A Graceful Finish
Connor tries to fix Anna’s bike
The last day of the Fuller Center West Coast Bike Adventure offered an example of selflessness that helped define for me the overall experience of doing this ride.
First, it should be understood that, in addition to supporting the mission of housing for the poor that animates the Fuller Center, people on the ride bring different personal goals to this adventure. For instance, some people are dedicated to ride every mile on their bike. Others are willing to ride the support van for some segments, for physical or mechanical reasons. There is no pressure to ride every mile, not by the Center and not by the other riders. It’s a purely personal goal.
Here’s what happened.
Anna Lea Little rode every mile on this trip, over mountains, through craggy bike trails, into and out of
Ann Coleman getting Anna started
canyons, in 100 degree sun and 50 degree rain. On our last day, as she began the climb up the biggest hill of the day at Torry Pine, her derailleur broke in a way that couldn’t be fixed. She was 18 miles away from the finish after riding more than 1,600 miles over the course of a month. Our young leader, Connor Ciment, tried diligently to get the bike fixed, even trying to turn Anna’s bike from a 22 speed into a one speed. Nothing worked. Anna was devastated.
First Good Samaritan helps with the climb
Not to be deterred, the group working on the problem came up with a solution that preserved Anna’s goal. Anna got on her chain-less bike, Ann Coleman held her up and ran along side her to get her up to speed and Connor put his hand on Anna’s back and began to push her up the hill. It was tough going. Even Connor acknowledged, he was struggling.
Then, an added bit of grace occurred when two other bikers encountered the scene and offered to help. Essentially, they formed a flying wedge, with one pushing Connor and one pushing Anna to get them over the hill at Torry Pine. Connor continued to push Anna for seven miles to the next rest stop, where they did, in fact, turn Anna’s bike into a one-speed. And she rode the rest of the way, which still included some pretty big hills. She achieved her goal and we all got the most inspirational story of the trip.
Connor, Anna and the chainless bike
Category: Biking
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
