly distracted by horrendous noise coming from my cohort’s bike. I look and see the rear derailleur of his bike being eaten by the spokes of his wheel. It was trashed!! We had not made it 1/10th of a mile and we were walking back to the bike shop. Lucky for us, they had already closed for the day and would not be returning until tomorrow. Today’s bicycle adventure ended with damaged equipment and big disappointment. Sadly I couldn’t stop laughing though. Our earlier mocking of the others who had broke bicycles made the whole situation satirical. I’m sure there would have been much less laughter had we been at full speed when the bike malfunctioned. I’m looking forward to listening to the men’s groans when we take the bikes back tomorrow. Who knows what they are going to say. I’m guessing they will not see any of the humor in the situation either.

You might have already guessed, the bikes were not top of the line. And while they were not really that great, I think the biggest problem with them was poor adjustment. There is no real substitute for a well engineered and personally fitted bike but, if you have to settle for less at least ensure that the cables are adjusted, spokes are tight, and the tires are inflated. Oh and it doesn’t hurt to have good brakes either.

Could I interest you in some "gravys!"

If I were to rant about something from today it would have to be the “gravys”. I’m currently on a trip to North Dakota. The particular place where I am eating serves different specials every meal, but one thing you can be certain of, there will be gravy involved. Sometimes you have an option, that’s when the nice lady serving your meal will ask if you want “gravys” on it, always with a smile and with that heavy North Dakota accent. Now, let me be very honest, I like gravy. But to what extent is it realistic for one to consume mass quantities of gravy. It’s not exactly cold here right now either. Maybe I could see needing a little extra gravy in the winter to keep your blood a little thicker and maybe keep you a little warmer but really…. Gravy on my Biscuit, Gravy on my potatoes, Gravy on my Pork Chops, gravy on my fish!? .… I’m curious if this can really be maintained for my entire trip. I am going to attempt to avoid having any gravy at all while I am here but somehow I’m afraid there will come a time when it is unavoidable. It will be: Eat gravy or Eat nothing! I guess we’ll see if it has to come to that or not. Until then I’m going to run a couple extra miles each day to ensure my heart is ready for whatever might come my way while I am here.