Day 29, Monday, May 19: A zero day

Hamilton, Missouri

We got up before 6:00 AM, even though we had nowhere to go. I had a tremendous night of sleep. When we are in a situations with one bed we alternate who gets it, and this was my turn. I had not slept so well in a while. 

The B&B had a coffee machine, so we availed ourselves of that. I had a number of chores to do, things I had been ignoring because there is little spare time when we are riding. I did a few of those before our 8:00 breakfast. 

Hamilton is the center of the midwest quilting universe, apparently. The other two guests staying at the B&B, sisters-in-law from Iowa, were in town to go to all the shops and to take a quilting lesson, so we talked quilting and bicycles around the table. Being somewhat of a misanthrope, I do not typically enjoy B&B breakfasts, but the novelty of something other than a breakfast sandwich on the sidewalk at Casey's was refreshing.

After breakfast I decided to send some things home I can do without. This included a puffy jacket, rain pants and booties, a pair of socks, and two shirts. I expect there will be cold evenings in the west where the puffy would be useful, but I have enough clothes to survive. As for the rain gear, we have already ridden in the rain and I have not used them. Getting shorts and shoes wet is uncomfortable, but survivable. I would rather not have the extra weight.

In the days before the trip I had meticulously sorted my gear into my four panniers, keeping similar things together and trying to distribute the weight optimally. The most common recommendation is 60% of the weight in the rear, 40% in the front, and you want equal weight on each side. I am such a nerd I made a spreadsheet I used the first few days to help me find things and to pack them away.


Almost everything I sent home came from the right rear pannier, so I had to spend some time figuring out a new system. It will probably take a few days to get it right.

I also arranged to have some work done on my bike in Omaha this weekend. They are going to replace my drive train, which is giving me trouble. I even arranged for Lynn to ship a crankset to the shop because I had one and the shop did not. I'm looking forward to riding a bike without slipping gears again.

We had lunch at a local cafe, which was perfectly fine, but we spent most of our time there ruing the closed brew pub. After that we went back to the B&B because some severe weather was headed our way. I think John read, and napped, downstairs on the couch. I tried to read on the bed in our room but utterly failed. I just napped. 

The severe weather did come, though the thunder and lightning mostly kept its distance from Hamilton. There was a nice break in the rain in the early evening that allowed us to walk to the local Mexican restaurant.

I complely enjoyed our zero day. I know my body needed it, and my mind, too. Hamilton may not have been the ideal place to take a day off, but I did exactly what I would have done in a more lively city. The only way the day could have been better was to have the brew pub open.

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