Southern Tier Day #3 Backtrack to Gainesville for wagon tires - Off Day for Blanka
Southern Tier Day #3
March 31, 2021
Backtrack to Gainesville for wagon tires - 81 Miles
Start 8:14 AM Finish 5:09 PM
Ride Time 7:13
Ascent 387 Feet
Descent 445 Feet
Tour Total 216 Miles
The school kids partied hardy last night in the campground. They hooped and hollered until midnight. Blanka and I slept pretty well. I awoke to loud bird squawking before sunrise. I packed up the camp and stopped by the bath house for a shave before leaving. I was back at level one and could make a favorable impression in case I needed someone’s help. I left my trash there in the garbage can. About a mile down the road I realized that I had forgotten to take a photo of the camp site.
The road was empty and it was foggy. Birds were chirping and dogs were barking. The one that chased us was fortunately behind a fence. A beautiful old yellow hotrod approached us from the other direction. Pink flames were painted on the hood and sides. How I wish I had a photo of that moment, appearing like a mirage from the thick fog.
I felt a drag from the trailer and knew that the trouble had begun. The right tire was completely flat. I pulled over to assess the situation. The wear had deteriorated since last night. There was no way I was going to make it to Tallahassee. I found the hole and patched it. I stuck a tire boot inside the worn-through area, but the entire middle of both tires were worn into the threads. I would need to backtrack to the campground.
It would be a three mile return and I was concerned about getting another flat. I figured that it would be safer to walk, but Blanka refused. She hopped in the wagon and wouldn’t budge. Luckily we made it back with no issues. I set the tent back up and filled Blanka’s bowls with food and water. I tied her to my thirty foot laundry line cord and promised that I’d be back. I called a bike shop in Gainesville that had several 16” x 1.75’ tires in stock. Gainesville would be a long ride, and I attempted to call the bike shop in High Springs. According to Google it would be open at 10AM and it was on the way to Gainesville. My fingers were crossed.
I talk with Tracy who worked at the campground. I told her about my situation and asked if I could leave my camp set up. I hinted that I could use a ride, and we exchanged phone numbers in case anyone from the campground would be running eastern errands later in the day. It was now 10 AM and there was still no one answering the phone at the bike shop in High Springs.
Unlike yesterday, today I would be taking the most direct route, which involved highways thick with speeding traffic. I was traveling with only one front pannier. I packed my tools, extra inner tubes, sunscreen, a rain jacket, and sweater. I also had my handlebar bag, aka the ‘football’. Although it had been cool and foggy in the morning, the sun appeared and it began to warm up. I pulled over to smother myself with sunscreen. I wished that I had remembered to bring my UV sleaves.
A clerk from Santa Fe bike shop in High Springs called me called me back, but they only had one 16” tire in stock. I would have to ride all the way to Gainesville. An elderly woman who was pulled over on the other side of the highway flagged me down. She was lost, and her smartphone didn’t have service. She was trying to get to Newberry and I showed her the way. I was concerned about her making a U-turn on the busy highway, and hope that she arrived safely.
In High Springs I tried calling an Uber but there were no cars available. It was another 31 miles to Gainesville. Some of the ride between High Springs and Alachua I had done yesterday. I once again passed the giant conduit factory. I was concerned about Blanka and pushed it as hard as I could. I was hungry, but wanted to have the tires in my possession first.
Bikes and More had outdoor service because of COVID, like New York bike shops. I showed the mechanic photos of the worn tires, and he thought it was from age. I purchased my Burley Tail wagon in the fall of 2019, and had done two 250 mile tours with it. I recalled, though, this morning when I removed the inner tube. It had stuck to the rim liner and I was worried that they had fused. They were stock tires and who knows how long the wagon had sat on a ship, and if the ship had gotten stuck the Suez Canal, or how long it had been in a warehouse. Call me paranoid, but I bought four tires. I need to be able to make it to Biloxi. I also purchased a pressure gauge and several more patch kits. I was having flashbacks from my Carretara Austral tour, and had even reached out to Scott last night. The mechanic checked my tires, which were low. They were properly inflated at 80 PSI when I rolled out of the bike shop.
After Bikes and More I went across the street to the Sugar Creek Restaurant where I enjoyed a Monti Cristo sandwich with fries and a Pepsi. The woman at the counter asked me if I was out for a ride. I answered that I had had to backtrack and my whole day was for nothing. She corrected me by pointing out that I was about to eat this marvelous sandwich and that my day was not for nothing, and she was right.
I tied the four tires to my rear rack and headed back to the campground. It was hot coming back. I stopped at the Circle K in High Springs for Gatorade and then at a Shell station in Fort White for more Gatorade and a banana. I talked with a motorcyclist who told me that it’s too hot to ride a motorcycle here in the summer.
I never heard from Tracy or anyone at the campground, and I assumed that Blanka was ok. When I arrived, I purchased a six pack of beer and some popcorn from the camp store. The young lady asked if I had been the one who left all the beer bottles in the bath house. “I thought cyclists ate healthy”, she commented.
Blanka was excited to see me and gave me a big greeting. Lucky her she got to lay in the grass all day. I fixed both tires, took a shower, and charged my devices. Blanka and I were the only ones in the primitive camping area tonight and it was quiet.
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