Jeffrey here. Joey yields the floor.
Joey and I now are on Manhattan Island.
But the Ride isn’t over.
Here’s the scoop.
Yesterday morning, a problem with our trike’s drive train forced me to pedal harder for equivalent range. A replacement part isn’t available in small-town Indiana. It’s hard to find altogether.
Joey would have kept going, but I sit in the pilot’s seat.
What the pilot says, goes.
I am not willing to wait days or weeks for parts.
Nor am I willing to brave biking through the Appalachians again unless our machine is working perfectly.
I lost 5 lb (over 2 kg) in just 9 days on the road. Should I work even harder and lose weight even faster?
The way forward is clear.
Yesterday afternoon I phoned around and found in South Bend, Indiana, a car available for 1-way rental to New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
After the day’s 65 mile ride from Valparaiso to Plymouth to South Bend, I carefully drove 200 miles from South Bend to Milan, Ohio.
Today I drove another 500 miles, across Ohio and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to Manhattan Island, and thence to Queens and LGA.
Darius, a car rental agent at LGA, supports universal human rights. He gave us happy news that our rental price was halved because we made the drive from South Bend in less than 24 hours.
Darius and his colleague helped unload our gear.
What next?
There’s more pedaling to do. We are 385 miles short of 16,000 miles on the Rides for Human Rights.
Our machine’s flaw isn’t dangerous if we keep things local. Meanwhile, this being NYC, we’ll eventually find the needed part or arrange a repair.
During the pandemic, we showed you significant immigration and cultural sights around NYC. We need some new angles to keep things interesting.
Let Joey pine for the hinterlands. I will be grateful for your suggestions. Post them in comments, or send them to me.
Maybe this glitch is for the best.
In our mostly empty country, we’ve spent thousands of hours not being seen up close and personal.
During our 2020-2021 pandemic trips through our normally teeming city, people were masked and/or kept to themselves.
In contrast, on today’s 1-hour trip home from LGA, we were seen by hundreds of pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists driving slowly or waiting in traffic. In just one hour we had a heartland week’s worth of waves, cheers, “nice ride!” shout-outs, happy thumbs-ups, et cetera.
Maybe the best end to the Capstone Ride is among this city’s millions, a rich lode of potential support for Human Rights First.
Stay tuned!
Ride for Human Rights 