Stories of Kindness from Around the World

I sometimes look out of my window with envy at the parade of bicyclists who ride past my apartment each morning on their daily commute into the city. I work from home, and getting exercise outside is not easy for me. Since I moved into this apartment, my bicycle has been in hibernation. I had been longing to get on it, but I have a market almost next door, so I find it difficult getting any riding in.

One morning, though, I decided to commute to work just like the cyclists under my window. I planned to bike up the long hill to the bridge and coast back to start my day, a two mile loop. Eager to get out, I filled the rear tire with air, and pushed off into the street. I was so happy to be riding again!

Right away, I raced past a bike-commuter, and beat him up the first rise. Now I had to keep the pace up, lest he pass me. But then my bike started to drag. I heard a loud shuffling sound as if I was hitting the rear break, and I felt more and more resistance. In a few seconds, he passed me, and whistled around the bend in the road, out of sight. The resistance came from my rear wheel being loose, and it was digging into the chain and slowing me down.

I stopped and hopped off the bike to adjust it, and another commuter stopped right behind me.

"I've got an extra tube if you've got a flat and need one," he said.

"No thanks," I told him. "It's just my tire that needs adjustment. Thank you, though."

Three seconds after he disappeared around the bend, another commuter barreled down the hill in the other direction. He clenched his brakes and called across the street to me.

"You need a hand?"

"I'm fine, thanks," I replied.

"Your rear tire is looking a little low," he observed.

"Thank you, I've got a pump."

"Have a good ride then," he said, crossing the street and climbing the hill back where he had just come down from.

It was then that I realized that he was the first guy I was racing! He must have noticed that I was no longer following him, and turned back to see if I was okay. I was really moved by that. The first two cyclists who saw me were both willing to stop their commute to help me out. What are the chances of that? After I had fixed the wheel, I took a detour up to the bridge. On the descent down, back on the main road, something felt funny again, the handling was slippery. The rear tire was looking low. It was just as the cyclist who had come back to help me had said.

I dismounted again, and leaned the bike against a pole to pump more air into it. I realised that it had a slow leak and would need a repair. Then a third bike-commuter, pedaling up the hill, called across the street.

"You got everything you need?" he checked.

"Yes, and thank you!" I called back. "You're the third who has asked to help!"

That was three out of three, 100% of those who passed me, were willing to stop their commute to help a stranger who may have been in danger of getting to work late. Now I can see why so many take that commute under my window every morning.

The bike commuters have clearly created a culture of generosity and helping others so that everyone gets to work on time. I was so touched to begin my workday surrounded with such kindness. The commuters showed me this morning that commuting to work on a bike is much more than a race, getting a workout, and cycling to work. The path they ride is an exercise in compassion.