We got the van (Chevy Suburban) loaded during our packing party yesterday afternoon, with duffel bags in place where they can be easily gotten out at the end of the day, and tents in a waterproof bag under a bungee net on the roof, since tents won't be required on many nights. Once everyone was gone, we decided that the truck with all the gear should go into the garage. There are still a few things to go into the roof rack, but as it is there is only one inch of clearance, so the roof gets packed after the truck is out of the garage!
Then, near disaster! Pat drove the truck and stopped just shy of the garage door, then turned off the engine and handed me the keys so I could unlock the door. I was going to stand outside and ensure that there was clearance on top. The door was open, and Pat turned the key to start the truck. Tck tck tck. We could hear the solenoid, but the engine wouldn't turn over. After several tries, the starter finally kicked in, and we successfully moved the truck into the garage. One last try, just to make sure that the truck would start in the morning, so we could take it to the garage for a battery check. Tck tck tck. Tck tck tck. Tck tck tck.
One nice thing about the Gearhart / Seaside area, the garage makes house calls. At 9:00 am, they pulled up, and the mechanic immediately confirmed that it was the starter that was failing, not the battery. He pulled out his little silver hammer (we had to look it up, but it really is the name of a Beatles song), crawled under the truck, and pounded on the starter motor while his wife turned the key. Eventually the truck started, and they drove off towards the garage in Seaside. Two hours later, the truck was parked back in front of the house with a new starter, and a gratis top-up of all the fluids, plus a check of the electrical system. That wind blowing out of Gearhart today is being created by a big sigh of relief. The truck is ready. The bikes are ready. No more tck tck. Instead, you might hear "Check. Check."
Another serendipitous find came from an article on my FaceBook feed. The article was about great bike rides where the wind is usually at your back. And in the article, they mentioned Wind Mapper (http://windmapper.com), a site that shows the current and forecast wind speed and direction, along with detailed weather forecasts for the road ahead. Wind Mapper will certainly become a regular part of our evening preview of the next day's ride. Not only can we have a good idea of when the wind might pick up or change direction during the day, but we will be able to see approximately when we can start anticipating the possibility of rain and lightening, if at all, and when the temperatures will reach an unbearable level. A great tool for plotting our road strategy for the next day ... something we will be doing nearly every evening for the next 59 days.
What would a long bike ride be, if there weren't a little bit of adventure along the way? And out of our first small adventure, we now have the assurance that our support vehicle is ready to go. Now, come Thursday morning, I just hope that all of us are as ready to get started as the Suburban is.
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