Riding the Karma Train

I suppose you could say that the last couple of weeks have been busy at work. Weekends, not so busy out of necessity, but busy because it’s the start of the local racing season, which has meant that I’ve gone to three races over the last two weekends.

There isn’t a whole lot to tell about the races aside from the fact that those pro women are tough, especially Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Ger) from HTC-Columbia. They’re tough in a way that when a powerful crash takes down 10+ riders in the middle of the peloton, many of them take it just as the men would – they jump right back on the bike and continue. I have some newfound respect for them.

On my way to the race this morning, I was driving along a route that I frequent on my bike. Ahead of me was a group of three cyclists at the side of the road seemingly having some sort of difficulty with a bike. I wondered if they needed any help and recalled a time that I was in almost the same spot when I had a “technical” problem out in the middle of nowhere. Several cars passed me and not one person bothered to slow down, let alone ask if I needed help even though I was alone.

Having been raised to believe that I should help others when I can, I decided to stop to see if they were okay or if they needed any help. They seemed pleasantly surprised that I’d asked. They said they had everything under control (seat adjustment), thanked me, and I went on my way knowing that I just scored some points in the good karma race.

Maybe the next time I’m stranded on the side of the road, someone will be kind enough to ask me if I need help.