Start:  Princeton, IN

Finish: Jasper, IN

Weather:  75 degrees, cloudy, afternoon thunderstorms

Bike Time: 4.5 hours

Miles:  49

Distance to date: 1,709

Today was a short cycling day. I left late, around 8:30 and arrived in Jasper by 2:00 pm, even after losing an hour for the time change.  With thunderstorms in the forecast I did not want to push on, and good thing I didn’t because when they came, just after my visit through town and a late lunch, they were fierce.  I got to watch them from beneath the porch roof of my quaint room at Camelot Inn, a formerly fashionable place that suits me very well.

My bike has developed an annoying condition – a very slow leak in the front tire.  I noticed it two days ago, and changed the tire on the road to Carmi, IL.  Then yesterday I noticed that I needed new air every two hours or so, but did not want to change out the tube until I got more spares, which I did at the Wal-mart in Princeton.  This morning I did a thorough maintenance on the bike, changed the tube again, inspected the inside of the tire and the rim and got a solid thirty miles before I noticed the tire going flat, again.  I pumped up until I got to Jasper, disassembled everything, and still cannot find anything wrong.  Perhaps I need a rim liner, though I really don’t know for sure.  The bike shop in Jasper was already closed for the weekend, so I will just shoulder on, pump as often as I need and change the tube if I have to until I get to a
place with a bike shop, which will probably Cincinnati.

There is nothing I can do but take a Zen attitude about this undiagnosed problem.  Clearly, the Surly wants more attention than I have been giving, and if I have to take more breaks to pump the tire, that gives me more chance to take in the surroundings.

My room at Camelot Inn in Jasper, IN reminds me of my grandmother’s house