As I had written in my last post, I decided to treat myself to a motel this evening. I arrived in Nappanee at around 7:30. I stayed at the Shamrock Inn. It wasn’t the Hilton, or even the Best Western (actually, it didn’t even rise to the level of Econo Lodge). It did, nevertheless, offer a shower, WiFi, and a bed. I slept well.
I met an interesting fellow cyclo-tourist at a service station. Charlie, a young post-college guy who was in the process of riding his bike from Portland, OR to NY, shared some of his trials and tribulations of coming east of the higher elevations out west. He started out with a buddy, but his friend left in Minnesota to go on a kayak trip (Oh, to be young, again). Charlie was a prime example of the adage, necessity is the mother of invention. Let me explain.
Charlie had an interesting set-up. He converted a mountain bike into a touring machine. He took off the flat bars and installed drop bars (more hand positions for long rides), and he installed Kevlar strips inside his tires to protect against flats (some touring tires come with Kevlar within the construction of the tire, itself.). What I was most impressed with, however, is the panniers (saddle bags, for all intents and purposes) that he had fabricated to carry his gear. He took square, plastic bins and installed some basic hardware (nuts, bolts, etc.) on the sides so that he could attach the containers to his rear bike rack. On top of his rack, he fastened a simple milk crate. While his “poor-man’s rig” was not pretty, it was practical an effective. (My panniers, for example, which cost about $150.00 a pair, while water resistant, are not water-proof. In severe weather, I would actually be better off with Charlie’s set-up than my own. With the tops on the containers absolutely no water could get in).
It might not be sexy, but it works!
I chatted with Charlie a bit. He was excited to meet another touring cyclist. His having ridden almost across the entire country, I was the first cyclo-tourist he had met. He was an engaging conversationalist and told me about his plans to go graduate school next year. He plans on visiting relatives who don’t know he’s coming, let alone by bicycle. Charlie is traveling on an exceedingly limited budget, sustaining himself with canned ravioli and brownies. He’s devised a way to acquire free boxes of brownies from a rather large national retailer through a kind of loophole in the product guarantee. While I would not necessarily advocate his approach, I couldn’t help but laugh. (Way to stick it to the Man, there Charlie, $1.19 at a time!) He wants to become a teacher and told me about his plans to go to graduate school under the “Teach for America” program. I wished him well, and we parted ways, he to the east, and I to the west
Ron
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