Running into Rosie (February 25th - February 26th)

On February 25th, I reached the town limits of Meyersdale, PA and then on February 26th I continued through town toward Garrett, PA. On my way, I ran into a friend. Here is her account of our meeting:

I was driving down Deal Road early Thursday morning when all of a sudden, an opossum jumped out in front of my car! Instead of doing what my dad taught me and just running the damn thing over, I swerved my car to avoid killing the sweet animal. Right as I swerved, I caught a glimpse of a biker in my rearview mirror and just missed slamming into that poor man! Luckily, he fell into the grass beside the road, but I felt terrible! I instantly pulled over and stopped my car so I could go help this scruffy looking stranger. He lay moaning on the grass, still attached to his bike because he had those shoes that locked into the pedals of the bike. I rushed over and said “Are you ok??” He quietly inspected himself to see if anything was broken and slowly peeled off his helmet. Once he slipped his feet out of the pedals and swung his leg over the bike, he laid flat on his back and stared up at the Meyersdale sky. “Should I call an ambulance?” I begged.

“No,” he replied. “Ill be fine. I just need a minute.” It was at that moment, I realized I knew this person! This was my old KanJam partner, Stephen Garvey! I hadn’t seen this fellow in years!

“Garvey?! Is that you?!” I yelled.

“Huh? Holy Moly….Rosie? I didn’t know you lived here!” He replied.

“Yea! I moved here after getting my dream job at the Second National Bank of Meyersdale. It’s a really sweet town. What are you doing here?”

Rosie, standing in front of Second National Bank

“I am biking across America.” He said, still laying flat on his back.

“That’s crazy man. I’m really sorry I made you crash. Can I help you up?”

“Sure.” He said, wincing a little as he got up.

“Should we take you to a hospital?”

“No, I’m ok, just needed a minute,” He responded. I couldn’t believe I was seeing my old buddy, and that I almost killed him! It was just like old times. Reminded me of all the shenanigans we used to get into while we were playing the professional KanJam circuit. He was a beast with a Frisbee and a can. No one ever beat us and we had the trophies to prove it.

“Well hey, if you’re feeling alright, how about I show you around a little? We could go to the Meyersdale Wind Farm. It’s really something.”

He told me that as fun as that sounded, he had a schedule to stick to and had to keep on biking. I said ok, and we hugged goodbye. I watched as my old friend rode off into the distance. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my cats all about it.

It truly was a pleasure to run into an old friend, but I had some riding left to do if I was to make it to Garrett that day.  

Real life: February 25th - 10.4 miles, February 26th - 10.4 miles. Total Annual Mileage: 541.4 miles (26.3 miles behind target pace).

Notes: Thank you to Rosie Moan for being the first guest writer on the blog. If you are interested in writing a guest entry, please feel free to email me at stephen.c.garvey.82@gmail.com. Also, if you're interested in getting an email whenever a new blog is posted, you can enter your address in the Follow By Email bar on the right side of the page.