Today's Adventure with some Divine Intervention

So I know I just posted yesterday, but I have to share the story of our adventure today.  We headed out early afternoon to a town called Coshocton, OH.  It looked like it had a lot of history, nature and fun places to go.  The ride out was beautiful, through the winding hills of southern Ohio.  Although we are only on our third day, Cliff has come to love these roads  because they have just the right amount of hills and twists and turns to be technically challenging for him as a rider.  I have learned to be very quiet (Not talk to him in the headphones)  while we are on these roads.  He was in "the zone" and I was in my own little world, thoroughly enjoying the scenery, when we both heard the unfamiliar sound of a rhythmic thud from the tire.  I am  no "gear head" but I knew immediately that we had a flat tire.

He carefully got us off the road, confirmed that we had run over something causing the tire to go flat, took off his helmet and said "I need to get this on the center stand so we can figure this out".  Before I could respond, or even get my helmet off, a car pulled up and asked if we needed help.  Cliff said we have a tire repair kit, and we thought our good Samaritan was pulling away, but instead he made a U-turn and pulled up behind us.  He got out of his car carrying a full size air compressor, and as Cliff tried to get the culprit out of the tire, he started assembling our tire repair kit.  It took a minute for Cliff to  get the "thing" out - and at this point we realized we didn't just pick up a nail or screw, we picked up, as he jokingly says "a piece of farm equipment".

 

"The thing that was in our tire"

  Our new found best-friend-in-the-whole-world went back to his car and came back with a full tire repair kit.  In minutes he got on the ground, made the repair, confirmed that there was no air leaking and had the tire filled with air.

  At this point I went back to his car to talk to his wife, who was patiently waiting in the car, doing a crossword puzzle.  I couldn't say thank you enough to her and she told me - he used to be a car mechanic.  They now deliver papers together - she goes out early in the morning and does the walking route, and he follows her in the car to make sure she is ok.  Then they get in the car together and drive 170 miles a day to deliver papers to all of the back country roads.  She said his biggest joy in life is helping people and rarely a week goes by that they don't stop and come to someone's rescue.  At this point, the guys were done, he had everything put away, refused anything we offered for his kindness and as he got in his car he said - go ahead I will follow you to make sure you get to town safely.  And he did.

  Fortunately, through modern technology we were able to order another tire and found someone who will install it later in the week when we get it, and all will be back to normal.  But tonight, and no matter where this journey takes us, we will never forget the kindness of this thoughtful stranger.  So, to all our friends and family who are out there praying for our safety - your prayers were answered today and his name was Darryl.