I met up with four friends early this morning to go for a 30 mile bike ride. The weather was wonderful (with just a little wind) and the five of us took turns in front of the "Estrogen" train, as I fondly dubbed our group. We rode well and made good time, averaging 18-22 mph. As we headed into the final stretch, I felt my wheel hit something and the tire immediately deflated. The rest of the group was far enough ahead that they didn't see what had happened, so I told Cathy to ride up ahead and tell my Am (my ride home) to meet me at the nearby park and I would walk/run my bike the last mile. As Cathy rode away, I took off my bike shoes and began running back towards the park. Unfortunately, I thought we had already passed the park so I was running in the wrong direction. I had just turned around and began to retrace my steps when a kind women stopped on her bike and asked if I needed help. After telling her my plan to meet up with my friend at the park, she asked again if I would like help fixing my flat since the park was still about a mile away. Yikes, was it that far? I told her that I didn't have a patch kit, and had no idea how to even get my wheel off. She calmly took my bike in hand, removed the wheel, grabbed her patch kit from the back of her bike and went to work, explaining as she went how to fix a flat. She told me that her husband had taught her how right before he unexpectedly passed away. As we worked together on patching up my tire, I asked her about her husband and she began to share her story with me. He was the love of her life. Now she has remarried--to a man who also lost the love of his life. I asked her how things were going and she started to tell me about how emotional it can be when two people remarry after having a previous wonderful marriage. I was so intrigued and wanted to talk with her more about her new circumstances. Alas, just then a group of riders stopped to lend a helping hand and to let me know that my friend was at the park looking for me. Unfortunately, Eve's valiant efforts to fix my flat didn't work (the tire still would not hold air), so I asked if she would mind riding up ahead to let my friend know I was coming, and I once again began running with my bike down the path. I made it to the park, and to my friend, and as we loaded up the bikes we were already making plans for a 50 miler on Saturday. All's well that ends well, but I've been thinking about Eve all day: her kindness to stop and spend the time to help me and to share some very personal things about her life. I really wish I could have heard the rest of her story. I felt that what she had to say was very important for me to hear. No, Eve wasn't able to fix my flat tire, but she did much more for me: she taught me that I can easily learn how to do things for myself (such as fix my own flat tire) and that I should not be afraid of big life changes. Life is good, go out and enjoy it!
Post It Note: Steve coached me through a tire change tonight, and I felt very empowered. He set me up with a great little kit, which contains two tubes, two CO2 cartidges and two tire levers. I'm good to go!
