If you pay attention to random actions and interactions, you will start to see a pattern in your day. This is synchronicity, it is defined as, coincidences that appear to be related, but are not. For example, you are thinking of a person and they call you on the phone. Look up a recipe and find your husband wants to make the same recipe for dinner. One of these synchronicities occurred last week. John and I rode our tandem to church. The bike pedaled hard.
“Give me a little Turnbull on this hill,” John remarked.
Neither of us realized that the tire was slowing losing pressure. We came out of the service late. Most of the people had left.
Strapping on our helmets and gloves took more time, we were the last in the parking lot.
The long downhill was not fast as I hoped. At the edge of town, the back tire starting thumping.
“I think we have a flat.”
Two young men in a service vehicle stopped. “Trouble?”
“Got a flat, can you give me a lift to get my truck?”
“I will do one better, I will take your bike and both of you home.”
The men worked in Ada. One of the men lived in the two neighborhoods away. They were coming home after their workday. They had noted us riding about and were curious about riding a tandem.
What is the chance that two young men on a Saturday evening would stop to assist two older bikers?
The truck was filled with equipment and parts. I was assisted into the back seat of the truck while the other service man on the tailgate of his truck, holding the tandem.
“Thank you, what can I do for you?”
“Well, Can I shake your hand?”
With that handshake, they were back on the road home.
I guess after 25 years of riding our tandem in the same small town, we are a recognized part of the landscape. When John examined the tire, He found that the nozzle to air the tire was ripped out of the tube. We couldn’t have fixed that leak without a new tube.
A Slow Leak
“This bike is pedaling hard.”
“You are getting weak,”
“Let’s go down the long downhill.”
“What’s that ?”
“Something is wrong with the tire!”
****
“Need some help?”
carolaspot@aol.com
Sept ,11 2023
traveling up and down the blind highway 