August 17, 2022
Day 100 - Zanesville
We have rebounded from our delay and will start back on the tour tomorrow. Much has transpired since my last journal entry, most of it very good.
The crack in the fork made itself known during our ride to Souris, a very small town on the eastern side of Prince Edward Island. We were almost to our B&B when Kerry realized that something was seriously wrong.
Once we knew that the ride was over until the bike could be fixed, we had to figure out how to get home. Souris had no public transportation of any kind, no car/truck/U-Haul rentals, certainly no Ubers and that left us with very limited options. After an hour searching online, our only choice was to find a way to get to Charlottetown, 55 miles away, to pick up a U-Haul truck for the trip to Florida. The owner of the B&B volunteered to let us borrow his van to drive to Charlottetown. The old van he had was the dirtiest, junkiest, most beautiful vehicle we'd ever seen. We drove to Charlottetown, picked the U-Haul and drove back to Souris. The next morning, we loaded the truck and started the 2100-mile, 5-day drive home. The ride was long, but uneventful and we arrived home safely.
Kerry then had to decide what to do about the bike, so I'll let him tell that story.
Kerry here...
Before I get to tthe bike, a word about the drive home.
Next to the cost of the truck rental and the poor gas mileage it got, the worst part of the trip home was the truck's lack of a navigation system. It's been years since we have gone any place without first punching in our destination on our car's nav system. To compensate, I loaded our route on my Garmin, and let Jeanna watch it and call out the turns. How hopelessly addicted we become to technology!!
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Now, about that fork...
Just before we reached our destination in Souris, PE, we were bombing down a hill and I happened to notice the fork was vibrating more than usual, but I shrugged it off as a combination of high speed and rough pavement. A short while later, I noticed that the tire was rubbing the front fender, but again, I didn't think much of it (I tend to catch the fender with my heel now and then and knock it out of whack, so it's not unusual for me to have to adjust it). The first thing I did when we got to our lodging was to get my Allen wrench out to re-adjust the fender. That's when I saw the above and realized how lucky we had been. It the fork had separated while we were going 30MPH down that last hill, I don't know that either of us would be writing this journal today!!
A lot of people have asked why we just didn't have the fork welded and continue on the trip. There were several factors involved in our decision to pack it in. First, this happened on a Saturday night, and I knew that it would be Monday at the earliest before we find a weld shop. This led to the second factor, which was changing a whole string of reservations during peak season on PEI and beyond, not knowing exactly when we could get rolling again. The third factor was that, because of the crack on the left side, the right side of the fork had sprung, and I didn't know if it could be trued after the crack was welded. However, the most important factor was that I didn't trust that the fork would be safe to use, even if it was repaired.
Once we got home, I installed an old fork I had and got the Seavo ready to ride again. The old fork doesn't work as well as the one that broke, so this was done as a temporary fix until I could get a new fork. I called RANS (now Phoenix Bike Wrx) and asked Jerrell (the owner) if he had a heavier duty fork available. I also asked him if he could sell a Phoenix I had bought for Jeanna, but that she couldn't ride. One thing led to another, and we decided why drive straight to Ohio when we could take a detour thru Kansas to deliver a bike and see Jerrell and his family again? After-all, this journal is subtitled "The Long Way Around"!!
We arrived in Montezuma, KS on Sunday afternoon. Jerrell opened the shop so we could unload the bikes, and then we found a new fork that would fit the Seavo. On Monday morning, Jerrell modified the fork to accommodate the oversize rotor and his son Dylan powder-coated it. By Monday afternoon, I had the new fork installed and we were ready to roll.
To put a cherry on it all, Jerrell also machined a part to fix a problem we had with our bike rack. The service that Jerrell provides is second to none.
Oh, I should also mention that during this time Jerrell & I spec'd out a new recumbent tandem - I love buying new bikes!!
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Now back to Jeanna...
We are ready to finish Reunion Bound - now "Reunion Bound Rebound". We arrived in Zanesville today and will leave in the morning for 5 week loop, ending back in Zanesville to be here for the reunion in late September. Our new route is great because it takes us to the homes of two friends who are also tandem riders. One of the joys of touring is getting to see friends around the country.
The hotel is letting us leave the car and our non-cycling luggage here while we ride the Rebound, so all our ducks are in a row and we're more than ready to be on the road again!
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