August 31
I planned a short day because yesterday had been a hard effort, and because I knew I would need to navigate a major city (Pittsburgh) and to stop at a bike shop to buy a replacement for the special insert that properly mates my Ortlieb pannier bag to the hook that holds it onto the bike -- somehow one of the four of these inserts had fallen out. The bike path infrastructure was superb. I got into the heart of Pittsburgh with no problem, and met a helpful local rider in a large beautiful park on the point where the rivers meet. Kindred Cycles, which Ortlieb listed as a dealer, had the parts I needed, and also were willing to tune up my brakes on the spot. There was however a complication that I did not discover until after I rode away. I was hearing a clicking sound from the rear brake when I rode. I spent some time trying to diagnose it, then wondered about whether maybe I should just ride it. But thinking about mountainous descents on a loaded bike, I decided it was best to be sure of my brakes, so I went back to the shop. Upon my return, a team of two took it out for a test ride and confirmed that though it did not tick on the repair stand, it ticked when loaded. An ace mechanic then showed me how to hand tighten those thru axle end bits -- I may have caused this looseness doing my tire repair the prior day -- to eliminate the play in the wheel and stop the ticking from the brakes . Excellent service from Kindred Cycles, nice people too. At this point it was post 4 pm. I was overdue for lunch, but where I was, I found only chi chi places where I couldn't see a way to get the calories I needed, at any price. I decided to ride out of the city while watching for for a place to eat outside the yuppie zone. To my delight my route took me past a Chinese restaurant in a less sanitized part of town. It was mostly takeout, so I ate at a table with the owners' two small children, who were full of questions, including "Why are you eating here?" and "Why is he [my little brother] eating your fortune cookie?". Tanked up on steamed chicken, vegetables, lots of rice, and 2 liters of soda, I headed into Pittsburgh rush hour traffic after 5. There were a few points where I had to ride sidewalks because of heavy traffic flow, but before too long I got out onto good rideable roads. And my newly adjusted brakes were really effective now!