Berkeley to Newfoundland 2013: Day 16---a short day from Riley to Burns

27 miles, 2 hours 43 minutes.

I discovered last night that I'd popped another rear spoke, and checked out the internet this morning to see if there was a bike shop in Burns. Turns out a local guy, who's just moved back from San Francisco, has opened a bike repair shop. I trued the wheel up this morning, and set off by 8 for Burns, which looked to be an easy 27 miles. Turns out I had a bit of a headwind this morning, and I was still pretty tired from yesterday, so it took longer than I'd hoped.

The bike shop was due to open at 11, and I arrived there around 11:15. Closed until July 5, if you need to pick up a bike call xxxxxxxxx. Oh no....since the broken spoke is again on the non-cassette side of the tire, it's a long process to put a new spoke on. After the 27 miles the tire hadn't gone any more out of true, so I figured I'll have to let it ride until I get to Ontario or Boise. Ontario is the next bike shop, in Boise I can get a new wheel, which I need to do at this point.

I went to the local Chamber to see if there were any other bike folks in Burns. Nope. So off to the Silver Spur motel, which has Burns highest rating on Trip Advisor. Nice period motel, recently redone by a family from Salem that decided to open a motel. They're very gracious, and even offer free popcorn to make in your microwave. They're also ok with me leaving here at 5 AM tomorrow, so I can beat the heat to Juntura.

I made arrangements to get a new wheel in Boise on either Sunday or Monday, depending on how the heat wave develops, and then wandered around town for lunch, and then a look at the local Harney County History Museum. The Museum had a great collection of stuff, and the volunteer there was quite eager to fill in a lot of local history.

Burns is quite a nice little town, with many restored and well maintained historic buildings, and a lot of little businesses and restaurants along the main street. Given how far it is from anywhere, and that the population here has been declining (more than 20% since 1980), it's a remarkable little place.