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'We've stopped at a couple of bike shops along the way already and both of them told
us that it was completely broken and that there was no hope,' I said.
'That's not in the spirit of your adventure,' said John, the bearded man, who owned and
ran the shop with his wife Susan.
'So you've really come all this way without spending any money at all?' asked Susan.
'Yes.'
'And you've managed to get somewhere to sleep every night, and plenty of food?'
'We'vegonehungryafewtimesandwehavehadtosleptinafewoddplaces,butwe're
doing ok.'
'We get a lot of End to Enders calling in because Kilmaurs seems to be on many of the
popular routes,' said John. 'But I think in all the years I've been working here that you two
are the craziest.'
'Definitely,' laughed one of the guys, who was still seeing to The Falcon. 'These tyres
are pretty flat, too. You should probably put some more air in them if I were you.'
'We don't have a pump unfortunately,' I said.
'You're joking? You are cycling a thousand miles and you don't even have a pump.
What about a puncture repair kit?' asked John.
'No,' I said, feeling like I was being told off.
'What happens if you get a puncture in the middle of nowhere?'
'We did get one. In Wales. We had to walk to the nearest house.'
'You guys are absolutely bonkers. Susan, go and grab these boys a pump, puncture re-
pairkitandanythingelsethatyouthinktheymightneed.Andwhatthehellwereyoudoing
in Wales, anyway?'
'I don't really know,' I said.
Susanreturnedafewminuteslaterwithapump,puncturerepairkit,a'WalkersCycling'
drinking bottle and holder, and a handful of energy bars.
'There you go,' said the man who had been attending to The Falcon. 'You should be
able to get a few more miles out of it now.'
'You mean The Falcon isn't broken?' I asked excitedly.
'No, The Falcon is far from broken. It just needed a bit of love and affection.'
I wanted to hug him but I managed to contain myself.
'Doesn't your back hurt riding something so small?' asked John.
'Yes. Quite a lot,' I said.
'He LOVES pain,' said Ben.
'Thank you all so much for your generosity and enthusiasm,' I said as we climbed back
on our bikes.
'Not at all,' said John. 'We should be thanking you. You've made our day.'
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