May 11 – Exile

Today I rode in the van. My bike could not be fixed last night. I have a picture of my poor bike with one broken crank arm. In reality it is a relatively minor thing on the bike but like many things proper functioning requires that all systems work properly. This interdependence is so pervasive that we tend to ignore it, but it is essential for the proper functioning of cars, computers, our government, society, and even the environment. We risk causing significant problems when we alter components within any of these systems.

However the major emotion starting out today was disappointment. I have ridden in the van before. Previously it has always been because something on the road had caused me to reach a limit beyond which I couldn’t or shouldn’t go. Today was different the choice had been taken out of my hands and there was simply no way for me to ride. I felt estranged from the rest of the riders. At breakfast the hotel staff questioned where I was part of the group as I did not wear riding clothes today. In the town of Baynard, population 192, a reporter asked us what we were doing and proceeded to interview people about our ride. She also wanted a picture. I felt excluded from the group. We crossed the Mississippi River on a small ferry today, the Paul B, I took a lot of pictures of the cyclists on the ferry but by choice I did not get into any of them.

On the positive side I did get to take several pictures of the roads in Missouri. I think this one gives a good impression of the terrain in this state. It is anything but flat. I also got to help many of the riders as many ran out of water between two support stops. Lastly, I got to see some of the problems that cyclists create for motorists. Many things that we as cyclists do all the time for our own safety, cause problems for motorists and the resulting friction between the auto and cycle communities. When there are no shoulders to ride on, riding into the lane provides a measure of safety by forcing cars to make a commitment and cross the center line before passing. That is very good when there are long sightlines and little traffic. Then autos have little trouble passing cyclists. However on hilly roads, where cyclists go up hills more slowly and need more of the road to avoid minor road hazards, this can cause bigger problems for autos who must slow down and wait for the cyclist to reach the top of the hill before passing. On down hills cyclists are going faster and need even more of the road in order to ride safely. Here autos can also have problems passing cyclists although the sight lines are generally better.

OK enough of the auto-cyclist carping. What’s happening with the bike? Will I ever get out of the van? The simple answer is yes. I will be able to ride tomorrow. I went to a bike shop in Quincy IL, Madison and Davis Bicycle Center. The original owner, Madison, still works in the shop he has owned for 60 years. The younger owner, Davis, has worked there since 1964 when he we 13. With over a hundred years of experience they were able to find a way to get me back on the road. I got a cheep triple crank set that has 175 mm long crank arms as opposed to my usual set up with 180 mm long crank arms. There is a very large difference! The other problem is that the large ring can’t be used because the front derailleur can’t reach that far, so my largest gear tomorrow will be a 42/12 or 95 inches. For tomorrow’s relatively flat roads it will do just fine. The other issue I discovered as I left the shop is that my saddle had to be raised 5 mm. It is also surprising how big a difference that makes. This should work until tomorrow when I will get a 180 mm left crank arm that Karen is sending FedEx overnight to Springfield IL. We will put that and the original chain ring on the bike and I should be as good as new.

Lastly, for puzzle fans the answer to the puzzle for Wednesday. In simple terms the modular difference between the first two numbers is used to generate the third and fourth digits. The first member of the series is 0000, the 25 th is 2468, the 50 th is 4949 the 75 th is 7418 and the 99 th is 9876. In base 10 modular arithmetic 8 plus 5 is 3 as the ten’s digit in 13 is dropped. For instance for 4949 the difference between 4 and 9 is 5 so 9 plus 5 is 14, or 4 and 4 plus 5 is 9. For 7418 the difference between 7 and 14 is 7 so 4 plus 7 is 11 or 1 and 1 plus 7 is 8. I hope everyone who is interested can 1) see how my series was generated, 2) how boring it can be to ride through some parts of this country and 3) what lengths I can go to, to amuse myself.