A blowout day along Lake Koocanusa

(Susan)
Today we rode south from Eureka to Libby along the eastern edge of Lake Koocanusa, which was created by the Libby Dam, a distance of over 70 miles. Despite the 100% chance of rain, there was no rain and the day progressively got warmer and sunnier. The terrain was fun and hilly and nicely blocked the headwind we were supposed to have. Overall, it was a really enjoyable day of riding.

There was a teensy problem, though. On one downhill, I was peering intently at the map, trying to make out something printed in fine print, when I ran over a big rock on the shoulder in such a way that it ripped the wall of my rear tire and caused a blowout: (A blowout is when the tube explodes from being forced out a hole in the tire while under pressure.)

So I had to take out the tube and patch it:

And then Brice knew a handy trick for reinforcing the wall of the tire at the rip to prevent a repeat blowout:

The dollar bill solution lasted the next 35 or so miles to Libby and we’re hoping it holds until Sandpoint, ID, the next place with a bike shop, where we can get a replacement tire. There is a sporting goods store in Libby where we got a couple new tubes; they did have tires, too, but they weren’t exactly the right size and weren’t up to snuff for a long-distance tour anyways. So we’re going to cross our fingers.

Here’s a bunch of pictures from the road today, of the lake and the dam: