Cycle to the Sea - Day 2

We had another very good day for riding. Early in the morning as we started out, it was a little cool, but warmed up pretty quickly with some movement. Day 2 is in my opinion the easiest riding day. The terrain is flatter than the first day, but there is still enough rolling hills to get a little break from time to time.

All in all it was another calm day. We had one mechanical problem with a handcycle. The shifter cable for the derailleur for the cassette broke. This is for the set of gears that are normally on the rear wheel of a standard bicycle, but they are located on the front wheel of the handcycles. This made is impossible to make small shifts from gear to gear and with a broken cable, the chain automatically goes to the easiest and slowest gear on the cassette. It would have been very difficult to stay with the group with this problem. Robbie had some cables in his bag that we could use for repairs, but none were long enough. We had another hand cycle on the truck, so Johnny transferred to the other handcycle.  This cycle had been set up for a quadriplegic rider so it was very different. We finally were able to figure out how the shifters worked and were ready to get back on the road when we realized there were no brake levers. We found some mechanism attached to the brakes, but did not see how it worked.  A plan was eventually devised that Johnny would have Damon in front of him and could ease into his bumper and Damon would brake for both of them. There was a roller on the back of the spare handcycle and Robbie would ride behind him and help push as needed. It also had a push pole so I got a little experience with a push pole from the captains seat on the Beast. Johnny was really a trooper riding a handcycle that was not set up properly for him, was difficult to shift, heavy, and rattled horribly on the fine SC asphalt.  At the first break we had Robbie was able to get the correct cable from his truck and fix the bike and get it back on the road.

We later had a flat tire that we stopped to fix. We had the tired back on and pumped it up only to find that we had pinched the tube when putting it back on the rim. We took it off and put another tube on and we should have been good to go. Only problem we me and Rhett were standing there looking at the wheel and the derailleur set up with very confused looks on our faces. The handcycles have the drive wheel in the front and the derailleur is mounted upside down. We finally looked at one of the other bikes and with some expert guidance from one of the handcyclists, we got it back on.  

 

We finished up our ride in Marion-Mullins SC. Micah decided that he wanted to stay on tandem today, so that is what we did. We had one rider this year on a recumbent bike.  I have never had the chance to try one out before until now.  I made it around the hotel a couple of times with no incident.  I see how these would be very comfortable on long rides.

Chef Jeff prepared us another incredible meal with pork tenderloin, beef, smoked sausages, potatoes, baked beans, and salad.  It is worth the 60 mile ride each day just for the food!