Bopping and Weaving by Robin

We woke up to another muddy morning at the campground. Alex and I packed the truck in the rain so Emily and David could get an early start and try to avoid as much rain as possible.  Soaked to the bone, we scraped slimy slugs from the bottom of the tent (I really hope we left them all behind) and finally stuffed the whole muddy mess in the back of the truck.  David tried his best to ignore the hard rain first thing this morning as well as the forecast, and remained optimistic that he and Emily could complete the ride.

Alex and I cleaned up and took a couple bags of clothes that smelled like something died in them to a local laundromat.  Yeah, cycling results in severe smelliness.  Before we could even move the laundry to a dryer, David called for help.  Emily had a flat tire, followed by David having a flat tire, followed by Emily having another flat tire.  David changed the last two only to discover that his tire had gone flat again, and there were no more inner tubes.  They might have made it 20 miles.  Wet and cold, they waited for me and Alex to finish up the laundry, find a hotel room to dump all our stuff, and come get them.  A kind couple and their daughter generously welcomed them into their house while they waited for us to fetch them.  It takes a long time to warm back up after an ordeal like that, so they were happy to finally take hot showers. 

20 years of smiling... we can get through anything!

Needless to say, it wasn't a tough call to make to stay in a hotel tonight.  Now we're trying to figure out what's next.  Besides finding a bike shop to replace the inner tubes. On the bright side, it looks like nice weather is coming... Sunday.  Will repost when we've come up with a new game plan.  In the meantime, we're warm, dry, and safe in Lockport, NY.  It's difficult at the moment to say we're still having fun, but we're still confident that we can use our problem solving skills and get things back on track.  With that, I'll leave you with some nice pictures from the Falls a couple days old.