Day 1,378

…48 hours later

We left Jonas (aka the bike detective) with heavy hearts, pushing our bikes and walking dejectedly. What did we do now? We are being super careful with money, our daily budget of £50 a day had been going well until Mainz. We had planned several strict months to get our overspending recouped. A new frame or possibly a new bike was definitely not in the budget. We were also staying with a lovely couple of Warmshowers hosts, Sigi and Nina, for one night, sorting this was going to take time, would they mind us staying a bit longer? First though we headed to another shop, recommended by Jonas, Velo Momber. Run and staffed by keen cyclists, Jonas felt they were the best guys in the city to help us. I went in to see if they stocked frames, but no. They could order me one, but it wouldn't arrive until August! I glanced around and there was a bike... Tom's size? Check. Rohloff gears? Check. 700c wheels? Check. Disc brakes? Check. Mmm, interesting. Cost? Nearly 80 days’ budget. Well ‘Around the world in 80 days’ as they say! Apart from the price, our only concern was the max weight allowance, but as long as Tom shifts those few extra pounds he gained back in England he would just about not go over. As we know cycle touring is a sure fire way to lose weight. It was all looking good. We chatted it over with the sales guy, Zoltan, he could swap over Tom's bars and pannier frames no problem, fit a high rise stem and off we could go, well just 80 days of living costs to pay!

We headed back to Sigi and Nina's. No issues with staying. We were to sit down, have a beer, eat some delicious home cooked food and chat it over with them. We went through our options, maybe a replacement frame from Oxford Bike works? No, out of stock. Another bike or frame from somewhere else in Germany? Only one could be found, an 11 hour train journey away, and with different size wheels to Debs. After a sleepless night we headed back to see Zoltan. He could sort it that day, so after a very big gulp, we said yes! Just one more problem caused another delay. We needed a different stem, despite Zoltan popping into a dozen or more local shops, we had to wait for one to arrive by courier. At 5.30pm, around 50 hours after Jonas discovered the cracked frame, we returned to Velo Momber, just as the guys wheeled out the finished bike! Money paid, Tom's old Brooks seat hanging on the wall of dead seats, his beloved frame in the scrap pile, we headed back to our ever patient hosts for a celebratory meal. Tomorrow we ride!

…48 hours later

Day 1,380

Day 1,376