Cozy cabins at the KOA allowed us to finally dry everything out and sleep out of the rain for a night.

What a GREAT surprise when Mike P. (aka ‘Evil Mike’), from our 2017 Northern Tier ride, showed up at 8:30am with donuts and coffee for the whole gang. Mike, Anne, Hugh, Denise and I were all on the ride from Anacortes, WA to Bar Harbor MA. Great to catch up and find out what was new in everyone’s lives since that great crossing.

We miss you Wade. Keep riding that BMW!!!

I was the first in yesterday and after stopping at the ‘Ranger Station’ to get the wristbands, maps and keys for our luxury camping cabins, while biking the 1/2 mile to our cabins my chain/hub broke locked up and the wheel would not turn (see the chain hanging in photo above). I carried the bike the rest of the way to the campsite and took a closer look. After removing the chain, the wheel would still not turn. Ryan arrived about a half hour later. I took off the wheel and we headed to town  . . .

. . .  where Scott, owner of Bike and Beyond after a quick diagnosis began exploratory surgery on Connie’s rear hoof.

After removing nearly all the bushings,  washers, spacers and packing, the hub would still not turn. I guess after 10’s of thousands of miles on the hub, it just disintegrated. Luckily he had a replacement wheel, a new state of the art Mavic on which he installed my cassette and tire. I brought the rest of the bike in today, he put it all together and I was back on the road!!!

Today we said goodbye to our Swiss biking companion, Olivier, who is heading back to Geneva. His Brompton bike is probably geared too high for a trip like this and he pulled muscles in his leg. A visit to the doctor resulted in a suggestion not to bike for two weeks. Safe trip home, Oliver!!!