rainy rest day, armies, collared peccary, sweat

October 5, 2008

Day Fourteen

"No one has ever drowned in sweat."
- Lou Holtz -

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I woke up after a restful night and looked outside to find the rain cascading down in windy waves. Shortly afterwards, I got back into bed and let sleep wash over me like the rain on the streets outside. We picked a good day for a rest day.

After the sky cleared a bit we went to the bike shop where I bought another jersey and some shoe covers for the rain and cold. The shoe covers are actually called "booties," but that doesn't sound manly enough so I'm sticking with "shoe covers." (Unless, of course, I can call the coverings for my arms “armies”)

The bike shop owner told us about an internet café, Javalina, a play on words between javelinas, the feral, wild boar-like animals who live in this area and java, one of the many nicknames for coffee.

A javelina is also known as a collared peccary but no one calls them that, I suspect because the word "peccary" is too close to "pessary." Confusing those two words could cause some raised eyebrows: "I saw at least 15 pessaries in our yard last night, and the teeth on those things look like they would really hurt!" OR "Yes, Dr. Hanes, I inserted the peccary as instructed but had to remove it because of the discomfort."

They're also called skunk pigs, and I can imagine the outrage arising from that conversational faux pas at a party:

"Oh, I see you brought your skunk pig. What's its name?"

"I'm a collared peccary, you idiot, and the guy who brought me is named Walter."

I spent the next three hours uploading pictures while Klaus replaced his smallest chainring, after which he met me at Javalina.

Klaus can disassemble his bicycle down to the smallest nut and bolt, then reassemble it. I, too, can disassemble my bicycle; however, upon reassembly I have been asked questions such as, "Why are you riding an avocado?" and "Fascinating! A typewriter with wheels!"

In keeping with Klaus' continuing culinary education we ate at another Temple of Grease for lunch, this time LotaBurger.

You can see the salt deposits on the straps. Cleaning them is one of the things I do on my rest days.

We did some laundry, ate pasta for dinner at Isaac's, then headed back to the hotel.

Lights off at 11:22.

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distance: 5 miles

Today's ride: 5 miles (8 km)
Total: 655 miles (1,054 km)

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