Gypsy Bike Man
Last Saturday was crazy hot. Like high 90's sunny hot. So Brian and I took the kids to pool day across town to cool things off. As we were all headed home we saw Bike Man. He was a thin, raggedy looking older man, with lots of things attached to his bike, and a small cardboard sign on the back that said "NEED FOOD." We don't see too many people around town asking for things, and he wasn't just standing there - he was riding his bike along a main road in town - but for some reason he caught my eye.
As we passed him I felt like we needed to turn around and see if he might want some of our meager offerings from our car - mainly bottled water, a dozen granola bars and some packaged crackers. I honestly don't usually do this, or especially go out of my way, but I felt prompted to do so, and I learned that those promptings are usually worth following. Trouble was, he was on a main road and he was moving! So after some maneuvering we drove ahead and pulled over on a cross street and sent Brian out solo with our stash while the kids and I hung back and watched from the car.
Brian flagged down Bike Man, who we assumed was homeless, and gave him our stuff and next thing you know Bike Man pulls out this huge atlas and starts talking to Brian for a good long while about his travels. Ends up Bike Man is more of a gypsy type - homeless by choice. He was biking that day from Frankfort (a good 30 miles from where we found him) and was on his way to his hometown of Corbin (a good 2 hour drive away). He says he just goes until he's ready to stop and just finds a place to sleep along the way and then keeps going. It's like Forest Gump on wheels.
He keeps a detailed log on his atlas of how far he goes each day, where he slept etc. He had Brian sign the page of his atlas of people who have done a good deed for him. He explained that he picked up his bike in San Fransisco years ago and then rode it across the country twice, logging 10,000 miles on it. After heading to Corbin he is going to go to New Orleans and then head to the bottom of Florida. How crazy is that? Of course, he could be lying - but I get the feeling he's not. He's just an unassuming dude with quite the gypsy spirit!
After our brief interaction, he peddled away, all smiles - very grateful for the water on that hot, hot day. After it was too late we realized it would have been fun to meet up at Burger King and listen to more of his crazy stories, but it wasn't meant to be. I'm not sure why I felt prompted to flag down Bike Man, but let me tell you - we certainly don't regret it! Pedal on Bike Man! You made our day much, much more interesting!
As we passed him I felt like we needed to turn around and see if he might want some of our meager offerings from our car - mainly bottled water, a dozen granola bars and some packaged crackers. I honestly don't usually do this, or especially go out of my way, but I felt prompted to do so, and I learned that those promptings are usually worth following. Trouble was, he was on a main road and he was moving! So after some maneuvering we drove ahead and pulled over on a cross street and sent Brian out solo with our stash while the kids and I hung back and watched from the car.
Brian flagged down Bike Man, who we assumed was homeless, and gave him our stuff and next thing you know Bike Man pulls out this huge atlas and starts talking to Brian for a good long while about his travels. Ends up Bike Man is more of a gypsy type - homeless by choice. He was biking that day from Frankfort (a good 30 miles from where we found him) and was on his way to his hometown of Corbin (a good 2 hour drive away). He says he just goes until he's ready to stop and just finds a place to sleep along the way and then keeps going. It's like Forest Gump on wheels.
He keeps a detailed log on his atlas of how far he goes each day, where he slept etc. He had Brian sign the page of his atlas of people who have done a good deed for him. He explained that he picked up his bike in San Fransisco years ago and then rode it across the country twice, logging 10,000 miles on it. After heading to Corbin he is going to go to New Orleans and then head to the bottom of Florida. How crazy is that? Of course, he could be lying - but I get the feeling he's not. He's just an unassuming dude with quite the gypsy spirit!
After our brief interaction, he peddled away, all smiles - very grateful for the water on that hot, hot day. After it was too late we realized it would have been fun to meet up at Burger King and listen to more of his crazy stories, but it wasn't meant to be. I'm not sure why I felt prompted to flag down Bike Man, but let me tell you - we certainly don't regret it! Pedal on Bike Man! You made our day much, much more interesting!
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Cara