A lousy experience was turned into a great one this morning. I had driven to an area with no stoplights to do an intervals workout which required 20 minutes of uninterrupted road. I flatted as I was warming down, over 6 miles from my car. My spare tube had a valve issue :-( Wife was working and a long way away, and so I just started walking. A guy passed in a SUV going the other way, and asked if I was good. I said yes, filled my bottles at a convenience store I was passing, and kept going. I had gone maybe a block, when a truck pulls over. Same guy. He went home, switched vehicles, came back, picked me up, drove me to my car, and refused any gas money. Oh, and he also offered me a Gatorade.

He is a rider, and said others had done that sort of thing for him before. He also happens to be an EMT, and is definitely the sort of guy you want rolling up if you are in trouble.

So here's a tip of my helmet to this stranger - I hope I have a chance to pay this forward before too long.

Great to hear that good samaritans still exist.

I have received in my lifetime plenty of favors that have made my life easier. Some times to pay it forward I have even paid the toll for a car following me into a toll booth. If they have been having a really bad day, this gesture might change that. I got this attitude from my dad.

Good deal!

Just shows to go you that some SUVs are driven by good guys.

Thanks for sharing this nice story. I love hearing about random acts of kindness!

I did my first century on Saturday. At mile 50 I cut my tire too badly to want to boot it and continue. While waiting for my wife to arrive I received offers of two used tires and one new one from people who said they lived nearby. Two other cyclists stopped to make sure I was ok.

I got a new tire on but lost about 2 hours in the process. This created the problem of the day getting hotter. At mile 95 I faced a 400 foot climb and the temp was a humid 97 degrees f. and I was fresh out of water. I had already consumed 7 quarts on the ride so I wasn't in a bad way except for the heat. At the top of the climb I felt the beginning signs of heat stroke which means I was already in it. I pulled off under a tree to cool off. Almost immediately a vehicle stopped. I told him I was ok and he went on. A few minutes later another on stops and the two guys inside offered me an ice cold gatorade that I downed in a single long drink. That got me back to the car where I was met by my sweet wife with a big glass of ice water.

I want to thank the fine people that were so willing to help. Oh and btw, prayer works, even the foxhole type.

And good girls

This thread is way too positive.
Keep up the good work!

A really neat story Az. Thanks.

When I got my first road bike, I bought a tool bag and a frame pump. Not long after, I got a flat about three miles from home. It was then I realized that although I had mounted the frame pump, I had forgotten to put the spare tubes in the tool bag. I started to walk the bike home along a rural road where I was passed by a guy on a road bike without so much as a nod.

The tube began to work itself out of the tire, making it hard to even walk with, so I stopped to try to work it back in. A moment later, a man in an SUV stopped and asked if I needed help. Fearing he might be a Ted Bundy, and a little embarrassed at my situation, I said, "No, I'm okay. I don't even have a tube."

He called out, "Hey..." When I looked up at him, he was holding a boxed tube in his hand and said, "i ride, too. Let me help!" As I struggled to remove the real wheel, he said,"If you wouldn't be offended, I can change that pretty quickly." He did, and when he had finished, he produced a handy wipe for me to clean my hands! He wouldn't except money for the tube, but as he got back in his car, he said, "Just always carry an extra tube in case you run into someone who needs one." To this day, I always carry three tubes; two for me, one in case I run into another cyclist in need.

Nice story, haven't seen any one broken down while driving, have pulled over to assist when on the bike a couple of times. There are a couple of things to add to the bike kit though. A couple of those handy wipes or baby wipes in a zipper type plastic bag, a pair of disposable latex gloves can also come in handy, if you need to do a repair and stay clean... Best for those, buy the box, and then just keep it in the bike repair area, along with the extra tubes and stuff.... Got a funny story from this spring, ran the check on the mountain bike...

Pump, check....
Spare tube, grab one, check...
Tire levers, check....

Just riding along and the front end gets squishy , thump, thump, thump....
Haul out the repair stuff, take off the tire, the old tube, start mounting the new one and there seems to be some excess tube here.... The spare tube is a 27" and the wheel is 26" ... .

It's about 5km to get home, and I need to be somewhere in just over an hour, I see a kid cutting his grass, he stops and comes over, I ask if he has a phone, he does, call home for a SAG. I have been riding about 25 out of the last 45 years, and this is the first time I need a pickup. Yeah I unrolled all the spare tubes, discovered what they were, and marked the boxes properly. I am not doing THAT again....

BTW that 27" tube belonged to the road bike, from before it was converted to 700C in the spring, haven't decided what to do with the left over wheels yet, the 27" tube is now in the box that holds those wheels though.

Setting the "evil SUV/truck" owner myth to rest one encounter at a time

Life is hard. To me, it only makes sense to "pay it forward". With every interaction we have with anyone, we always have the chance to make life a little bit easier, or a little bit harder. My hat's off to all of those who choose the former.

In a pinch I have "telescoped" a too big inner tube inside of itself to shrink it down to the right diameter. Not something I'd want to do every day, but it got us home.

Good to see the Golden Rule is in effect.