The Bike Samaritan Prize

[wheelswings]

If someone were to offer a Roadside Assistance service for bicycle riders, I would be the first to sign up. I’m one of those people who are eternally grateful when fellow riders stop to offer help. So this prize is for those who share their technical expertise on the roads or trails, be it for flat tires, slipped chains, etc.
If you stop and help someone on the trail or road, please make note of it on this thread. Sweeping broken glass and removing tree-limbs from the trail are awesome too! You are a rock star.

[Steve O]

I’m off to a good start with the ninjas.

Twice yesterday, on Jan 1, I provided very grateful lightless riders with BikeArlington blinkie lights. I put the lights on their bikes as part of my service. One was a rider who had not expected to be out so late. The other was a non-English speaking rider on the 4MRT at Mt. Vernon. He offered to pay me, but I told him they were courtesy of BikeArlington.

[sszibler]

@wheels&wings 151239 wrote:

If someone were to offer a Roadside Assistance service for bicycle riders, I would be the first to sign up. I’m one of those people who are eternally grateful when fellow riders stop to offer help. So this prize is for those who share their technical expertise on the roads or trails, be it for flat tires, slipped chains, etc.
If you stop and help someone on the trail or road, please make note of it on this thread. You are a rock star.

There actually is a service for about $30 a year. Kind of like AAA for bikes. Personally, they didn’t always show up when I needed them most (they use tow truck services), so I haven’t signed up with them recently, but some folks really like them. Forgetting the name . . . A really good service would be great!

[Vicegrip]

Check out the W&OD trail patrol. Not trail cops, trail roadside assistance, guidance and information. might even be a few here too.

[kwarkentien]

Arlington County also has its own bike-based Trail Rangers, who are more than happy to provide assistance to stranded bikers.

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[DSalovesh]

Better World Club? (And while I oppose AAA’s lobbying efforts and don’t want to send them any potential members, they also do bicycle roadside assistance – but if you’re already a member you might as well use all the features.)

[anomad]

I like those people and try to be one myself.

I’ve only been in the DC area since May, but I have seen a number of generous humans helping people with flat tires or other problems along the path.

The worst for me was a guy I stopped for and he said he had a broken spoke. Turns out he’d broken a spoke a while back, went to a bike shop and since it was drive side they would have to charge labor to remove and reinstall the cassette and put in a 2 dollar spoke. Something like a 40 or 50 dollar bill for a pretty simple job. He couldn’t stomach that price and just kept riding. Turns out it was the 3rd spoke that had let loose when I stopped and he was miles from home! I suggested he ride really slowly and carefully and hope the wheel made it home. The guy even had cassette tool and chain whip at home but had never used them or replaced a spoke.

[cvcalhoun]

Well, I’m sure there will be more heroic exploits than mine. But just to get it started, I found a branch completely across the Capital Crescent Trail tonight. It wasn’t that hard to lift a bike over it, but I was concerned that someone traveling faster than I, or with less powerful headlights, might not see it in time to stop. So I dragged the whole thing off the trail.

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[Brett L.]

Nomination:

Don’t know who you were, but you biked past me on Powder Mill 212 near Springfield Road and Patuxent Wildlife Refuge around 4:15. I was walking back towards Springfield to meet my pickup, because I was stupid and let my flat repair kit at home. Thank you for stopping to offer me assistance with your own repairs – and despite me turning down your offer I do appreciate it nonetheless!

[Judd]

Some total fucking asshole smashed a glass bottle on the 14th Street Bridge near the Virginia side today. It wasn’t there when I headed to Hains Point but it was there when I was headed back. Tons of shards across the entire width of the path. I got nearly all of it swept off, but there might be some tiny pieces there still.

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[Steve O]

I nominate this one (from another thread)
@Judd 153835 wrote:

Entry in the heart-warming category.

I had a really rough week. I’ve been staying late at work trying to save a high profile software deployment that is not going very well. I only got 5 hours of sleep each night and by Thursday I was exhausted on the way home. There was a strong, demoralizing north wind at Hains Point and for the first time during Freezing Saddles, achieving my 30 mile a day cycling goal seemed like a job. I’m way behind on basic life maintenance stuff like having food (and beer!) in the house and doing laundry. On my ride home on Friday, I actually dozed off on the bike multiple times.

I got home Friday night ready to head straight to bed, but on my doorstep was a plastic bag with my name on it. I opened it up and this was inside:

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LeprosyStudyGroup had left me a care package that really brightened my day and reframe the week. LSG is one of the kindest, caring people I know and I’m glad to have him as a friend.

[Jason]

Today I fixed my buddy’s rear derailleur tension while out on the ride. But once I stopped to fixe someone’s chain, but that was last march, but it WAS during a winter, just not THIS winter:

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?10127-Finally-got-to-use-my-chain-breaker!-IT-WORKS!!!!

“I FINALLY got to use my chain breaker on the trail. Not on my bike, but as I approached an apparently downed teenager, I (as I customarily do) asked if he was ok. He held up his chain like a bunch of dropped spaghetti. I told him I might be able to sort out his spaghetti mess. Happily, I had just learned to replace my chain this winter when I put a new groupset on my bike. His chain snapped up right at the KMC quicklink. I had a quicklink, but it didnt fit his drivechain, so I used my chain destroyer to bust up a link, and recycled one of his pins to get him home. Hopefully it worked out for him. Hardest part of the job was rethreading the chain on the derailleur (IE, it wasnt hard). Process took me 5-7 minutes tops. Glad I could help him, and best of all it was super good practice. Moral of the story: you wont break any KOMS or whatever stravacrap you are into if you stop, but you WILL improve your mechanic skillz dramatically. IE: help others with their snapped up spaghetti.”

[kwarkentien]

Here’s my very late entry. Dates back to our first “snow” of the season. Riding from the FMR Trail in Madison Manor over to Roosevelt Street, I was flagged down by a woman who was hopelessly lost while trying to deliver a kugel. Seems Arlington’s penchant for streets that are discontinuous had bolluxed this poor lady as she was in the 1200 block of Quantico but needed to get to the 1000 block. So I offered to lead her there on my bike. I navigated around and about to connect over to the needed address and she told me I was a “mensch.” This being Saturday, I wished her “Shabbat Shalom” and continued on my merry way. A little biking with a mitzvah.

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[Jason]

@kwarkentien 154314 wrote:

Here’s my very late entry. Dates back to our first “snow” of the season. Riding from the FMR Trail in Madison Manor over to Roosevelt Street, I was flagged down by a woman who was hopelessly lost while trying to deliver a kugel. Seems Arlington’s penchant for streets that are discontinuous had bolluxed this poor lady as she was in the 1200 block of Quantico but needed to get to the 1000 block. So I offered to lead her there on my bike. I navigated around and about to connect over to the needed address and she told me I was a “mensch.” This being Saturday, I wished her “Shabbat Shalom” and continued on my merry way. A little biking with a mitzvah.

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The mitzvah level of this deed is determined by the TYPE of kugel. Were you offered a sample? Was it a potato kugel or sweet/noodle kugel? If Noodle, did it have raisins and cinnamon? I think its mitzvah x2 if its a potato kugel. Mitzvah x1.1 if its noodle. Mitzvah x1.753 if noodle and cinnamon/raisin.

[kwarkentien]

Sadly, no I did not get a sample of said kugel. I assume it was a noodle kugel but no confirmation of that nor whether there were any tasty raisins and/or cinnamon present.

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