August 13, kicked out and cracked rim

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/99692857

While we were at the pizzaria/ice cream shop,  an older teen on a small bike wearing a small backpack showed up and asked if we knew of a trucking company in town. We said we weren't local, so had no idea. He also inquired at the pizza place and in talking with them and us, he said that he had been kicked out of his house and was heading to a place to stay in Michigan just over the Indiana border. He said  that he had ridden his bike from south of Kokomo--on a bmx small bike with a damaged seat. The pizzaria owner got him some food. He said his muscles were very, very sore and painful so we encouraged him to take in some electrolytes and the food but this was hard as he was also nauseated. He asked us where we were staying and we said in a tent behind the pizzaria.  He asked if he could sleep on the ground next to our tent and we said yes, and the pizzaria owner went home and got a sleeping bag for him. After the pizzaria closed, we slept under the roof for the picnic tables so everyone would stay dry. 

Our tent, with the sleeping bag peeking out just beyond it and the small bike next to it.

In the morning, he got up before us and then Jim checked over his bike. He found soft tires so inflated them as well as oiled the chain and raised the seat 2 inches as that was the maximum we could do. We wish we could have raised it about 12 to 16 inches for him. 

 We said a prayer with him and exchanged phone numbers, and away he went.  We've prayed that he makes it to Michigan safely and also that these friends he has do take him in.  The pizzaria owner came before we left as he had to get the dough out so it can warm up and for the surface to dry a little. He had a contact at the sheriff's department confirm that there wasn't some sort of foul play involved.

We continued down the Nickel Plate Trail which took us to Peru. Our route took us by a pancake restaurant so we had to stop. We tried their cinnamon roll pancakes which were impressive.  Even though we had a long distance to go today, we stopped at a nearby bike shop as we had noticed that Kay's back wheel was a bit out of true. We were grateful that he was able to work on it right away. He found no broken or loose spokes, but that the rim had cracked at one spoke hole. He said it might last for the rest of the trip but it was a weakness which could fail anytime. So we got the wheel replaced and also got a new tire since the other was getting old.  A bummer for the owner is that he likes to bike but is too busy working at the bike shop when it is a good time to ride bikes. The rest of the day was a combination of rail trails and roads.