After I got finished with appointments today, I decided to take the Vol out and pick up some batteries. Since it was nice out, I thought it would be a perfect short run. I got to the first store and they didn’t have the rechargeables I wanted, so I thought I’d try another store.
As I went behind the plaza to the stoplight, I noticed a large, tractor-trailer tow truck with a 24-26 ft box truck on the back and he was stopped at a particularly bad intersection trying to make a left…… and was stuck. As I rode up to the light, I could see that he was getting out of the truck and trying to figure out how he was going to get out of this predicament. I stopped at the light, pulled over to a parking lot and asked if he needed help. “Yes,” was the reply.
As I approached on foot, he said, “As I start to pull forward, you’ll be able to steer it and we can get it around there.” This particular road he was turning onto is a small 4 lane road divided by a concrete divider. It’s not wide, and combined with the length of the concrete divider, it’s easy to see how he couldn’t get around it by himself. We started moving and the impatient cagers tried to get around us while he’s trying to get forward and backward some so we could maneuver the turn. We **barely** cleared the center concrete when he suddenly stopped. There was a 3 foot high post to his right/my left, which we were simply not going to clear on our current trajectory. So, he walks back and suggests that we try to straighten up, backwards and then we can clear it. So, that’s what we did and we finally cleared without damage.
(At one point during this incident, I noticed a bike go by and the rider checking out my Vol sitting on the side of the road. Shortly thereafter, at another store, a man getting into a cage said, “That’s one nice bike,” as I was walking back to the bike. I get lots of good comments on this bike.)
All the while, I had my helmet and full leather on; which I left on in the interest of getting the intersection cleared quickly. I suddenly realized that I’m burning up! It was super hot in the truck and the leather was just adding to the heat.
As I exited the truck and he approached, he tried to hand me some money and said, ‘You really helped me out of a jam. Go get yourself something to eat.” I refused the money and he insisted a couple times more. I’m pretty persistent 🙂 so I refused a couple more times and said, “Just pass it forward.”
He said, “I will.”
And we went our separate ways. I felt good that I was able to help.
