Akron, PA; Kalona, IA; and Souderton, PA

Well, I got out of Greenwood, DE, before sunrise on Monday the 5th. It was a nice ride away from Tom's house that morning. I got to see every bit of the sunrise as I rode, and as it came up, the whole area was blanketed by a light fog that was hovering about four or five feet off the ground in most places. There were almost no cars on the roads; I'm assuming most were still enjoying the holiday weekend. Given the beautiful sunrise through the light fog and the incredibly flat terrain of the Delmarva Peninsula, it was shaping up to be a great morning. Just as this thought passed through my head, I was quickly distracted by an awful noise from my rear wheel, accompanied by the introduction of a whole lot of drag that slowed me to a halt. I was really hoping that I had a broken spoke. Most cyclists won't make that statement most of the time, but that would have been the easiest fix at that point. I dismounted the bike and began to try to diagnose the problem. Unfortunately, the spokes were all fine and in tact. When I picked up the rear of the bicycle and tried to spin the wheel, it didn't really want to cooperate. I pulled the wheel off to have a look at the situation, and the axle wouldn't turn. I used a pliers to make it turn a few times, but I knew this was not something I was equipped to deal with on the side of the road. I called my friend Tom, who I had been staying with, and explained my dilemma. As I learned during my weekend with them, Tom and his family keep very busy, but his father TJ took the time to come get me and my bike and drive us to Newark, Delaware, where we found a bicycle repair shop. He dropped me off, wished me luck, and headed back to the hectic life of running his pallet business.

I had some time to kill before the bike shop opened, so I found the Sugar Rush Cafe just down the street and sat there for a while. I told the man working (I'm guessing he's the owner) about my bike ride and how my morning had gone thus far, and he told me that if I was still around for lunch, it was on him. I was genuinely hoping that I would be gone before lunch, as the bike shop opened at 10am, but it was a very nice offer.

When I got to the bike shop, I told the mechanic what had happened, and his first suggestion was that I may have a broken spoke. When all was said and done at the bike shop, they had pulled a wheel off of one of their bikes in the showroom and put it on my bike because the hub in my rear wheel was completely shelled out. Now, that's not a normal thing to happen to a bike. If you've been following my travels, you may remember when I had my wheel looked at when I was near Americus, Georgia, or when I brought it in to another shop in Blacksburg, Virginia. I knew something wasn't right, and both of these shops assured me that "that's normal". Well, now I'm out $150 and whatever I paid those other shops to misdiagnose the problem. Whatever.

I went back to the Sugar Rush Cafe and had a good lunch on the house and hit the road at about 1:00pm. It was hot. I kept hydrating myself, but my water was hot because it was out in the sun, too. A few times I had to pull over to sit in the shade, not because I was tired, but because I started to feel a bit queezy and I've been told that's a sign of heat stroke. After passing through the quirky and awkwardly named town of Intercourse, Pennsylvania, I arrived in Akron just after 6:00pm, 13 hours after I pulled out of Tom's driveway in Delaware.

While in Akron, my friend Tim made arrangements for me to sleep and also found a bike shop in the area that had time to give my bike a tune-up. I also found out that some of my friends were in town for training/orientation before they leave the country to serve with Mennonite Central Committee abroad. Andy and Emily were both students at Goshen with me, and Luke and Sarah attended New Creation Fellowship Church with me while I was living in Kansas. I'm very glad I got a chance to see all four of them before they left the country.

I got a ride to the airport in Harrisburg, PA, to fly to the funeral of my friend Jason Marner. I thought I would mention it in the blog, but I'm still thinking a lot about the last few days and I haven't really come up with what to say, except that I know his friends and family would appreciate your thoughts and prayers. As you drive, please keep an eye out for motorcycles (and bicycles).

I returned to Akron to find my bike all tuned and ready to ride, new brake pads and all. I got to bed at a decent hour and woke up a little later than usual, but I was still very drained from my two days in Iowa with so little sleep. It was hard to climb out of bed in the morning. It was a very easy 60 miles to get to my destination, passing through yet another awkwardly named Pennsylvania town: Blue Ball.

Along the way I stopped by a particularly hospitable bike shop in St Trappe, PA, called Bikesport where I caught the end of today's stage of the Tour de France and purchased a new cassette for my bike and sought out suggestions for where to grab lunch. As I cruised through the last few miles to my destination, I passed Franconia Mennonite Church and saw a produce stand on the side of the road. Generally that is not something of note, as they are everywhere around here, but at this particular stand, as I happened to pass by, I saw my friend Brooke drive up and get out of her car. We both just kind of laughed at each other for a minute before actually saying hello. From that very unexpected interaction I proceeded on to the house my friend Wendell grew up in. His parents graciously agreed to host me for a night.

Tomorrow I will be meeting up with the Atlantic Coast route from Adventure Cycling Association. Hopefully I will find a few bicycles going my way that I can ride with for at least a day.