Day 12: A Long Day...
Posted by the girls on Friday, April 15, 2011
Originally our plan was to bike about 40 miles from Noccalula Falls Campground to Georgia RV Park just north of Guntersville, AL. We wanted a little bit shorter of a day because we knew that the terrain would be hillier than we were used to.
After about 24 miles, Rebekah noticed that Michelle's rear tire looked wobbly. Michelle said she had heard something snap. And, sure enough, she had a broken spoke. Last time this happened, Emily was able to replace the spoke. This time though it proved to be too difficult. The spoke was on the drive-side of the rear wheel which required the cassette to be taken off (and we didn't have the necessary tools). Rebekah used her phone to find a bike shop about 3 miles up the road (in the same direction as our route). We just had to figure out a way to get Michelle and her bike to that shop. Just at that moment, an old man pulled up to talk to us and ask about our trip. Since we got a good vibe from him, we asked him if he'd be willing to drive Michelle to the shop. He was happy to help, so we stuffed Michelle's bike in his trunk and sent her off. Rebekah and Emily biked to the shop to meet them.
Once we were all at Albertville Cycle, we realized that this was not the place we needed. Although they may have sold bicycle tires, they mainly focused on lawn mower repair and had no idea how to replace a spoke. One of the men in the shop, David, offered to drive Michelle to Guntersville, where the next nearest bike shop was.
Emily and Rebekah biked the 9 miles to meet Michelle at Guntersville Outfitters where they repaired her wheel for FREE!! The bad news is she will need a new rear wheel, which we will get once we arrive in Nashville. We also received some other bad news, the next day was meant to be thunderstorms, hail, and maybe even a tornado. We had to decide if we wanted to continue on and do as much of tomorrows route as we could, or just stay in Guntersville and see what happened. Well, we decided to truck on. Off we went, but it wasn't long before Michelle's back tire was flat. We've fixed many a flat tire, but of course this time turned out to be much more difficult. We blew not one, but two tubes. They popped so loud our ears were ringing and we all ducked for cover. So, after we blew the last 2 new tubes we had, we patched up an old tube and finally got it on the bike. We could get going again. But, no! Just as we started back up, Michelle's chain locked and got stuck in her crank. We were all feeling a little bit defeated, but luckily this fix didn't take long at all.
We got going again and we knew we had to make pretty good time in order to get into town before sundown. We made it all the way to the south side of Huntsville, Al where we found a motel just as the sun was setting. Whew!
If you thought the day was over, you're wrong. We all showered and were more than ready for dinner. We figured a pizza buffet at CiCi's sounded amazing. We had a look at the map and it didn't seem so far from where we were staying, so we started walking. Three miles later we arrived at CiCi's just as they were closing. The buffet was closed and they were only taking take-out orders. We explained that we had just walked all this way, so they allowed us to eat our take-out pizza in the restaurant while they were cleaning. After the 3 mile walk back to the motel, you can bet we were ready for bed!
After about 24 miles, Rebekah noticed that Michelle's rear tire looked wobbly. Michelle said she had heard something snap. And, sure enough, she had a broken spoke. Last time this happened, Emily was able to replace the spoke. This time though it proved to be too difficult. The spoke was on the drive-side of the rear wheel which required the cassette to be taken off (and we didn't have the necessary tools). Rebekah used her phone to find a bike shop about 3 miles up the road (in the same direction as our route). We just had to figure out a way to get Michelle and her bike to that shop. Just at that moment, an old man pulled up to talk to us and ask about our trip. Since we got a good vibe from him, we asked him if he'd be willing to drive Michelle to the shop. He was happy to help, so we stuffed Michelle's bike in his trunk and sent her off. Rebekah and Emily biked to the shop to meet them.
Once we were all at Albertville Cycle, we realized that this was not the place we needed. Although they may have sold bicycle tires, they mainly focused on lawn mower repair and had no idea how to replace a spoke. One of the men in the shop, David, offered to drive Michelle to Guntersville, where the next nearest bike shop was.
Emily and Rebekah biked the 9 miles to meet Michelle at Guntersville Outfitters where they repaired her wheel for FREE!! The bad news is she will need a new rear wheel, which we will get once we arrive in Nashville. We also received some other bad news, the next day was meant to be thunderstorms, hail, and maybe even a tornado. We had to decide if we wanted to continue on and do as much of tomorrows route as we could, or just stay in Guntersville and see what happened. Well, we decided to truck on. Off we went, but it wasn't long before Michelle's back tire was flat. We've fixed many a flat tire, but of course this time turned out to be much more difficult. We blew not one, but two tubes. They popped so loud our ears were ringing and we all ducked for cover. So, after we blew the last 2 new tubes we had, we patched up an old tube and finally got it on the bike. We could get going again. But, no! Just as we started back up, Michelle's chain locked and got stuck in her crank. We were all feeling a little bit defeated, but luckily this fix didn't take long at all.
We got going again and we knew we had to make pretty good time in order to get into town before sundown. We made it all the way to the south side of Huntsville, Al where we found a motel just as the sun was setting. Whew!
If you thought the day was over, you're wrong. We all showered and were more than ready for dinner. We figured a pizza buffet at CiCi's sounded amazing. We had a look at the map and it didn't seem so far from where we were staying, so we started walking. Three miles later we arrived at CiCi's just as they were closing. The buffet was closed and they were only taking take-out orders. We explained that we had just walked all this way, so they allowed us to eat our take-out pizza in the restaurant while they were cleaning. After the 3 mile walk back to the motel, you can bet we were ready for bed!
