Last night I was out the second I closed my eyes and only woke briefly in pain when I rolled on my sore shoulder and the clap of thunder directly above. I was just aware enough to register heavy rain outside.
I had decided on a shorter day after looking at the forecast. I was also tired. The forecast said the rain would stop by 11am and so leaving then was my plan.
There was breakfast at the hotel but it was a little disorganized and I didn't get nearly enough coffee. There was a lively exchange of dog stories.
I was pedaling at 11 and the rain was more a mist. Good, I thought. It rained lightly to fairly hard for the next 30km. The weather finally started to clear up a bit as I neared Readsport - the first real town since Florence.
I lunched at the Harbor Light and had fish and onion rings.
Because of the conditions I skipped a lot of the detours off 101. The traffic is pretty heavy but the shoulder has been good. This saved me some distance and climbing. After Readsport I did take one diversion from 101 and it was a nice roll through forests and houses one a very quiet road.
It did rain moderate hard for about 5km and when it stopped I took a little break at the side of the road. As I was about to restart I noticed some sealant on the rim and my tire was flat. I was not in the mood to deal with a flat. Fortunately, the sealant did its job after I added back the air and gave the tire a spin. My sealant may be getting a bit low but the tire is holding air.
My motel kind of caught me by happy surprise. I didn't have to cross the giant bridge I was dreading for the last few kilometers looming ahead. Dealing with old bridges when you are tired is not fun.
When I checked in the guy let me use the garden hose to get some of the road off the bike. He then brought me a bunch of rags to dry the bike. Greatly appreciated, Bay Bridge Motel.
Since there is only one restaurant walkable to the motel I went there. It was a little higher end than I wanted but ... it was walkable. I took dinner in the bar so I didn't look like the lonely guy in the dining room. No view, but there was a TV. A replay of one of Sunday's NFL games.
The food was decent. I got the stuffed mushrooms and they stuffed me. Two would have been fine but six were too many and I could not finish my chicken Alfredo. Not a bad thing as the motel has nothing near it. I hope the drive through coffee place at the end of the parking lot is serving in the morning!
It looks like tomorrow is another even shorter day due to the hotel spread. It is supposed to rain all morning so it will be another late start so I'm OK with it. Beside, I'm still playing myself into shape.
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