My morning started out lazy and hazy. I missed a morning rain storm by not waking up too quickly. By the time the rain had passed and I paid the bill for breakfast, it was mid-morning.
My shirt felt sweaty, disgusting and un-wearable. Knowing better, I took it off anyway and got a terrible sunburn. That's the level of smartness that I'm afraid to be riding with sometimes. Plus, my bottom bracket has been screeching and squealing for a week, and I'm a good enough mechanic to know that it'll be fine if I just keep being lazy until a bicycle shop appears out of the mist some morning. It only makes noise most of the time. I've seen enough bum bikes to know that it can technically go for another year or two. It's loud, but I've got time before it catches on fire while I'm riding.
I'm sticking with the Kiwis. Wendy and Graham don't try to push over long distances. And being sensible people, they usually have a good day's ride planned out. I'm continuing my policy of shadowing the ideas of others. For life. I still mostly ride alone, but I'm pretty sure that sharing camp is a mutual benefit for most everyone. In fact, at the day's end in Golden City we had quite the convergence of cyclists.
When I pulled into town, I caught up with the Kiwis right before rolling into camp at the city park. Already there were two other groups - Matt (another Matt, but he also rides a brand new Long Haul Trucker in blue) and the team of Ed and Ed on matching Bilenky touring bicycles with S&S couplers. Fancy stuff, gentlemen.
Ed and Ed are older guys who apparently roll around all over the place together carrying tons of gear and cooking five course meals. I assumed they were gay, but they claim to have families and kids.
Matt was a bicycle mechanic before he started flying planes for a regional airline. He seems to have brought most of the tools and spare parts with him from his bicycle shop days. He literally had a spare bottom bracket to sell me. I am literally not making this up. I gave him $5 for it. Then I ate pie. I am not joking that I ate rhubarb pie and bought a bottom bracket, and it cost me less than ten bucks. That also includes coffee.
This is how Golden City got its name.
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