Day 101: Wednesday, July 20, 2011

30 miles to just across the Oregon state line at Brownlee Dam

After nearly 3000 miles, I finally had my first flat tire.  It couldn’t have been in a worse location as I was in Hells Canyon in the middle of nowhere and Bob was about 80 miles away in Baker City, Oregon.   And no, I didn’t have equipment with me since I have been bicycling alone the last few days.  (Vincent has a bad fever blister and hasn’t felt well.)  So, I began walking the bicycle to Oxbow, the nearest town, about 12 miles away.  After a couple of miles, I stopped to look around and noticed a camper at the last pull-out I had passed.  I walked back to them and asked if they had a cell phone with service.  No, their phone didn’t have service, but after I explained my dilemma, they were eager to help me.  As I said in an earlier post, I knew I would have to rely on the help of strangers, and I was very lucky to meet Ann and Ron from Oregon who went to great lengths to make sure I was ok.  We loaded the bicycle into the back of their jeep (towed behind the camper) and headed up to Oxbow where we thought we would have service and I could contact Bob.  As it turns out, there was still no service and I wasn’t able to make a long distance call from the pay phone.  I knew Bob would be along eventually, so told them I would be fine waiting there.  Neither liked the idea of leaving me in the “boondocks” so they decided to take me up to Halfway, the next town on the route.  We were able to get phone service there so I left a message for Bob.  They were such wonderful people and I only hope I can pay forward the favor in the future.  Ron did say he had been looking to help a “damsel in distress” all of his life and he was thrilled to help.

Turns out Bob had left the RV camp earlier than agreed since he knew he had a long ride to get me and I only waited about 30 minutes.  I did make another call at the Halfway Mercantile, relying on another stranger’s help (it is so strange that the pay phones in the area don’t allow any long distance calls) to make sure Bob knew I was in the town and not on the route.  I ended up calling Zachary who was able to chat with Vincent on Google who then sent a text to Bob.  Talk about technology! 

At any rate, we are going to put two new tires on the bicycle and hopefully, I will ride another 3000 miles before I get another flat.

Ron and Ann, my knight and lady in shining armor

Right before the flat tire