Three Sisters and a Flat

Nothing too special today as we rode up to Sisters OR, an all out tourist city of 2000 residents -- a sort of miniature Lake Tahoe with perhaps a more artsy flavor.   If we could carry more stuff on the bike I'm not sure I'd get Tina out of the shops in less than a day -- perhaps one of the biggest features of cycle touring in my eyes ;-)

Tonight we're paying the most we've ever paid for a room at a roadside motel yet it's the cheapest the (now filled) town had to offer.   On the plus side, the room and motel are very funky and clean.   For instance, each room has its own garage with a roll up door and so, in a first, the bike is staying in a garage!   Then the rooms are like little 1950s apartments with full kitchens with appliances and furniture that were either restored or very carefully maintained.   Tina said it reminded her of her grandmother's house and I suppose it is the classic motor lodge in 1950s preserved condition.   We're talking Sisters Motor Lodge if ever you're rolling through. 

On our way to Sisters we had another rear flat.   We were of course on an overpass in the center of Bend when it happened but luckily we were also right by an exit with a grassy utility area we could use to safely replace the tire and tube -- both had been patched before and I decided the rear tire had about as many miles on it as we were going to get.   Looks like this time it was glass that got us.   We were on a very clearly marked bike lane but through Bend they apparently never run a sweeper over the thing and so it was a continuous minefield of glass, tire bits, etc --- so no surprise about the flat.  

Once we arrived at Sisters we walked over to a bike shop to buy a new tube to replace the one I'd just installed.   There I tried again to get a super thick tube like the one I have on the front (which I believe has literally saved our bacon) but no luck and I had to settle for a standard 0.8mm weight one.   Black Bar Bill, maybe add this to the shopping list in addition to the tires?   The big thick one I'm using up front doesn't have slime in it, it's just extra heavy duty.   It's maybe 3 times thicker than normal?   Something like that.

In separate news, the past two days Tina's been suffering from significant pain in her left calf, both on and off the bike.   We're hoping that it doesn't have anything to do with the sharp stick she impaled in it a couple days ago during a "back woods foray" but that's what the onset correlates to.   We see no signs of infection, however.

Onward!   /David

Friday update: We've concluded that Tina's left calf issue is the result of an RSI type tendon injury at the back of the knee (the popliteus muscle/tendon, we think).   We're going to hold here treating it in Sisters until Sunday morning (at least) before heading out into the hilly 200+ mile stretch that follows instead of potentially pile-driving things into a hike-threatening injury.