by Dwayne Phillips<\/p>\n
I used a bicycle for a good part of the walk (see here for details<\/a>). Two times I had a flat tire on my bicycle.<\/p>\n Let me start by writing that I am not a mechanic. I am not good at this; I have had little interest in it my entire life; I don’t practice it much, and I guess those things contribute to me not being good at it.<\/p>\n I prepared myself for flat tires on a bicycle. I watched a few YouTube videos on how to repair a flat tire on a bike while out on the road. I bought the right tools for the job. I carried those tools in my backpack which was always on my back. I was prepared, well…<\/p>\n I was prepared as a mechanic, but I was not prepared for the fatigue. That was a major oversight.<\/p>\n Two flats:<\/p>\n (1) South of Chattanooga, Tennessee<\/strong> – This was the first morning that I was walking alone with my bicycle. It was warm, cloudy, extremely humid, and the road was probably the worst section for walking that I encountered the entire walk. I felt like I was going down into a basement. The trees where close to the road and hanging over it. It was dark. I was soaked with perspiration after 15 minutes.<\/p>\n I walked four miles to the spot that I had planned to stop, hop on the bicycle, and ride back to my van. As soon as I sat on the bike, I noticed that the front tire was flat. And then it started raining<\/em>.<\/p>\n I carried the bicycle a half mile in the rain to a church that had a covered porch. I went to work on the flat. The problem was that the spare inner tube I had also had a hole in it. I don’t know how a new inner tube has a hole in it, but … I locked the bicycle to a nearby telephone pole and walked the four miles back to my van. Back up that awful road. I drove to the bike, loaded it, and thought a while.<\/p>\n I was too tired and wet (perspiration) to wrestle with the bike. I searched for a bicycle shop on my iPhone. I found several back up in the city of Chattanooga. Sigh, I drove into the city and stopped at River City Bicycles<\/a>. They took care of me. I mean they really took care of me. It was a great relief. The weight of the world fell from my shoulders. Calmed, reassured, rested – I drove back down to the spot\u00a0 I left. I ate lunch at a bar-b-que place at the Interstate exit and continued.<\/p>\n (2) Springville, Alabama<\/strong> – I had just finished eating lunch in a diner in this town. I had walked a mile from my van when I noticed a flat on my rear tire. It was hot. It was in the middle of the afternoon. I was again soaked with perspiration, and I was tired.<\/p>\n I sat in the grass under a shade tree and again used my iPhone to find a bicycle shop. I was surprised and delighted to find one ten miles down the road in Trussville – a northern suburb of Birmingham.<\/p>\n