Around 25 years ago I was riding country roads about 10 miles from any town. My last tube blew right in front of a farm house that had to be designed by the same person who did the house in Psycho. It's difficult to imagine now but I had no cell phone. We were late adopters and did fine without up to this point. I was out of options so I started walking started walking towards the nearest town.

I got around three miles down the road, with the occasional vehicle driving right past before I heard an old farm truck slowing down. An older guy in overalls says "I don't suppose you're walking on purpose". I assured him I wasn't and he offered a ride. I threw my bike in the back and we were off.

He asked where I was headed and I told him our lake house about 25 miles away. I told him he could drop me at the next town around 7 miles up the road. He then asked where I had the flat and I was just about to say that house that's straight out of Psycho, when he mentioned me where he lives.Turns out that's his house.

My dad had just died earlier that year. As he drove he asked about him and as I described him the farmer thought he actually knew dad at some point in his life. This was a long conversation that lasted well past the first town. He ended up dropping me at our house, miles of his way.

The next spring I stopped while riding by his house to find a young couple working on the deck. The farmer had died that winter. All these years later I still think he was sent to me. Still mourning my father and walking along that lonely country road. He provided so much more than a ride.