2009-04-29 I am still in Hot Springs working. It has been raining all week, so it's just as well that I stopped. After work today I rode my bike to the top of a local "mountain" only to find that the observation tower was closed. More questions have come my way: Bicycle maintenance survival kit? So after at least twenty-five hundred miles of wear, I decided it was time to trade in my back tire. Actually, the lack of tread and near-constant flats decided it for me. I visited the local bike shop which obviously caters to tourists more than hard core. I purchased a tire from their limited selection, pumped it to its maximum recommended PSI, and it exploded. The manager exclaimed, "that shouldn't happen!" It is hard for me to fault his sentiment, because I say the same thing to customers every week. I do have a tool kit with me, but it's pretty standard and I'm too lazy to list everything out. Maybe at some point I will lay it out and snap a picture. what do you need most? Water bottles. And not yuppie cycle dweeb water bottles. One is a recycled container that still bears the logo "GLACEAU smartwater". The other is a 32 ounce Rubbermaid container from K-Mart. Both are better and cheaper than anything you'd ever pay for at a cycle shop, imho. Also, never underestimate the usefulness of baby wipes. I take them out of their original container and jam them into a small peanut butter jar. Actually, most everything I carry is jammed into some sort of plastic jar. Dead weight? I carry some nuts, bolts, etc, just in case. I've thrown everything else away. Even after two months of cycling I bet I'm still ten to twenty pounds overweight, though. Too many breakfast buffets I guess. Contraptions? I built a palm-grip for my BlackBerry. There's a picture on the site someplace. I use a narrow pill bottle to hold change; it's hard to describe how useful this is. I use my own easy knot for tying my hammock to trees, and bungie cords are used to hold the rain fly tight instead of just tying it down. I have a mirror that I use to check my face for bugs that is just a piece of automotive mirror-repair kit with tape around the edges--flexible, but light. Nothing impressive, really.

observation tower is closed decent view