Day 10 - A Wonderful Couple and A Local Reporter

When we pulled into our camp sight last night, Owen and Tom realized Tom's back tire was uneven. Upon further inspection it was found that one of the spokes on his tire had completely broken. This obviously was not good and is likely the reason why his tire became so uneven. After tinkering with the wheel a bit it became much worse, rendering Tom's bike unrideable. We didn't know what do since the closest bike shop ahead was another few hours riding on bikes, and the closest one backwards was a 45 minute drive away.

Luckily, Dave and his wife, the couple camping in the site across from us offered to help. Dave immediately offered to drive Tom to the bike shop if we couldn't fix the wheel ourselves, which is what ended up happening. If it were not for Dave we're really not sure what we would've done since the next bike shop was too far to ride too. But thanks to him and to his wife for allowing us to borrow her husband for a few hours, Tom was able to get his bike fixed and in mint riding condition.

While Tom was getting is bike fixed, Dave's wife made bacon and eggs for Owen and I. It was the first real breakfast I've had on this trip and it was splendid to say the least. Oatmeal, honey, and a power bar in the morning admittedly gets a little boring after a while. She was a very pleasant lady and we chatted with her for some time about various topics. While we were chatting Owen and I mentioned that maybe it was a good thing we noticed Tom's defective spoke and made it worse when trying to fix it. If we didn't notice it and he kept riding on it, who knows what could've happened. Her response stood out to me. She said "Well.. I always say it, I don't believe in coincidences. I believe God put you boys here for a reason." I agreed with her. In that sense I also don't believe in coincidences. What is meant to happen is happening now. Reminds me of a very special retreat I did in high school called Kairos, which in some translation means "God's Timing." In short, it's always God's timing, it's always perfect, and it's always now.

Once Tom came back, we began readying up to hit the road. Before leaving, the wonderful couple that helped us asked if they could say a prayer with us to send us off. Of course we said yes and the words said in that prayer definitely pumped me up a little extra for the day. We are all greatly appreciative of their help.

We didn't get started until after 2... our latest day yet. But! We were able to knock down a cool 38 miles in under 3 hours nonetheless. We made it to a town called Smethport, PA. Tom and I were in the supermarket when a lady shopping with her daughter called out to us. She saw us going to fill our water bottles and asked us where we're headed. I'm not exactly sure how she knew we were bikers but I guess we stood out from the average local. Plus, I'm sure everyone already knows everyone given it's a town of around 1,500 people. She asked if we had a place to sleep to which we responded not really (as we were planning on free camping somewhere for the night). She said Mckean County Fairground just down the road could possibly house us for the night adding that it's nice because we'd be able to "cop a shower" over there as well.

She wanted to drive over and check that it was okay before sending us over. I told her not to go out of her way for us and she comically replied, "Hunny there's two stop lights in my town, it's impossible to go out of my way." So she drove there and was back within 15 minutes to give us the go. She said the maintenance man will be waiting for us to help us with whatever we need. Realizing we hadn't gotten her name yet as we were leaving, Tom asked and she replied "Heather." She was a very comical and lively lady with many smiles on her face throughout the interaction.

We thanked her, she wished us luck, and we headed over to the fairground. It was a quick 5 minute bike ride. When we got there the maintenance man Joe greeted us and drove his pick up over to where we were to stay for the night- a beautiful open green pasture of grass right next to some showers and restrooms. A pretty awesome setup for some dudes who only expected to find somewhere in the woods to sleep for the night.

We chatted with Joe for some time and he told us about what they do here. Their largest events are stock car races, which explained the huge dirt race track and stands they have on the other side of the complex. He said they sometimes get crowds of 1500-2000 people during regular seasons, with up to 100 cars racing in each event. I'd love to come see one of them one day when I get the chance, sounds like it's an awesome time. I bet the people of Smethsport get rowdy for their stock car races.

Joe asked if it was alright that he call the local news reporter over. For a second I was confused why he was asking me this. But I quickly realized he was asking my permission for the reporter to possibly do a story on Us. I immediately said absolutely. He had Fran the local reporter on the phone within seconds. When Joe got off the phone with Fran he looked at me and said "Fran feels like we got the next big story a-brewin." We both laughed. Joe was a funny and friendly dude.

About 20 minutes later Fran pulled up to where we were set up for the night. We introduced ourselves and spent the better part of an hour talking with Fran. He was very casual about everything and I could tell he'd been doing this for some time. It didn't feel like an interview or anything, it felt much more like a casual conversation with an interesting man. Almost everything each of us had to say, he had some piece of knowledge to offer that was connected. Whether it was where we went to school, our majors, or where we're headed- he always seemed to have something in his back pocket to tac on to what we said. I will admit it felt pretty cool talking to Fran, watching him write down all that we were saying in his cool journalist notepad. I honestly felt like a bit of a celebrity for a second there. Woah, calm down Mike. It's just the Bradford Era we're talking about here, not the New York Times. Still pretty cool though. Haha. Honestly, the Bradford Era is cooler in my book.

Fran took our picture and when I asked to get a picture with him, he jokingly replied "I'll have to ask my manager." Fran's comical personality became clear during the conversation. We later found out Fran has been involved in journalism with the Bradford Era since 1978. A true master at his craft. Which explains why he was so personable and easy to speak with. I imagine the best journalists always are.

Here we are with Fran:

Fran offered to buy us breakfast tomorrow morning at the local cafe so that's now two days in a row i'll be having a real breakfast. Boy am I riding high. We've really been lucking out with all the wonderful people we've been meeting along this trip. And this goes back to one of my first posts- Tough Few Days, Blessed Nonetheless. Yea we've had some rough setbacks, but they're all blessings nonetheless. If Tom's bike didn't need fixing this morning, we probably never would have stopped in Smethsport today, never would have met Fran, and if our story is good enough to make the cut, never would have been published in the Bradford Era.

Stats for the day.

Stats that matter:

Certified Awesome People Met: 6

Time to get some rest so I can get up for this wonderful breakfast i'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Till I blog again, Peace.

-mike