Gearing up for the trail

I went to three separate bike shops this morning. None had a solution for raising my bike stem & handlebars that didn't involve lots of work and money. It would involve new gear/brake cables and much else. "It's a $350 job" said one mechanic. "It'll affect your resale value, too", he added. "You'll just have to live with the bike as it is". Thanks, buddy. 

I wasn't happy with that, so I looked at various bike-bodging websites and found a cheap solution. A tubular crossbar, some piping insulation and some Gorilla tape later, and I had the bike fixed up to my proportions. I went for a long ride to test it, and returned satisfied. The bike fits me now, and I'm ready to ride a long way.

Last night, we three had a long talk about the current weather here in the West of USA. Climate change means we are getting some extreme weather. The massive Wah Wah Mountains at the start of our ride on Monday are currently blocked with deep snow and could be impassable for weeks. Also we would be 10,000 feet up, the air is thin and breathing is hard. Whereas much lower down the weather is easier. Salt Lake City, Cedar City, Bryce Canyon and Canyonlands National Park (all places we are cycling through) the weather there is currently sunny and around 16-23°C. So we decided to miss out the mountains and cycle through and around the wall-to-wall National Parks of Utah, and will probably stray into Colorado, too. The fabulous Monument Valley straddles both states. We shall cycle through it all. Who knows, we might even see a Hollywood Western being filmed. We'll still be cycling over 600 miles. Just not quite the route we'd planned.

I guess that's the whole art of life: adapting to changing circumstances and letting go of definite plans! When I went to bed last night, I felt relief. I had been a little worried about those mountains. What were we thinking?