1 Day - 3 Breaks 17/5

Proceeding happily on smooth tarmac the back of my bike started swinging about alarmingly. I assumed it was my second puncture in 4500 km but the tyre was fine and the wheel was not buckled. Eventually discovered the frame had snapped where the chain stay meets the rear drop-out. Although we are in sight of shops it was Saturday morning and everything closes at midday until Monday.

The first break occurred during breakfast. Wendy crunched into her muesli and discovered what she at first thought was a stone but was half of one of her front teeth. Soon after I break the plastic pump on the petrol stove. Its not critical as it will still work but makes life a little tedious.

Later, after buying superglue I carry out emergency roadside dental repairs. With Wendy lying flat on her back I am kneeling over her superglue in one hand, tooth in the other when a van pulls up to ask if everything is ok!

We wheeled the bike to 4 auto repair shops before we found a willing mechanic who spent the best part of an hour with his assistant filing, welding and grinding to fix the frame. Initially I thought it would be a time consuming problem but we were away again in less than 2 hours. And Wendy's tooth is still in place...