First, about the ride today: it was long in terms of miles, but due to a tail wind most of the way and generally flat terrain we sailed along rather easily. The weather was again great, with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 80s.
The only glitch on an otherwise perfect day is that the tandem developed a noticeable wobble in the front wheel. Due to some of the spokes loosening as we have bounced over countless cracks, railroad tracks and other bumps in the road, the wheel had become "out of true." This had not yet reached the point where it was a major problem or a safety issue, but it would only get worse. And while we are carrying a spoke wrench and can tighten/loosen the spokes to try to minimize the "out of true" condition, it takes a special tool (called a "truing stand") in which the wheel is placed and an expert bike mechanic to really adjust the wheel so that it runs true. The problem is that truing stands and bike mechanics are not found at your local Wal-Mart or even sporting goods stores. In the roughly 1,100 we have ridden before today we have found 2 bike shops, so I was very surprised to get a 'hit' when I did a Google search for a bike shop in Monmouth, a modest-sized town in central Illinois. The "bike shop" turned out to be Martin, an elderly gentleman who was running a locksmith and bike shop out of the garage of his house until recently (when he shut down the locksmith portion because the city was insisting that he have a permit for it). He told us he had a truing stand and, if we would leave the wheel with him for a couple of hours, he would have it trued.
So we walked around for a while, enjoying in particular Monmouth College (home of the Fighting Scots), the really college campus. We ended up at a bar downtown having a couple of beers, where we met a local resident (Jan) who seemed to know everything about everybody in town (it is a small town after all). Among other things, she confirmed that Martin was the only person in town who knew anything about bikes (but was surprised to learn he was still in business). We also got Jan's life story in a lot more detail than we really wanted (TMI). By that time it was after 5 so I called Martin to find out how he was coming along on the wheel. He told me (in his thick German accent) that it was all done and, alertly recognizing from the background noise that we were at a bar, added "don't drink too much". After assuring us that she'd "only had 3 beers" Jan offered to drive us back to Martin's to pick up the tandem in order to ride it to our motel. She could have had 10 beers and I think we would still have accepted her offer - we were tired and still in our sweaty bike clothes. As she was dropping us off at Martin's, who really had done a fine job truing the wheel, Jan tried to ask me for legal advice about some problem with her mother's benefit payments. She became perturbed when I told her I could not give her advice because I wasn't licensed in Illinois and didn't know anything about the subject area (having spent most of my career dealing in the intricacies of natural gas law and regulation). She seemed to think that a lawyer is a lawyer and why don't you know something about this? Maybe she's right, but while I also know some basics about bike mechanics, I know when to go to an expert in the area. And the next time I have a wobble in a wheel I will know to
call Martin again.
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