rickallendunn

Several weeks ago, I was on a training ride In Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, from Sanders Beach up to Higgins Point. It was in the afternoon and it was a hot day! It’s a beautiful & steep uphill ride along the lake to a dead end with a trail head. Then you have a fun downhill ride back.

I was about 2 miles into the ride, and I realized, I had forgotten my water bottle. This is the same route that the Iron Man race takes, so I thought, surely there are water fountains along the way. As I rode up the hill, it got hotter and I got more thirsty. I passed 2 restrooms, but not a single water fountain. My only option was to jump in the lake, and I was considering it.

As I approached the parking lot at Higgins Point, I WAS REALLY THIRSTY! A few hundred yards back, I had passed a “20 something” guy who was carrying an ice chest to his car. I thought to myself, “I wonder if he has a water bottle in his ice chest?” When I started back down the hill, I stopped at his car, he was now sitting in the passenger seat. I asked him, “by any chance do you have a water bottle that I can buy from you, I forgot my water bottle?”

He said “I think I do.” He got out of the car walked back to the trunk and got a water bottle out of his ice chest. It was a large bottle and it was ice cold! I had not been that excited in a while. I asked him if I could pay for it, he said “no need…enjoy your ride. He had a big smile on his face and was very kind in the way he spoke.

I never asked his name, but as I rode down the hill, downing his bottle of water, I reflected on how good his small kindness felt, and how it made my life so much better in that moment.

I decided to keep the bottle as a souvenir. I wrote the words “A Kind Guy” on the bottle with a felt pen and have it as a reminder to me that when we have the chance to be kind we may just make someones day better.

I believe “A Kind guy” is the 1st of many amazing people I will meet on this journey, I can’t wait to see what God has in store through those I will meet.