We’ve been biking for 135 days, roughly 7,500 miles, with our biggest issues until now being flat tires. Yesterday afternoon at 12:34 p.m., we were hit by a car.

Let me start by saying that all of us are still alive and in biking condition. It was Mike and I on the bike, while Brett was in Baltimore organizing places for us to speak at.

I was captaining and Mike was the stoker. 23.5 miles into the day and we felt pretty comfortable, the entire shoulder of the road is a designated bike lane, and the weather was great. We rode right down the middle of our lane to ensure that drivers would be able to see us. Sadly, that didn’t work. We looked to the right and saw a car turning into the highway. Mike and I were both shouting at this guy to stop hands waving hoping that he would see us. The black Chevy Camaro was exiting out of a sporting complex and didn’t see us. Before I knew it, we were in the middle of the lane of traffic on the pavement.

The road we were on. You can see the very wide, designated bike lane.

Tandem vs. Camaro

Thankfully, the driver stopped and made sure that we were okay. We feel very blessed to still be around because the car threw us off of the bike and into the lane of traffic. The road that was clogged with traffic only a minute before wasn’t there. If it had, Mike and I would have probably been run over. We called the police to protect our biker butts. The second call I made was to Brett, who was back in one of Baltimore’s coffee shops. About 3 minutes later, Brett called me back with some news to add salt to our wounds.

The rear wheel after removal.

Goodnight sweet prince.

.

Our single bike had been stolen…

So that’s where we’re at right now. Currently bikeless and now we have to drive to Philadelphia to solve our bike problem. Unfortunately, our tandem’s rear wheel is completely destroyed. We’re currently searching for a wheel that meets the specification of our bike and it’s a bit tricky. But we plan to be back on the road tomorrow!

I’d like to mention at this time that we are selling our other tandem bike, we paid $2,000 and the bike is currently in Brookings, South Dakota. If you would like more information on the technical specifications or would like to make an offer, please email us at great48.us@gmail.com