A resting day. Peter got his bike fixed (a loose bottom bracket), and I got my front tubeless tire resealed. We did laundry, updated our journals, photos, and Peter’s blog. I shopped for food for the coming day.
Peter made an important decision: He realized that his climbing capability or a lack of it had held me back during the past three weeks and we had lost precious time (we used up 30% of our planned two months for this trip but covered only less than 20% of the total distance). At this pace, we would not complete the trip by September 30 as planned, which was the latest for me because of my two months of leave without pay from my work. Peter also realized that it would be extremely difficult for him to climb over the Rockies. So he decided to skip this climbing part by renting a car, driving to Billings on the east side of the Rockies, and resuming his ride from there. The hope was I might catch him up down the road.
I supported his decision. It was not easy for either of us. As Peter said, we had faced many difficulties during the past three weeks and we overcome them together. Now we would have to deal with any problem we might have alone. This would be a test of our independence and resilience. At that time, I was not sure that even if I might pick up some speed and cover more distance each day, whether I had enough time to reach the east coast, given the uncertainties of weather, my bike, and my body. I decided to accept the reality that I might not complete the trip as I wanted and return home from wherever I might be when time was up. Meanwhile, I decided to ride as much and cover as much distance as I could from now on.
We decided to keep in touch every day. I had an advantage that Peter would scout the road condition ahead of me and advise me what to avoid.
Chidong Zhang's WA2MA Bike Trip 