Day 67, Thursday, June 26: A zero day at home

It was a little strange to wake up in my own house after so many days in the road, but I made coffee and did Wordle just like I used to.

For once we did not have a lot to do on our zero day. Probably the most pleasurable chore we had was sorting through our gear to see what we could leave behind. We had only two more nights to go, with places to stay both nights, so we ditched our camping gear. Tents, sleeping pads, sleeping bags, cooking gear, and food for hot meals were all left behind. I also left some cold weather clothes, a few tools, extra gloves, and several inner tubes. I even removed my front rack, swapping the front panniers for a couple of smaller bags that attach directly to my fork.

My bike had been making squeaking noises in a few gears for quite some time, despite generous lubrication of my chain. Another chore was to take my bike up to Mt. Hood Bicycle to have my friend George adjust the derailleurs.

Some time in the late afternoon, after the two bike shops had closed, John said to me, "Robert. I need your help. My front brakes don't work." So one chore, taking John's bike to George, went undone. Neither of us is particularly good with bicycle mechanics, but we did manage to get them to work a bit. Maybe he would not die on the ride to Portland the next day.

Other than that, there was nothing much to do except take naps, have a beer or two, and generally just relax. And that we knew how to do.




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