The smell of exhaust is in the air...

After a tasty breakfast (including a delicious homemade sticky bun- light and fluffy with just the right amount of sticky) I bade farewell to the kind people at Paterson Restaurant and Store in Paterson, WA. Telling them that my mom said thanks got a chuckle. It's funny, because I was going to plug them anyway, and then you all practically begged for it in the comments.

The first leg of today's ride went great. The road was smoother than yesterday, it was cool and cloudy but not raining, and the wind was at my back. Then I turned north-ish to go to the tri-cities. Ah, what could be better than riding uphill on a busy freeway with a strong crosswind? Yup, you guessed it-- getting a flat tire after only four miles of this torture. It was caused by a thorn-- you'll pay for this, desert! Shortly after my pitstop I exited onto a road that ran alongside the freeway for a ways. It was bumpy, twisty, hilly, gravelly, and shoulderless. At least there was no one else driving on it. It took forever to go about two or three miles, and all the while the day got sunnier and warmer. I stopped often to gaze forlornly at the freeway below me. I was finally rewarded for my toil with a couple of downhill miles- I got up to 36.5 mph. During my coast I forgave the road for throwing me down the beating of the week, but I wasn't dumb enough to ask for more, so at the first opportunity I returned to the freeway. I got to coast most of the next five or six miles into the tri-cities. Ah, I needed that. I splurged on a hotel, ditched my gear, and headed over to the bike shop to see about some better tires. They didn't have anything better than what I have, but they hooked me up with some fat thorn-resistant tubes filled with some sort of hole-sealing goo. The guys in the shop seemed to be experts when it came to thorn-punctures... I'll let you know how that works out. I headed back to the hotel for some bike maintenance on my front stoop, then some serious scrubbing in the shower.

A quick complaint: Aveeno should not market their sunblock as non- comedogenic when it so clearly isn't. I have not had this many zits all at once in years. I wash it off every night, but I guess that is not enough. Blurg. Trying something new tomorrow... (although apparently that label doesn't apply to everyone, just *most* people. But we all know I'm not normal.)