The day started with the usual breakfast routine and packing. It was nice to get started a little later than normal. As I rolled my fully loaded bike out the door I noticed that the front tire was soft. Further inspection showed two thorns in the tire. Probably from the ride two days before when I had picked up thorns.
I fairly quickly fixed the flat and got on the road. The road proved to be good with some rollers pretty much all day long. The first destination was the small town of Alpine, where they have several common fast food restaurants and a bike shop.
I stopped at the McDonald's and had a bite to eat. Ron and John were there. While we were sitting eating and drinking Lonnie, who gave us the ride to the Observatory, popped in to say hi. He was down there on some sort of business and saw our bikes.
After leaving I decided I would pay a visit to the local bike shop where I picked up a couple of spare tubes. I have 4 now. 3 pristine and one somewhat patched. I may toss the rear one the next time I get a flat.
The bike shop was small but had a fair assortment of things you might need.
After leaving Alpine I ran into a brother and sister who were riding the southern tier in the opposite direction. They had stayed at the Hostel which is our intended destination for the night. Her comment was "they survived". They were curious about the Emory pass closure and alternatives. I told them about the detour we took.
They gave me some insight into the day to come and we parted ways.
The ride went well and easy day as expected. I got into Marathon and spotted a small diner, Johnny B's, that was open and started to go in for lunch. A lady in a car called out to me to let me know that one of our other riders was in at at the Hostel. She apparently runs the Hostel.
At the diner I sat down and the counter and was given a large glass of ice water and pitcher of water to keep the glass full. I ordered the jalapeño burger and drank lots of ice water. Apparently the lady behind the counter also lives at the Hostel.
After finishing the burger I went up to the hostel, which was quite interesting, but not all that appealing. It was not particularly clean and there was no one around. It was also somewhat structurally suspect with several things such as stairs that did not look safe.
While I was waiting a couple more riders showed up including Dick. As we were standing there trying to decide what our next move was we spotted a FedEx truck. Dick waved it down because he had a package being delivered to the Hostel with some new bike tires.
The FeEx driver, who was a substitute, commented that he had lived in the area for many years and didn't realize the hostel was there.
Soon everyone decided to go back down into town with some sentiments that staying at the hostel wasn't going to work for us.
We ended up staying at the local RV camp which while less than perfect was far superior to the hostel.
Sally and Mitch cooked fajitas for dinner. They were very good. We had a bit of an electrical storm to the east but nothing close.
It was somewhat windy all night.
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