Casconade Campground, Missouri to Lebanon, Missouri

Not a very good day. Got a late start from camp. And only went 20 miles to and through Lebanon. But worse, my bike is crippled. Not out-of-commission crippled, but frustrated-it’s-not-working-properly crippled. But I need to start at the beginning.

I didn’t have a chance to write up or post my blog last night because I was too tired, and because I had zero bars on my phone so couldn’t post anything even if I wanted. But as I was packing up and getting ready to ride out this morning, I noticed a Starlink antenna on the campground’s bath house. Looking further, I saw all sorts of WIFI repeaters mounted on poles scattered throughout the campground. So, I flagged down the owner (and groundskeeper) as he was doing his morning rounds, asked if there was WIFI, and if I had access to it. He answered yes to both and gave me the password (which I failed to see on the piece of paper I received when I checked in last night.) So, I delayed the start of my day’s ride, unpacked my laptop, wrote up yesterday’s entry, and posted it. Finally rolled out about 9:30 AM. A late start for me. But I still had a shot at getting into Marshfield. It was only 40 miles away, the light wind was at my back, and the terrain didn’t look too difficult. And though it was humid, the skies were overcast so promised not to be too hot of a day.

So, I started out. As I rolled past the spot where my rear tire found a nail yesterday afternoon, I saw a half dozen more scattered about on the road. Hmmm? But more important, it didn’t take me long to discover yesterday’s nail created more problems with the bike than just a simple flat. Even though the flat was easy to fix, something must have knocked the rear derailleur out of whack. Because now it was ghost shifting between the two gears I use most when climbing hills. Ugh. What an annoyance. Particularly as the derailleur and trigger shifter has been working flawlessly until now.

I figured the most likely reason for the ghost shifting was a bent derailleur hanger. Fortunately, I carry an extra derailleur hanger just in case that happens. But to top matters off, in trying to work around the ghost shifting problem, I discovered my front derailleur isn’t working either. Double ugh.

So, I decided to go no farther than Lebanon where I’d get a hotel room and see if I could sort out through the problems. To be honest, there isn’t much I can do adjustment-wise to both derailleurs without putting the bike up on a bike stand. And the nearest bike stand I’m aware of is at a bike shop two days away in Springfield. Which will probably be closed because of the holiday. But I could swap out the derailleur hanger. So thought I’d do that at least. But first a shower and a nap. Because for some reason today’s 20 miles was a lot harder than usual.

I woke refreshed and ready to work on the bike. And the first thing I noticed was that the rear brake was dragging! So that’s why I had to work harder today than normal! Triple ugh! I re-centered the brakes and while testing to make sure they weren’t dragging anymore, noticed the wheel was slightly out of true. What the hell?! Checking the spokes, I found three or four were loose. So I broke out my spoke wrench and tightened them. I suspect those may have been the culprits that caused the wheel to go out-of-true.

Anyway, the bike’s rideable. The next bike shop beyond Springfield is in Joplin. When I get there, I’ll take a day off and have them true the wheel and adjust the derailleurs. Maybe clean and lube the chain and put on some new tires. Better to get these things fixed and working while I still can, because the bike shops get fewer and farther apart the further west I go.