Day 5: Singing in the Rain

Today we rode another 40 miles, from Yakima to Sunnyside. Pretty easy ride, so I thought I’d try something a bit more strenuous to test my strength. Pulling the red wagon through Sunnyside got lots of attention. J

The most difficult thing about this ride was avoiding “goatheads,” little thorns that wreak havoc on tires. Though the ride was our shortest yet, we had our highest number of flats, 22. Fortunately, I navigated the trip with tires intact, but they tell me it is just a matter of time before I get my first.

We also experienced our first ride in the rain. A bit of a surprise since we’re in the desert part of Washington. We took down our tents in the rain, and rode in rain for the first 25 miles, not a hard rain, but enough to require rain gear.

The rain, along with the shorter day, meant lots of down time to clean our bicycles. I’m learning a lot about bicycle maintenance from some of the gurus on the tour. They tell me to clean my chain after every ride in the rain. I thought I was doing well when I cleaned the chain on my old Fuji once/year. I must admit, it gives me a good feeling to make my chain and sprockets shine.