Day 16 – December 17th

Okay. Weird day. But we also had a good one! Allow me to elaborate:

This morning we rose to the sound of construction workers (we expected it) in Lori’s home. They were very nice! We also woke up to near freezing temperatures and hit the road nice and bundled up for a 50 mile ride.

Not two miles in, Ryan had another flat and after fixing that, ANOTHER. We ended up in a McDonalds for a couple of hours as the mysterious popping tires were investigated. A small shard of glass was found and disposed of. Done with that right? NOT!

To be continued, but first, allow me to introduce Jerry Smith.

Jerry was in line with us at McDonalds and surprised Ryan and I by buying us breakfast! How generous and kind! We had a meal with him and thoroughly enjoyed his company and hearing about his life. He left us with his number in case of any emergencies while we were in the area.

Thank goodness because a few more miles down the road Ryan’s bike required more maintenance and we ended up stuck outside in 38 degrees for a couple of hours trying to fix it with freezing fingers. Jumping jacks ensued for body warmth as we called Jerry to see if he would let us use his shop to fix Ryan’s bike.

We are so thankful to Jerry and his family for entertaining us for the afternoon and then driving us to a nearby town for a cozy nights sleep in a Days Inn. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! He will be picking us up again in the morning while he runs an errand further south and can drop us off! It will be like we pedaled all day after all 😊

It’s 8pm and we are full and sleepy, but Ryan is still trying to fix his bike’s tires. What will a new day bring?! All I know is that I’m ready to pedal, and that Ryan is such a trooper still working hard. I’m very thankful for his endurance!

Route info for interested readers:

Still trucking along down that 15!