JUNE 28: La Plata, Mo. To Kirksville, Mo. 17 miles via U.S. Route 63. Average speed for today, 13.7 mph. Total trip mileage to date, 1,458.

I awoke early, jumped on our only functioning bike – mine – and headed north on U.S.Route 63 to the uncertainty of Kirksville. The town’s only rental car agency, Enterprise, was closed Saturdays and Sundays. So I zeroed in on the local U-Haul business, hoping it would have something reasonably small to rent.

No such luck: I pulled into the Highway 63 U-Haul, which was also an “antique mall.”  “That’s the only truck available,” said the female proprietor, pointing at a huge rig suitable for moving a family of five from one place to another.

I wasn’t about to drive a huge truck with a lightweight bike rattling around the back and asked to use her phone book. Turned out Jim Robertson Chevrolet-Toyota, on the far side of town, had a small rental business. After four more miles of riding, I was in Jim Robertson’s office.

“I think I have a van that will do the trick,” he said. “We’ll yank out the last row of seats, and your bikes will fit.”

Plus, he gave me a flat rate and said I could keep the van all weekend. Deal: I loaded the bike in back and headed back to La Plata. There, Ben was zeroing in on a new bike.

Yeah, the next repair might fix his Giant for good. Or maybe we should give his wheels one more chance. But psychologically it was not a good option: The bike had assumed a damaging personality , becoming something out of a Stephen King novel. A new leaf, we agreed, needed turning.

Ben had by phone been looking for a Trek 520, built by the makers of Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France bike solely for touring. But none of the dealers he had talked to had the extra-large frame Ben needed, and his calls were to increasingly far-flung bike shops.

He hit pay dirt in Pella, Iowa. Marty Doane, owner and chief mechanic at Iowa Cycling and Fitness, said the only 520 he had in stock was also too small.

“But I have something better,” he added. “A Long Haul Trucker.”

The steel-framed bike was built by Surly, a Minnesota outfit. Everything on it was heavier and stronger. No exotic alloys and state-of-the-art stuff here.

“It’s not going to win any races, but it could pull a car out of a ditch,” Marty said. “It’s the three-quarter ton pickup truck of bicycles. And the one I have is going to fit you.”

We didn’t delay. We piled the bikes and gear into Jim Robertson’s rental van and headed for the Iowa bike shop, two hours from La Plata. When we got to Pella, settled by the Dutch in the 1800s and now headquarters for the Pella door and window company, Marty was building the new bike.

While he added Ben’s pedals, rack, light and GPS computer, we savored this delightfully cosmopolitan oasis in Iowa. Had great sandwiches at the Smoky Row Cafe, enjoyed delicious cookies at a 150-year-old Dutch bakery, poked around in a used bookstore and returned to the bike shop at 5.

 “It’s ready,” said Marty, inviting Ben to take a ride. He did, and loved it.

We hefted the Long Haul Trucker into the van, had Marty send the Giant – which Ben still treasures as a recreational and training bike – back to Sonora and headed back to Kirksville. In the space of 24 hours, things were looking far better.

On Sunday, tomorrow, the new leaf will turn.