Joel then said, “You know, these Mormons have an entire bike shop in the back. They have a bunch of mountain bikes the missionaries have used over the years. Let’s ask if they have any racks or baskets.”
Joel turned and looked around, obviously trying to spot someone in the group of people milling around. He spotted the person he was looking for and started that way. “Let me see what I can do.”
Joel came back in a couple of minutes with a tall skinny guy about forty years old, who was wearing a white shirt and one of those Mormon name badges. Joel introduced him to Lee and Jake as “Brother Walker.”
“You gents can call me Johnnie,” said Brother Walker.
Jake and I looked at each other, trying not to look amused.
Obviously use to this response about his name, Johnnie said, “I know, I know, a Mormon named Johnnie Walker is an oxymoron name, but it might be what keeps me a good tea drinker.”
Everyone laughed.
The men shook hands, and after a minute or two of discussion about Lee and Jake’s ride from Vegas and their plan to head to Irwin, Brother Walker addressed the two new friends’ concern. “Let’s go see what we can find in the back. I think we might have something that will make your travels a little easier, but let’s see what your tire sizes are first.”
Brother Walker knelt down and read off the sizes of the tires to us. “Well, thankfully, they are both the same size. That makes it easier to have spare tubes.”
Johnnie led Lee and Jake around the church to a rear storage shed and opened it. It was full of bikes of all conditions plus various parts and pieces. Johnnie walked inside, pulled a two-wheel cart from behind bikes in the corner, and manhandled it to the door. He also handed Jake two new tubes in boxes and two bottles of green slime tire sealant. He looked around for a moment, and he found a little tool kit and air pump, which he brought out with him.
Lee and Jake looked at the cart design and determined it should attach to the rear axle bolts of a bike. With the cart, tools, and parts, the three men returned to their bikes in front of the church. Johnnie explained how to attach the trailer to Lee and Jake, and the two took to installing it, which took no time at all. The parts and hardware needed to attach the cart was in a ziplocked bag taped to the cart. Both bikes were similar, so it made no difference on which bike they installed the cart. They discussed putting the heavy stuff in the cart to lighten up their backpacks and the strain on their shoulders.
While Lee and Jake fixed up the bike and stowed their gear, Johnnie came back and suggested then men “chow down” before leaving. Some of the Mormon volunteers were cooking chicken plus various side dishes. He explained that with the power out, they were going to use up their frozen stuff first as they did not want to rely on the single small gasoline generator that was running. Johnny explained to Lee and Jake the church had recently installed a large diesel generator, but it would not run since the EMP.
Lee asked, “Can I take a look at it?”
Johnny said, “Sure, that would be great. Follow me.”
The generator was a new diesel generator. Johnnie opened the access panels, and Lee started to look it over. They could all smell a burned odor coming from the control panel compartment.
“It smells just like the inside of my car in Vegas,” Lee said.
“The panel is dead, and it does nothing,” said Johnnie.
Lee finished looking over the generator, and he turned to the men. “Lucky it is an older type Kubota diesel with a mechanical injector pump, unlike some newer technology with electronic fuel injection. Mechanical injection does not need much to run. All you need to do is get it turning over and give it fuel.”
“Why do you think it is dead then?” Johnnie asked.
“Well, they probably added this electronic panel to control the fuel solenoid and even the starter motor. It probably controls the glow plugs, and likely it’s tied into the oil pressure and temperature. If it is cold outside, the electronics activate glow plugs before cranking over the engine. If the engine overheats, the electronics shut down the motor to prevent destruction. My guess is the electronic board was fried from the EMP, but I doubt the engine or the starter motor is bad,” Lee said.
“It is well beyond me,” answered Johnnie.
“Me too,” said Jake.
Lee then asked, “Do you have any small jumper wires? You know, the ones with alligator clips on them?”
“I don’t think so,” said Johnnie.
“Okay, no problem. I have a couple of them in my bug-out bag.”
“Why do you have jumper wires in your bag, Lee?” Jake asked.
“Well, like I said, one of my choices for wheels was construction equipment or older tractors and stuff. Jumper wires make it easy to borrow them,” Lee said back to Jake with a wink. Lee then headed back around the front to his bag and returned shortly with four jumper wires.
“Okay, first, let’s see if the starter motor will go,” Lee said. He hooked a wire from the small terminal on the starter solenoid mounted on the side of the engine compartment. Then he touched the other end to the positive battery terminal. The starter motor instantly turned over the engine, but it failed to start.
“That is a start in the right direction. No pun intended,” Johnnie said, excited the motor turned over.
“Yes, that is good. Now let’s see if we can get fuel going to it,” Lee said.
Lee then looked over the motor and found the wiring going to the fuel shut off solenoid. He unclipped the plastic connector. Taking another jumper, he attached one clip onto one prong in the solenoid end of the connector and the other to a metal bracket on the motor. He attached another jumper to the second prong being careful not to short the two clips together. If this worked, Lee figured they could make a more permanent attachment. Lee took the end of the second wire and attached that to the battery terminal, creating a small spark. A clicking sound emanated from the solenoid.
Lee said to the two men, “The small spark means the solenoid still has continuity. A large spark might indicate a short circuit.”
Now with the fuel solenoid hot-wired, Lee again touched the starter solenoid jumper to the same terminal on the battery. The starter motor started turning over the engine again. This time, after a few seconds, the diesel motor sprang to life, producing a roar and a cloud of black exhaust.
The men shouted out hoorahs over the noise of the diesel motor. They exchanged high-fives all around.
“This is fantastic, Lee,” said Johnnie.
“Nice job, man,” said Jake.
Lee showed Johnnie how to shut off and restart the motor. He suggested they get some wire and connectors and, if possible, a toggle switch that they could wire to the fuel solenoid and maybe a push button for the starter motor. Johnnie said he would see what they could scrounge. Lee reminded him to keep an eye on temperature and make sure to keep it full of oil. There would not be any safeguards now.
The men left the generator running for now. Johnnie went into the church and came back to tell Lee and Jake the multiple refrigerators and freezers were all working.
“Now we don’t have to use all the fresh meat right away, which is good. But I guess some people will not like that. Let’s go get you two heroes some of the barbecue chicken before it is gone,” Johnnie said.
Jake replied, “Lee is the hero. I would not have figured that out.”
The three men walked back around to the front of the church.
Although Lee and Jake had eaten only a few hours earlier at the Pioneer Saloon,