Lost & Found - Helping out folks along the road

We were deep in the heart of eastern Kentucky on a bike trip earlier this summer and hanging out by the train tracks over the Tug Fork river. We were talking about how good we have it life and how lucky we are compared to some of the destitute folks in this coal mining area. The reason we were over in these hollers was to check out the infamous Hatfield & McCoy families of Americana legend. Well, as we were jabbering along and drinking a few beers up comes a bike screaming down the road and throwing down a trail of oil all the way from the stop light. The dude immediately jumps off his bike, nerves wrecked and starts shaking from his near life threatening wreck of sliding across his own oil slick and fear of his bike seizing up.

We quickly say hello and I run over to my bike and grab some tools. His oil plug had been lost a few miles back and he was lucky to even get pulled over while there was still some oil left. I then grabbed a few rags I had and stuffed them into the hole to slow the flow. He proceeds to call his daughters and they come and pick him up to run him over to the store to grab some oil and a new plug. Low and behold no plug is to be found so he has to run home and scrummages through his bolt collection and luckily finds a bolt the right size and screws it in.

Needless to say, we helped out as here was a person clearly in need of aid nor with the ability to turn a wrench. After the quick fix we proceeded to pound a 12 pack and learn a bit more about the local area. So for all the folks you meet or see along the road, stop and lend a hand. Life is too short and most of the world is full of assholes, but I at least like to think that in the biker community we still lend a hand. Pay it forward.