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ideas of how I could use my limited resources to fix the problem. The rain started and it
lulled me to sleep as I began to form some ideas.
My Third MacGyver
After attending mass the next morning, I returned to my room and noticed that the
air had escaped from the front tire. I pumped it up, said a quick farewell to the community
and left. I completed about 6 kilometres when I had the sinking feeling that the air was
escaping from my front tire. I hopped off the bike, rested it against a tree and pumped up
the tire. Within 500 metres, that sinking feeling returned. I stopped at a roadside stand and
this time I removed the front wheel to check the tube. My fear was realised: the valve was
almostcompletelytornoffandthetubehadtobethrownout.EventhoughIhadanewtube
in my panniers, I hesitated to put it on the worn-out tire. I was worried that if I hit a sharp
rock, the tube would easily puncture.
As I paused to think of a solution, one of my ideas from the night before came to
mind. I was about to pull my third 'MacGyver'.
I first trimmed the outer treads of my 26 x 2 inch tire with a knife and placed it into
the slightly larger 26 x 2¼ inch tire. Then I placed my new tire tube inside the double tire.
To my utter joy, everything sat on the rim nicely and when I pumped up the tire, it held!
Fromstarttofinish,thisprocesstookme20minutes.Igavethedamagedtubetothevendor
at the roadside stall who was ecstatic (I guess the rubber had a lot of value) and resumed
my cycling.
The road was absolutely great and my pace was rather quick. The cold wind took
its toll on me for my joints were all sore. I arrived at a mission run by sisters and they wel-
comed me to stay. I was given a nice room and lunch. After a short nap, I woke up gazing
out my window at the blue sky as a strong breeze made the trees almost seem like they
were dancing. I could hear the birds not far away busy catching up on the jungle's gossip.
The sisters told me that I had another 80 kilometres of good road and then it would
be difficult. They also mentioned that the road from Ilebo to Kananga was next to the rail-
waytrackwhich,inmymind,meantthattheareamustsurelybeflat.Onlytimewouldtell.
After visiting the main church, I was called for dinner. I ate alone in my room and
noticed they locked the door behind them as soon as they entered their place. I guess my
scraggly look scared them or more likely it was a daily safety issue. After I finished, I re-
turned my plates to say thank-you and they gave me a strong hint to immediately return to
my room. So I did and bid them all a good night. I again perspired the whole night and had
uncontrollable shivers (another malaria episode). I finally managed to doze off.
I woke up the next morning in a drenched bed and was ready to go by 6:10 a.m.
Since the sisters were not awake yet, I waited until 6:45. Then they opened the door and
gave me coffee and two buns with marmalade. On leaving it was very awkward for I felt
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