Something must have happened when we rode into the desert, because over the past few weeks, our stuff has started falling apart!
Our most significant gear failure yet was Dave’s rim. About 30 km north of Jachal (read: in the middle of nowhere in the desert), his wheel started wobbling as we were descending from a substantial climb. We pulled off as soon as we could find shade (there’s not much of that out here) to see what was going on. Dave pulled out the spoke wrench, thinking he just needed to make some adjustments to realign his wheel. But once all the gear was pulled off and we took a closer look, we realized this was beyond the scope of what we would be able to repair!
“Ummm… we’ve got a real problem here,” Dave said as he discovered a bulging crack in the rim at the base of one of his spokes. Upon closer inspection, he found several other cracks, not quite as large.
Too much irony: the huge crack was right on the sticker with fine print that read, "Excessive use can damage the rim sidewall. This can result in accident, serious injury, or death." Wow!
What to do? Dave’s back wheel, which supports the biggest chunk of weight we carry, was in trouble. And we were in the middle of nowhere, with almost no traffic coming by. It was 70 km to the next town, which was small, with no guarantee of a bike shop. So we did the only thing we knew to do… we prayed over the rim and asked the Lord to sustain it until we could get somewhere to repair it. We then switched all our gear around to lighten the load on the back of Dave’s rig. Then we rode away into the desert.
Not much shade, but we were glad this little tree was there!
Rearranged gear! Bethany's back panniers on Dave's front rack, while Dave's heaviest back panniers went to Bethany's ride. Then the lightweight, smaller front panniers went to Dave's back rack. Looked a little funny, handled a little differently... but it worked!
That night, as we camped off the side of the road, we had our second major issue. As we were stuffing our sleeping bags into our dry sack (it was too hot to use them in the tent!), the dry sack ripped across the top! The rip is about as big as the opening at the top… definitely a problem. Fortunately we have an extra bag we’ve been carrying that we are using the stuff the dry sack into to carry the sleeping bags, so they’re still mostly protected from potential rain.
Yep... that's a big hole. Probably means this bag isn't waterproof anymore!
Also that same night, we had an issue with the zipper on the tent door separating out. For now, as long as we’re careful, it’s not a big problem. The last thing we want to have to replace is the tent… yikes!
Back to the rim… when we arrived in the small town the next day, we found that, unfortunately, they did not have a bike shop. So we decided to chance it and ride on another 40km to the next town, which was a little bigger. We struck out there as well. Now we were faced with another 115 km ahead of us, 30 of which would be on a dirt road. We knew the bumps would be tough on the rim. But we also knew the “Cuesta de Miranda,” or the dirt road part, was supposed to be beautiful… and we didn’t want to see it from the window of a bus. So we prayed over the rim once again and took off.
More than 200 km after the rim cracked, we arrived safely in Chilecito where the local bike shop had the new rim we needed. Praise the Lord! We know that yet again, He has been faithful to provide for us (just as He did miraculously for the Israelites in the desert!).
Overall, we’ve been pleased with the gear we selected and brought along for our journey. And these equipment decisions were a big deal before we left. I mean, this is no normal camping trip we’re on… we are putting an unusual level of wear and tear on our stuff! Most of our purchases were made at REI, one of our favorite stores. They have an excellent return policy, so any time we’ve worn things out or they have fallen apart, we’ve been able to return them for a replacement or a refund. When we were in the States over Christmas, we made a huge REI trip. But the reality is, on a trip like this, things are just going to wear out!
