Good Salemaritan

 My good friend Mary Lynn has been dabbling with running, because that's apparently what old mountain bike racers do, so she's been attending the midweek evening races at Ashley Reservoir in Holyoke.  After her multiple mentions of this, yesterday I finally rode down that way to almost cheer her on at the start, instead settling for gently pedaling alongside her warm up for a friendly catching-up before bidding her farewell early to ensure I had a well lit ride home and allowing her to make her own way, only a little late, to the start.  Apparently the five mile run starts earlier than her usual 5k.  Oops.  If we execute this better another time, I'll get to watch her start with the rest of the group and still depart for home with good margin.

But my timing for the ride home was still quite good in another way.  Part way back to downtown, I rolled past a woman walking her bike down the hill, and as has become my practice, I pulled over to check if she could use any help.  Often, my offer is met with thanks, but no, the person has already called for a car ride to come pick up, but much, much credit to the woman I met yesterday, her first reply was to ask if I had any water.  "Sure, if you don't mind the bottle I've been driving out of," which was happily full after partaking of the supply for the runners.  Credit because anyone who will drink from something that's touched my lips has a strong faith in their immune system, and I respect!

Her parched throat more happy, she then explained she was walking because her brake stopped working, and a quick glance showed me the noodle of her front brake was disconnected, but no, "Oh that brake's been messed up a long time."  It was the rear backup that was now completing the issue, and happily she'd refrained from resorting to sneaks on pavement as a final failsafe that could have been a pretty unsafe failure.  I carry a multitool, and I even have some knowledge off how to use it, so less than two minutes later, the slack was out of her brake cable and her pads were even a little less poorly adjust, traded for a warning that it wasn't a perfect fix, but it was get her home on two wheels!

Again, about two minutes total of my time to quench her thirst and get her rolling, and stopping, again.  I'm guessing that saved her about ten minutes on her, now riding, trip home with the bike, so I'll count that as a net time savings for humanity on the whole!  And importantly, I didn't lose those two minutes, I traded than for an interaction with a fellow human being, so maybe another win for humanity on whole more valuable level.  I ride bikes, and I like seeing other people with bikes, but I most prefer seeing them ON bikes, so I have real value for helping make that true for another gal on the bike, and that's worth a lot more than two minutes to me.