Fond Du Lac, WIS (19Jul08)
Hi Everyone,
What a great day! 85 miles to Fond du Lac!
I had a great time today riding with Mr & Mrs D & J, and Mr. E. (They were nice enough to slow up on the “hills” so I had a chance to catch up!)
This is a very beautiful part of Wisconsin … Fond du Lac … lots of green pastures, lakes, and
we are staying at the downtown Ramada!
We also stopped at the downtown bike shop and they were really nice to our cyclists!
Last night I had to change my chain on the bike … actually Mark the mechanic changed it for me!
He left a couple of extra links longer than before … which gave me … a couple of extra gears in both the middle (39 ring) and the big (53 ring) which really helped me today in climbing! … Thanks to Mark!
So all in all, it was a good day … and the “comments” are really helpful … and welcome!
Check out the pix for today at: http://s278.photobucket.com/albums/kk118/larryjfr/Life%20Across%20America%202008/07-19-08%20–%20Fond%20du%20Lac%20WI/
Thanks to ABC … and the local blood centers who are doing an incredible job every day!
And most of all … thanks to our blood donors … who help save lives every day!
Larry F.
P.S. Well, the new chain helped me a lot when it came to shifting gears, both up and down! However, it still had quite a “clatter” or “clicking” … I took it to Mechanix hour and this time Jim took a lot at it … then … he rode it and even then … he really couldn’t hear it! So he put it back on the rack and now he could hear it a little bit… at that time, Mike (tour leader), walked by and they discussed it briefly, so Mike listened to it, and then stopped the wheel from spinning … and … “wiggled” the rear cassette … which turned out to be loose! So Jim took out his special tool and tightened up the rear cassette. So it’s my guess that tomorrow will be an incredible ride with the bike shifting “quietly” and that will help me with my climbing ability! So a special thank you to Mark (for the new chain & extra 2 gears), to Jim for tightening up my cassette, and to Mike! (for finding the loose cassette!)
To my buddies at Santa Rosa Cyclery (Mitch, Charlie, DJ, etc.) thanks for putting the bike together so well that it’s lasted this long! (By the way, I’ve only had 3 flats so far with my Amardillo tires … all on the back wheel!