Day 75: I Don't Usually Dress Like Debbie Gibson.

The 'days off' are just piling up, huh?

I wake up around 10am, take a shower and Robyn makes us a really great breakfast. The only thing on my agenda for the day is to get my bike looked at, and to buy something wool to wear in the snow. Apparently the sweater I bought isn't wool, but rather a special blend of cotton that absorbs water and refuses to dry... EVER! It hasn't really been dry since the day I bought it. I actually get colder when I put it on. It's really the least helpful thing ever. I should give it to a homeless guy that I hate. Maybe that homeless woman that hangs out on 5th Ave yelling at everyone for not helping her. I don't hate her, but I hate being around her.

Robyn and I swing by a Goodwill where I buy a pair of pants. It's been embarrassing walking around small town America having only a pair of shorts and thermal underwear to wear underneath. I feel like I am confirming their every suspicion about city-folk, and it makes me want to explain to them that I don't usually dress like Debbie Gibson! Extenuating circumstances people!!! At least I am wearing a pair of shorts. It gets sooooo much worse than this... Trust me. I wear these shorts as a courtesy for you America!

Unfortunately the only decent pair of pants they have are a bit too tight, so I'll still have a little bit in common with Debbie Gibson, or maybe The Ramones. Let's go with The Ramones... Oh yeah... Robyn hooked me up with a wool sweater she had around the house. I'm fairly certain it's a guy's sweater. Not sure it matters at this point... Sigh

My parents have been talking about moving to Sandpoint, ID for a while now, so I figure I should check out some of the sights. Robyn takes me a ways outta town and we go for a hike down to this 'bay' where the beach is made of all these really cool smooth, polished rocks. It's real neat. I take a 'lucky' rock for a souvenir. It is smooth, black and shiny. (Editorial Note: It is 24 hours later and I have already lost the rock Blurg.)He has left us alone but shafts of light sometimes grace the corner of our rooms.

We get back to Sandpoint with just enough time for me to run my bike over to Sports Plus. Another GREAT bike shop, run by a guy who really cares about bikes. I thought I had a 'seating' issue with my tire, but it turns out that the last time I changed tubes in the front tire, I didn't get the wheel to sit back in the right spot, and the brake pads have been very lightly rubbing against the tire; thus the 'bead' had been so worn that the tire was ready to give out at any moment. Good thing I had it looked at; somehow I never noticed how worn this tire had become in the last 3 days. We switch out tires, and I hang out at the shop for a little while talking with the proprietor. Good Guy. He tightens my headset as well... turns out that was loose. I'm seriously an embarrassment to the bike world, having such a limited knowledge of all this stuff. I really need to just stop pretending to have an idea of what I'm talking about.

Robyn makes dinner and she offers to give me a ride tomorrow out of town a ways. It turns out that the route she is taking to Canada is basically the same route I am taking to Ione, WA.

Hmm Do I want to do this? It would shave off an entire day of riding. BUT it's supposedly a GREAT day of riding.

At this point, I'm just trying to get to the coast in one unfrozen piece, but still it feels a bit wrong to shave off an entire day of cycling without having a solid reason. But... seeing as how money is the limiting factor in the equation of how far I will be riding... I am essentially making a choice between riding now, and riding a day later on the coast. In that context it seems much less of a cop-out. Am I rationalizing? ...Yeah, probably... but whatever. I will take Robyn up on the offer.

Woo hoo! I'm gonna climb my first of the 5 remaining mountains tomorrow! Tomorrow is not really a mountain, but kinda... it's MUCH smaller than the next 4; like a warm up round. Followed by 4 days of intense REAL mountains. Probably in the rain. Possibly in some snow. Luckily the first 2 days will be on a weekend and thus I won't have to worry about logging trucks over Sherman Pass (Day 2, The Big One).