Red Rider

We've had 2 opportunities in the last week to be stand-up people.

Last week at Costco I found someone's smartphone in a basket in the parking lot. I figured out how to work the phone but couldn't find the emergency #. So I called the entry called "Mom," and Mom called the daughter who came to the store and picked it up. She had no idea where she'd left it and was pretty upset about it. She was very relieved and thankful that we "did the right thing." Like we'd do the wrong thing...former Scouts that we are.

That felt great. We were happy to help and more so for the satisfactory ending.

Today a couple miles into our easy tandem toot we were passed by an older, classic motorcycle. A mile further down the country road we see a dead buck in the middle of it, the motorcycle in the grass on the side, and the rider limping up a nearby driveway. No one answered at the house so I called 911 & his wife. He was skinned up bad, lots of blood but nothing apparently broken, and he was alert. His helmet did its job. Chris and a neighbor moved the carcass off the road, and pushed the cycle one house over. (It's probably toast.) We stayed around until the paramedics came, then went back to the road to find the wife. As she parked a fire truck and 2 CHPs arrived. We gave our report to the officers, got on our bike, and rode about 30 more miles.

So that felt great, too, being first responders and helping this poor guy. Although I feel bad that his bike was broken, and that fat young 2-point buck (still in velvet) died, too. At least the rider will live to ride another day.

I wonder what's next?

cyclinfool

Yes - good job.
I too found a smart phone last week, figured out how to turn it on and find the owners name, looked up his work phone number and let him know where to pick it up. I try to always do the right thing, even when it's little stuff like taking the Grocery carts back to the store (rather than the coral in the parking lot) when I am done with them and walking one in from the parking lot when I go into the store. If we all did little things to help out society would be a little better.

doctor j

Good on ya, Red Rider. Would that more folks in our society would do the right thing. Hopefully, the owner of the phone and the "biker" took your good example to heart and will follow suit when the opportunity presents itself.

Rick@OCRR

Good job Red,

The Smart Phone was good, but taking care of the motorcyclist was better in my opinion. Good thing there is the 9-1-1 capability these days (didn't have that when I was a kid).

And I agree with cyclinfool; the world would be so much better if everyone did the "right" thing. Okay, sometimes it might not be obvious, but I think most of the time it is.

I have a camera a rider gave me while I was working the Mulholland Double ("Somebody left this at the last checkpoint."), and I contacted the organizers (Planet Ultra) but so far no one has said they lost it. I looked at the photos on it, but don't recognized anyone. Wish it was a Smart Phone, so I could at least call someone about it!

Rick / OCRR

Red Rider

You are thinking as we thought: If we lost a phone or crashed, we'd want others to step up and return the phone/help us out.

In previous crashes people have stopped and offered help. And we feel compelled to do likewise (cgallagh is trained as a first responder to refinery emergencies, and I have ACLS training), so stopping and helping is a no-brainer for us.

I'm thankful that so far we haven't encountered really ugly stuff. Even so, if we're first on scene, we'll do what we can.

The Weak Link

Excellent

For a moment I was afraid this was going to be another average speed thread.

Dan Burkhart 

I found a cell phone in the middle of the road a couple of weeks ago, but no heroic ending this time. The phone was completely non functional and the screen was shattered.
Wouldn't have done the owner much good to get it back even if I could have found a way to track them down.

DnvrFox

Found a cell phone on a mountain ride along a wide trail/water dept mountain road a couple of years ago. Pressed the speed dial and got the guys wife in another state, who was extremely worried as the guy had recently had an operation and should not be hiking. We got the Sheriff involved, and they were just beginning to launch a search and rescue, when the guy turned up in the parking lot. I had passed him (one of many I passed) on my bike, but he made no overture about a lost phone. He had gotten a ride down with a Water Department truck.

Neil_B

I did good this weekend. I led a Bike Forums ride from Pottstown to Reading and back on Saturday. On Sunday I was a volunteer at the Stonewall Links rest stop on the French Creek Iron Tour. As we broke down the rest stop at noon we had one straggler come in and ask for a SAG wagon. I think I was the only volunteer who knew what that was. We called someone with a truck to get him, and I volunteered to stay with him until help arrived. Once he was in an air conditioned cab and out of the 90 degree heat, he felt better.

rnorris

Found a cellphone while riding my bike near a bus stop, dialed a "Mom" number on it and got a thankful reply- and found out the owner, a young woman, is a student on the college campus where I work and I offered to deliver it to her at a public place on campus for her convenience. Well, that made me a suspicious character and I was asked to deliver the phone to the front desk of a local coffee shop- none too kindly. OK, I should have thought it through better, but it kind of killed off my pleasure at the good deed.

JimF22003

I found a wallet on the Blue Ridge Parkway last year, with papers and money scattered all over the place. Dropped by a guy on a Harley from Ohio. I found him at a rest stop a few miles later, but in the meantime I had given the wallet to a ranger. Hope they managed to find each other...

Red Rider

Heh, heh, glad to disappoint you then.

Red Rider

Today I looked up the wife's phone number and called her. Her husband's shoulder is pretty "useless" right now, he has 2 broken fingers, lots of road rash and contusions, but he should be just fine in a few weeks. Then she thanked me again for our kindness. I told her what's important is that her husband's going to make a full recovery.