Saturday – the big help

The stretch along the freeway is largely one big uphill from this direction, and there is one distinct steep climb. Having lost both my gumption AND my ability to shift into low gear, I ended up walking up that hill. I stopped to rest at the top, and looked over the freeway, where I saw a beautiful blonde woman! *perk!* And, another! *perk perk!* And, they appeared to be having car trouble. Now, I’m not one to automatically assume that a woman and car trouble are a bad mix, but these two were struggling to get the lug bolts loose on a flat tire, and they simply were not strong enough.

I waited til the older one looked up in despair, then motioned asking if she wanted help. When she said yes, I shedded my equipment, climbed the fence, and hopped down the slope. One woman was my age and quite attractive. The other was late teens/very early twenties. They had a young boy, and an infant in the car.

I helped get the bolts off, and mount the doughnut, which was flat. By this time, a local police officer pulled up. She helped the women try to find a tow truck, tried to get a Hiway Patrol Courtesy Vehicle, and even tried to get an air tank from the city motor pool, all to no avail. Meanwhile, I went and got my bike tire pump, and managed to get the rim off of running on the rubber.

The officer was going to follow them to WalMart. I was hoping to get a “how can we thank you” from the woman, whereupon which, seeing it was my birthday, and I had been SO helpful, I might get a phone number or even a firm dinner date! (not that thats why I helped!!! as you will see…) But, when it came time to leave, only the younger woman, who was driving, said thanks. The other woman was turned sideways in the car, fussing with the infant.

So I shrugged, and started bounding up the side of the right-of-way. About half-way up, the woman turned around in the car and yelled “Thanks!” I waved back in my best Lone Ranger style, hopped the fence and rode off into the sunset.

Well, okay, into the sun. It was now around 2:15. I had spent around 45 minutes sweating on the freeway, and still had no water, and the afternoon was now officially hot. Within the first half-mile, I felt my body going into heat stress. Dang… if I gave in, I’d have to rehydrate and really really rest! I refused. Instead, I focused on riding.

I started shortcutting on the street level through housing developments to reduce my time on trail, and to avoid the steep climbs from under some bridges. Unfortunately, there was one mammoth hill right before the end. I had been averaging 9 mph, lagging at 6, bursting to 12. Very bad. BUT, I managed to ride the entire distance up the mammoth hill! Yeah!!! It was very satisfying to coast the rest of the way into the park, and to my car.

Endgame: I drank a litre just standing there. I stretched, rested, put away my bike, rested. It was right around 3pm, and my trip had been right around 40 miles. Not bad, not bad at all. I left there, and drove to Shawnee to visit a friend who had moved there in the spring. She offered me a shower, and let me hose off my bike, AND pitch my tent so it could dry out. I stayed for spaghetti dinner with her family, then headed towards home. In College Town, I stopped and saw Rush Hour 2, and laughed my head off. I needed that! Then I moseyed on back home, and into bed.