Day 70
63 miles
New Jersey
Ken and Michelle
Sammy
Ray at Cycle Funattic Phillipsburg NJ
Disaster
Today belongs to one man Mr Ken Creasey.
We left Bethlehem this morning and rolled into Easton about 25 miles later. We were heading for the Pennsylvania- New Jersey state line. We had just come off a big hill and were on the flat when I noticed a rubbing sound from the back wheel. I pulled over and immediately found the cause – a broken spoke – no 3 of the trip. This was bad but on closer inspection it was clear the this spoke was the least of my concerns. Basically two more spokes were tearing out of the rim and the wheel was totally compromised . To have carried on would have been suicide.
I was in the process of calling bike shops when Ken and his fabulous little Yorkshire Terrier Sammy pulled up asking if we had a problem – not half mate!
Ken immediately parked his car joined us and began to help us resolve the issue. He took me to a nearby bike shop but the very helpful staff couldn’t resolve the problem as they didn’t have the right wheel. They did however call another place called Cycle Funattic in nearby Phillipsburg. Ken packed the bike and me into his car and took me to see Ron at Cycle Funattic who had a direct replacement. Ken also took care of Tracey, he called his lovely partner Michelle and asked her to stay with Tracey. This was great as it poured Cats and dogs.
After about 1.5 hours the wheel was swapped and we were back on the road. It may embarrass Ken but I need to make sure people know the magnitude of his assistance today. He paid for the wheel at Ron’s place while Ron didn’t charge for his time. They both wanted to help us succeed in our challenge.
Ken even took us to the Jersey state line and then to highway 57 via a nice safe route. We said goodbye once we were safely on the 57 but with a plan to meet in NYC for a drink at the weekend.
This wasn’t the last we saw of Ken however. He tracked us down on highway 46 later in the day. It was lovely to see him. This man has saved my vegan bacon. He is a truly remarkable individual and we are so lucky to have met him and Michelle.
So here we are camped on some waste land behind a business in Denville NJ. 29 miles from New York and ready for the last day of this immense challenge.
This has been an incredibly stressful day saved by Ken Creasey – Thank you sir.