Single Cylinder Psyche

This day I woke up to cold air but clear skies.  It turns out the travel yesterday maintained my position within the weather cell.  Oh well, feeling better today.  Was somewhat concerned about the leaky rear tire, but there’s a new one waiting for me at the end of today’s ride in Aurora, Minnesota, 380 miles away.

I waited until the air warmed up a little before taking off from Webster at 10:00 a.m.  Topped off the tire pressure just before leaving.  I rode 23 miles east to US 29, headed north into North Dakota, then turned east and crossed the Red River into Minnesota at Wahpeton.  At Barnsville I had lunch and topped off the tire, then headed east on County Road 34.  Twenty miles east of Barnsville the rear tire burst with a loud bang.  The rear wheel had a mind of its own, swerving left and right, and it was a matter of keeping the front wheel in front of the rear in line with the momentum of the scooter until it came to a stop (without braking).

Good Samaritan Number One, was a lady named Nancy who was in the car behind me when the tire burst.  She took a break from what I’m sure was a busy day with lots to do, and stopped to ask how she could help.  We agreed that she would go ahead to the next town to find what towing services were available locally and call back to me on the phone.  Which she did, and gave me the name and phone number of a near-by towing company with a flat-bed tow truck.  Thank you Nancy, I hope good things happen for you. (And I hope I’ve remembered your name correctly.  Please let me know if I haven’t.)

Good Samaritan Number Two was a young man named Yancy who operated the tow truck that took me and my scooter into Pelican Rapids.  What makes him a good samaritan is that after meeting me on the road he made a number of calls to determine 1.) there wasn’t any place open who could fix my tire that day, or Sunday, the next, 2.) found a shop in near-by Pelican Rapids that could change out a small tire on Monday, and 3.) arranged for a motel for me to stay.  His effort saved me a lot of trouble.  Besides driving tow truck part time, Yancy farms 120 acres, but mostly works in computer design of custom fabricated machine parts.  I regret that I did not get a good picture of Yancy.  Thank you Yancy, and if you’re reading this and have some time Monday morning before about 11:00, please stop by the tire shop or my Pelican Rapids residence so I can take your picture.

I was able to spend a few hours walking around Pelican Rapids before nightfall, and decided that the flat tire that brought me here was a lucky break.  It’s a quaint little town with a strong sense of community.  They’ve adopted Pete Pelican (the “Biggest Pelican in the World”) as somewhat of a mascot and the pelican theme pervades the town.  Their pelican is like my area’s Mount Diablo or Rome’s pillars.

My motel in Webster, SD

 

County Road 34 location of tire failure

 

 

Scenes around Pelican Rapids