YUBA CITY, CA - I tried at 05:00 but it was still just too dark to get up. As the train rolled by across the street from the fair grounds where I'd camped at 06:00, I realized I'd better get a move on it.I started off by putting 20 miles in on Interstate 5. The shoulder was good, I didn't have to spend too much time dodging tire shrapnel and broken bottles. I just turned up the radio, stared at the mirror and let the miles roll by. In Red Bluff I got onto CA-99E a reasonably quiet farm road. It passes through orchards and fields with a fruit stand every few miles, I was really enjoying it until I got the flat tire. The tubes were slimed but apparently the hole was just too much for it to seal. I stopped, pulled all my gear off the bike, took the wheel off got to it. The tire looked to be done for. Apparently the dragging fender, I'd removed the day before, had rubbed off a good chunk of the tread. I had another tube but not wanting to put my a good tube in a bad tire, I patched it. After finishing up I realized... that was my my last patch. Feeling a bit nervous I reloaded the bike and rode on. My fears were realized when I heard the dreaded hiss again--the process of which coated all my gear with the escaping slime before it scabbed. I decided to risk it: just pump and ride. It took another couple of stops to pump but eventually the slime took. Not willing to trust my luck I picked up a new patch kit in the next town I passed.
I got into Chico and found that CA-99E turned into freeway on which bicycles and other non-motorized transportation are not allowed. I took the side road which looked to parallel 99 into town. Knowing the fastest way to find a bike shop, I asked some kids that rode by, they pointed out the bike shop that was right behind me. Inside the Bicycle Wheel, the owner, Scott hooked me up. He found a $12 tire that met enough of my specifications--mostly cheap--then let me use his stand to put it on and lube my chain. Confident in my equipment again (well that shifting thing hasn't worked right since I left Reno) I set off to get completely lost in Chico. If I'd just stayed on the road I came in on, that the bike shop was even on, I would have been fine. Instead I went off on a tour of Chico trying to follow 99. I found nice greenway along the river, some hunormous [it's not spelled wrong, it's a new word] car dealerships and other sprawl before accidentally ending up back on Park Street where I'd started. Feeling like an idiot after wasting almost an hour riding around, I finally asked how to get out of town. I made sure to double check the direction the guy was pointing lest I end up riding back to Redding.
South of Chico I was just trying to make up for the time I spent in town. The farm land flew by, granaries, trains, fields with those long legged and necked birds, I could have been in any midwest state. Tomorrow is going to be a hoot. Up at 05:00 (for real this time), then try to pick off the 50 miles into Sacramento by 11:30. Wish me luck. [Well we know I made it now though.]
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