Jacob Friend
Over the past 2 days, our team has crushed about 190 miles of biking through beautiful but exhausting mountains. It came as a great relief to our legs that the only climbing we did this morning was up a few stairs to a delicious homemade breakfast. While enjoying our food we plotted with our hosts about our plan to explore Cody for our rest day. Fortunately for us, our host John is a history buff and gave us the full rundown of the history of Cody and what spots to hit during our journey downtown. At the top of our itinerary was the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a museum that contains 5 unique museums in a single building. Perfect. After scarfing down bagels, eggs, antelope sausage, and yogurt, we were off to downtown Cody.
Brian rides into downtown Cody with his croc backstraps in break-day mode
Aside from resting our minds and bodies on break days, a big focus of this precious free time is on bike maintenance. We’re at day 20, and while things have run relatively smoothly so far for our bikes, there’s always work to be done. Before heading to the museum, the gang stopped at the local bike shop—Joyvagen Cycles. We had two primary goals for our visit to the shop. First, Brian wanted to get his headset looked at because of a worn out bearing. Second, I wanted to have key hardware replaced on my rear rack. The rear rack is responsible for holding both my panniers, so it plays a critical role in the success of my riding. Unfortunately, on the very first day of our trip my rear rack broke off from its attachments to my frame and I’ve been working to get it repaired ever since. My fingers were crossed that today would be a step towards a more secure solution for the rest of the trip. Brian and I were asked to leave our bikes while they were being worked on, so our Cody adventure continued as we got lunch then hit the museum.
Joyvagen Cycles in Cody, WY
Once again John and Brenda came in clutch and got all four of us free tickets to the museum. Our first line of business was to hit the Draper Natural History Museum. The exhibits in this section focused on the ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park. It was awesome to reflect upon all of the cool critters and terrain we had just seen on our bike ride. Learning new facts about the environment made me realize how much I don’t know about natural history. This only grew my desire to bike more and embark on cool adventures in unfamiliar places. After roaming around the museum for a bit we caught the afternoon Raptor Experience exhibit. This featured close-up interactions with exotic birds that were under the supervision of researchers due to injuries preventing them from living in the wild. We had a great time learning about the birds through a silly trivia game, Fact or Fowl, while also learning about the importance of conservation and sustainable practices. At the end of the exhibit, Brian and I received phone calls from Joyvagen Cycles that our bikes had been repaired and were ready to be picked up. Perfect timing 🙂
Buffalo Bill Center of the West, featuring a golden eagle with a 7-foot wingspan
We were happy to see that our repairs went pretty well. While they weren’t permanent solutions, we both got fixes that will allow our bikes to ride more smoothly and safely for now. The screws and bolts on my rear rack bars were replaced and sealed with Loctite glue for added strength. No more elastic strap holding the rack to my frame… for now. Downtown Cody was great fun, but now it was time to get home and continue bike maintenance and preparation for the week ahead. A big item on my to-do list for the day was to replace my rear tire. I have had 4 flat tires so far this trip (all from my rear tire) and after enough troubleshooting I conceded that it was time to replace my tire. For some finishing touches each of us degreased our chains, cogs, and cassettes to strip away the dirt we’ve collected over the last few weeks.
Break day bike maintenance in Cody, WY
Last December I purchased my bike from Facebook Marketplace, a great affordable option. The previous owner used the bike to tour from San Diego to Virginia, so I’m confident it can get the job done for this trip, but it’s clear that a few thousand miles have been put on this bad boy. My two major issues thus far have been my rear tire and rear rack. It was reassuring to work on these components and I’m excited to see how the bike rides for the next week through the challenging Wyoming terrain. Bike maintenance isn’t my strong suit, but the rest of the group has been very supportive in helping me address issues throughout the trip. In just a few weeks I feel like I’ve gained more confidence in fixing problems as they arise and I’m starting to enjoy the process more.
We got a request from Sallie Verner to talk about our bike setups more in the blog and this was my go at it. (Great request by the way! Let us know if there is anything else y’all want us to blog about). The rest of the group will go into detail about their bikes in future posts.
To end this blog I’ll give you a rundown of some of my bike specs (I don’t know what most of this means 😅):
Size: 54 frame (not certain)
Frame: Prestige Cro-mo steel, stand over height 30-31” depending on tire choice.
Has eyelets for down-tube shifting and lots of mounts for racks and bags
Fork: Carbon, Room for tires 38mm wide and maybe 40?
Drivetrain: Campagnolo Mirage 3x9
Cranks: Bontrager Aluminum
Pedals: Shimano PD-EH500 SPD Sport Road Pedals
Wheels: 700 Fulcrum Racing 7, Aluminum, (ETRTO 622x15C)
Front Tire: 700x35 Schwalbe Road Cruiser w/ Kevlar puncture resistance
Rear Tire: 700x35 Specialized Nimbus w/ Armadillo Protection
Bar: Carbon, 440 mm. width
Brakes: Campagnolo Veloce, Cantilever rim brakes
Fenders: Silver, lightweight plastic
Panniers: 2x 20L Ortlieb Waterproof
Handlebar bag: Ortlieb Ultimate Six Classic
Handlebar mirror: Mirrycle Mirrors Mountain Mirror
Friend’s touring bike setup