Prudente 3,000

As the old saying goes, better late than never...

I was at home last night around 7:30 and had just finished eating dinner when I received a call from our (Wash Cycle's) cyclist manager Jon. At this time of night, I knew it wasn't just to say "hello."

Turns out, my good friend Todd was still on the road and had a flat tire - he had already fixed it, but didn't have a pump to inflate the tube. Jon lives much further away from where the incident occurred, so he asked me if I could help. Sure. Anything to avoid doing dishes...

So I put my shoes on and layered up (it was pretty chilly last night) to head up to 2nd & Walnut Streets. This isn't the first time I've had to help out a friend in need, but definitely one of the strangest as far as timing goes. After all was said and done, he was going to be late for his last couple appointments, but on the road safely nonetheless:

Hey, we've all been there, and I'd hope if I ended up in the same situation, someone would do the same for me. Just goes to show how important it is to keep a complete tool kit handy when riding through an urban environment. I know that Todd knows this - he simply forgot one small detail. We're all human, right?

A side note: look how damn bright my reflective tire stripes/bumper stickers/bike bag straps appear to the flash of a camera! If you're a car and you don't see me (or the lights I have blinking in addition), you must truly be blind. I still want to add more, as it's now darker much earlier in the evenings...

Somewhere along the road yesterday, I also crossed over 3,000 miles for the year for at least the second year in a row:

It might be my third year in a row, but I didn't use Strava until 2016, so I don't really know. In any case, it still seems surreal to think I've been on a bike for that many miles in a year, no matter how many times I do it.

And no, I'm not going to try to get to 4,000. I may try another challenge in December to finish off the year, because I was a little too busy to make the most of the "Love to Ride" challenge last month. Like I said, better late than never...