Well, I handed Papa Hobo over to the baggage agent in Lincoln with a flat in the rear tire. Sometime between getting to the station and boarding, it went flat. The California Zephyr was an hour and a half late, so we finally got underway about 1:30 am. It was a long night’s ride and I did catch some fitful naps and got into Denver around 9 am. Almost lost PH as the conductors directed me to baggage claim (PH was checked to Denver), and baggage claim didn’t have the bike and directed me trainside. Fortunately, Denver was a 20 minute stop or PH would have been headed to California without me. I had to get a conductor to open the baggage car and get the bike out. Close call. So far, Amtrak’s been great for hauling the bikes along, but policies aren’t quite the same everywhere and I’ve yet to master the process. Learning as I go though.
I gathered my panniers from the baggage agents who were nice enough to watch them while I chased after Papa Hobo. I fixed the flat — it was another SLM wire shard — and headed the 4 miles to Aaron’s in Edgewater. Denver has great bike facilities and the trip was easy and smooth except for catching my breath in the mile-high air.
After arriving at Aaron’s, we soon set out to start the hunt for new tires. Came up empty at REI and a local shop, so I ordered some Schwalbe Marathons from Universal Cycles which actually has a warehouse in Denver. Still had to ship them, but they should be here before the next leg of my journey. In the meantime, I’ll nurse the WTBs through a trip over the Loveland Pass if they don’t come in first.
Continued frustration with Barclays as I still haven’t received a replacement credit card. It was reissued yet again today for the forth time with another promise that it will be here tomorrow. We’ll see. Track record is not good.
Saturday evening, Aaron’s girlfriend Sandra came over and we had dinner that Aaron and Sandra tag-teamed on. Grilled Chicken and Asparagus, Tofu-veggie shish kabobs, and salad. It was my first time meeting her and she’s a lovely woman. After that excellent meal, I had a long and restful night catching up on sleep.
Today I’m venturing out to fill in some gaps in my clothing supply and to get a fresh set of spare tubes and restock my patch kit. Had some needed rain yesterday, but it didn’t last long and today is sunny and gorgeous.
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