Making Friends ,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Making Friends" by bike. It's easy, if you ever read any body's blog about a bike tour. They always talk about how people approach them constantly and ask questions about what they are doing. Friday I got a good dose of this. It seems to happen more often when you are in areas that don't see a lot of bike's.


Friday afternoon I was there and it turned out great! As I said in Thursday's post I got up and was on the road at 3:10am. I was in Blairsville at 10:30 and got to eat lunch with the kid. From there I went to the motel, checked in and took a nap. About 2 I got up and headed out the door. I had one ride in mind and it was the sole reason for taking my bike to PA.


From town it's about 4 miles to the base of the mountain. From Blairsville over to Bolivar is one big mountain. You go out the back side of town behind the golf course and as soon as you turn left the climb starts! 2 miles straight up! Some sections are close to 30 percent grade! I rode up and over and never stopped!


That was my goal! To see if I could do it without putting my foot down! I made it too!! I was proud and tired. I made it over the top and down the other side to Bolivar and was on my way back when the tire went soft! No big deal right. I had my spare tube and the C02 cartridge. I stopped in the shade in some ones front yard and went to change the tire. As I was doing this the owner come out.


I thought no one was home but it turns out he was retired and was there. He came out and brought me a drink and talked while I was changing the tire. real nice guy and it was fun to talk to him. I changed everything and hit the road. Went 10 yards and boom flat again! What the hell!


Turns out the tire it's self has developed a broken wire. I found that out after I used my one and only tube! Now I am standing in this guys yard about 5 miles from town and no tube. Even if I had a tube it wouldn't have helped. the tire was no good. My new friend didn't have a vehicle that would carry a bike and it was a beautiful day so I said my goodbye's and headed down the hill.


I figured maybe someone would come by with a pickup or if I wasn't back when Cody got out of school I could call him and he could come get me. Either way I didn't really care, I was on a remote mountain road, one that didn't even have lines painted on it and the weather was perfect. I was happy to be there flat or no flat!


My new friend was like really hating he couldn't help more but I didn't really care. We shook hands and I took off walking. About a half mile away I passed this one huge house on the mountain side with this really big stone gated entrance that was shut. It had the microphone on a pole beside the drive and I thought about just pushing the button and asking for a ride just to see what kind of reaction I would get. The thought made me laugh anyway!


So I am walking along and so far I have been moving maybe 20 minutes and not one car had come by. All of a sudden this big ass jacked up brand new Ford truck comes zooming around a corner. One of those 50g plus rides! He immediately slows down and stops before I even had a chance to wave him down! He jumps out and says Tom had called him and told him I was walking and needed a ride and wanted him to come get me, no shit I was kinda stunned!


Before I knew it he had put my bike in the back and had his hand out introducing himself! Turns out he owns a big construction paving company and he lived in the big ass house I had thought about stopping at! He said Tom was a good friend of his and he kinda tried to look out for him. Tom kept an eye on things up and down the road and when Tom calls people jump!


He was laughing of course, but he did make it clear he thought a lot of Tom. He must have because, he dropped everything he was doing at the office and drove out to pick me up with clear instructions to let Tom know I was taken care of! Made me laugh! Ten minutes later I was back at the motel!


Still smiling too! I had gotten in a good ride and made two new friends. All because I was on a bicycle, a bicycle with a flat but none the less, I was on a bike!!