By now, if you know one thing about me, it is this – I love to ride my bike! Today however, I felt embarrassed to be associated with some of my fellow cyclists. Twenty seven miles into what was a great group ride one of my fellow cyclists, Ty Mader, had a nasty crash. He stood up to accelerate and as he did so, his rear derailleur had a catastrophic failure; breaking of and going into his rear wheel. He fell hard and slid into the curb at about 24 miles per hour. I was just behind him and managed to steer left to keep from hitting him. I stopped immediately; concerned that he might have suffered a head injury. Ty was quickly on his feet and getting off the road and out of the way of traffic. At this moment I realized at of the 50 or so cyclists on the ride, all were riding by as if nothing had happened, save one. Jim stopped, saw that Ty was going nowhere on his bike, and decided to go and get his vehicle. I told Jim I would stay with Ty and make sure he was ok. Ty and I began cleaning his wounds with our water bottles and chatting to pass the time. I told him I was mad that no one else had had the decency to stop and help. What if he had suffered a brain injury? He very well could have been in serious trouble. I would bet that in the group of riders, at least one was a helth care professional. Karma has a way of comming around on you and I have a feeling that for those that rode past, Karma is going to kick them in the ass!
Moments like these are an opportunity to reflect and understand the bigger picture in life. It’s not all about us! We have all been guilty at one time or another of getting so wrapped up in our own lives to not notice when someone needs a little help. It shames me to admit that there have been times when I felt stopping to help someone was an inconvenience; so I didn’t bother to do so. The situations are many when we can do something to help our fellow man. True, we can’t do everything for everyone; but we can do a lot more than we do. I am asking each of you to consider this and take action. At least once each week, if you see someone who might need a hand, stop and ask if you can help. You would be amazed at how much it will mean to that person and I believe it will give you a feeling of personal satisfaction.
As for my friend, Ty, he is fine. A lot of road rash, but he will live to fight another day!
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