When we got up this morning we weren't too sure what kind of day it was going to be. Ride to New Lisbon or wait for more repairs on VanGo. We tried to start VanGo but it wouldn't start. We saw something online about sometimes the solenoid getting dried out and getting stuck and that sometime just tapping it will free it up, at least temporarily. A couple of light taps with with a wrench on the solenoid and VanGo started right away.
So we know that the solenoid is a problem but also that we can likely fix it by tapping on it. That's not the easiest thing to do as we have to take the bikes off the back of VanGo, and move all the stuff that normally is in the back during travel forward so we can remove the access panel to the engine. So let hope that it holds together until we can get it properly fixed. The parts are relatively cheap but not in stock in small town parts stores. We will likely coordinate this with our arrival in Chicago.
After sleeping in and figuring out this issue, I didn't end up getting out of the campground until about 11 am. It was already 31C (88F)! We planned to meet up in Sparta (The Biking Capital of America) at a Subway because they had air conditioning and their salads work for our diet. We spent quite a bit of time in that Subway avoiding going back out into the heat. I even used their ice machine to refill my water pack. It only dawned on me today that I can fill that pack full of ice! It was so nice having actual cold water to drink for a couple of hours after that. I think that we are going to be buying a lot more ice over the next week or so of this expected heat wave. I was really good today and drank at least 8 liters of water during my ride. I also carried 2 large water bottles just to dump over my head every 10 minutes or so. That really helped.
It sort of strange riding through Sparta, the self named biking capital of America, and not seeing another bicycle. I guess the heat was part of that. A guy on a motorcycle passed me and yelled "ITS TOO DAMMED HOT!" There were lots of motorcycles on the road today and yesterday. It was great weather for being on a motorcycle but I still can't get used to seeing people riding without helmets.
I finally made it to New Lisbon just before 6 pm and are staying in a very nice and inexpensive municipal campground. My sweetie surprised me with a present, my own "yellow jersey" from Sparta!
It turns out that New Lisbon is one of the few dead spots for our only good internet connection, a Verizon 4G MiFi. So we are left with my t-mobile phone and our iPad, both on very slow 2G Edge connections. So getting this blog post tonight has been a challenge and may end up arriving without images. Also, we are kind of getting distracted by mosquitoes!
Next stop Madison. We are still figure out the details of tomorrows ride. A bit hard with limited internet access.