Broke down in Huntingdon

Well we were making good time and hoping to be in Ohio by tomorrow, but bike touring has a way of changing the most well layed plans.  We came into Huntingdon, PA from a cute little campground in McVeytown to get a cup of coffee and wound up doing some laundry.  After our americanos  and lunch break we headed to a bike shop picked up some chain lube and white gas, hit a grocery store and we thought we were on our way out of town ready to do another 40 miles to where we would camp.  As we pulled out of the parking lot the bike would not pedal like the chain had fallen off.  Turns out our 18 year old edco freehub had decieded to give out.  We walked the bike the couple of blocks back to the bike shop and asked what they could do.  As it turns out edco hubs don't really exist anymore so finding parts is not just hard its pretty much impossible.  To make matters worse we are running a drum brake which is now antiquated technology and a 160mm rear hub spacing which is specific to Santana tandems.  Evan, the shop mechanic, feverishly looked for parts for a freehub for our bike, but alas after making a call to Santana it turns out the parts have been gobbled up long long ago.  So our only option is a new Shimano hub lace up.  Then we were stuck in Huntingdon with no bike for a few days.  We asked around the shop where we could camp for free and a few people threw out ideas and then one of the guys at the shop, Jake, offered us his futon in his apartment upstairs.  This was amazing.  We are staying in town, above the bike shop.  We went upstairs to the apartment and changed our clothes, Apt #6, Rae's favorite number.  After changing, we met Jake's girlfriend, Erica, who has a cat blog.  She was just popping in to the apartment between one of her three jobs.  We went downstairs and then met Quinn, Jake and Erica's good friend who was in town for a little while.  They offered us a dinner of scallion pancakes and told us they could meet them at the restaurant/bar a few doors down from the shop, where they would be hanging out for a little while.  In the mean time we got Rae a T-shirt, she lost hers, and explored the town a little bit.  After that we went to Boxer's and got some beer and french fries.  Then we went up to the apartment to get some scallion pancakes, Delicious! Especially the dipping sauce.  When the food was ready some more friends arrived.  We met James, a friend who did wood work and Brook who were both locals to the area. After dinner the apartment was hot and stuffy, so we went swimming out in a branch of the local river, the Juniata. The name of the college in town where Erica, Jake and Quinn went to school.  It was a walk to get our there.  We walked across Huntingdon and then followed the railroad tracks out into the night.  There was a large cable swing that put you high above the water.  We hung out in the moon lite, swam and enjoyed a small fire.  We made it back home around 2 AM and got onto the futon for bed. 
Now we are in town waiting for our part and drinking coffee.  We should be on the road again tomorrow afternoon.  Our hub is being overnighted from Santana and Evan will build it up tomorrow.  For now we are just enjoying our forced break.

-Casey

Rae's comment on Caseys blog:

What LUCK! ...to get stuck in this town. It really was lucky, Rothrock is probably the best bike shop in the area and Huntingdon is a very cute and quaint little town. The people are a plus as well. The folks at the bike have been more than wonderful and accomodating. Erica and Jake graciously put us up for the few days and have been fantastic hosts on a whim despite their busy schedules. After talking to the two we have much in common: they will be in the San Francisco area at the same time as us later this summer seeing some of Jake's family, and also will be moving to New York afterwards, albeit they will be headed to Brooklyn for Erica to go to grad school in photography. Also we get to use nice computers free in a lovely atmosphere.... the coffee shop! What a pleasant stay it has been! The bike couldn't have broken at a better time. Also couldn't have broken closer to a bike shop!