Yesterday I decided to be smart and stop in a bike shop to get some new brake pads. I stopped at Bike Newport (visit them at http://www.bikenewport.net/) and while I was there I decided to get a brush up on adjusting my derailleur, because I have been having problems with my bike shifting into lower gears. Elliot, the proprietor informed me that it was actually the derailleur hanger, which was bent...something I'm pretty sure I did to my bike several years ago.
Fortunately, this was a relatively easy fix which only cost me $10, but he didn't have my pads in stock, so had to order them. No problem...I had planned to spend another night camped at South Beach, so wasn't upset. I pedalled off to return to camp, but while riding up one of Newport's very steep hills, my chain came off and while I tried to pedal it back on, it snapped.
At this point, I had a choice. I could either get mad, which would solve nothing, or push my bike back to the shop to get a replacement. Elliot and I had discussed the fact that my bike is nine years old and the chain would probably need to be replaced soon, anyway. I was grateful that this didn't happen while I was in middle of the desert.
So now I await the delivery of new brake pads and chain (no, they didn't have my chain in stock, either). Bike Newport is a full service bike shop, including showers and laundry facilities for bikers, which I've never heard of before.
After Elliot put a tempory (read, old) chain on my bike so that I could return to camp, I rode the two or so miles back to South Beach to find that the campground was hosting "Out door school." This is something I haven't heard of elsewhere. Oregonians love and respect the outdoors, and so send kids (I can't remember if they are 8th or 9th grade at the time) to camp as a part of the curriculum. It seems like this is a three or four day trip. Quite fun for the kids and probably a nice break for parents, but not so much fun for those of us trying to camp with 100 or so pubescent kids running around, screaming and otherwise acting like children.
I had been informed that it was going to rain, which added more enjoyment to the prospect of camping out, so I decided to head back into town to get a room for the night. Not having much luck with couchsurfing...doesn't seem like anyone who has a couch actually visits the website with any regularity.
It looks like we are in for another couple of days of showers, but at least I'm not in the midwest. My parts should be here early this afternoon and I will be able to do my laundry while I wait, so all is good.
Newport is an interesting town. It seems to think that it is on the east coast. Every restaurant claims to have the best New England style clam chowder. I would think that there would be a west coast version of this classic, but such a thing doesn't seem to exist. Fish and chips is rather popular as well. There is so much to offer here, I don't see why this town doesn't have its own distict identity. I may never know.
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