Visitations

Fall color seen on my walk Sunday.

 This wasn't to be a typical weekend here for me. Andy had taken vacation and I had to tend to the shop all week long. That meant I had to work another Saturday. The week itself went better than expected. I was busier than I had anticipated I would be, which is good for business, obviously, but better for me. I really do not like standing around 'baby-sitting' a shop with nothing to work on. That drives me bonkers. 

So, having a mostly busy week was good, that is, until Friday. That was brutal! I had very few people walk in the door and a LOT of dead time to fill. I had caught up on repairs and had little else to do but clean and organize. 

So, Saturday I feared for the worst. I had worked a Saturday recently and it was pretty much like the Friday I just described. I was thinking I was going to possibly lose my mind, but a couple of surprise visitations happened which saved the day. I guess mentioning here that I would be in the shop Saturday was a good thing, because both folks who came in to see me said it was because I had mentioned I would be working that they made the effort to see me. 

So, the first individual that surprised me with a visit was someone who I hadn't seen in well over a decade. I think the last time I saw this person was at a Frostbike in 2008. So, yeah.... A LONG time had passed since I had seen this guy. I used to make mention of him a lot when this blog first began, and since that was over 15 years ago, most of you folks probably don't know or remember that.

His name is Clay. I've known him since I first was in the bicycle business back in the 90's. I used to refer to him by his nick-name here, which was Dirtram, which was a play on his surname name. Anyway, he worked at the shop where I last worked, and I think our time there overlapped maybe a few months or so, but it wasn't very long before Clay moved on and out of my reckoning. The last time I think I saw him was about five years after I saw him previously, so when he came in and visited me Saturday it was a big surprise and we had a lot of catching up to do. 

Rick Chalfant, third from left here, was the other visitor Saturday.

After a few customers came in, Clay excused himself, and then it was awhile before another surprise visitor stopped by. It was Rick, who had been up last for a GTDRI in 2016. 

He read on the blog that I would be there, and since he was up for a family function, he made some time to swing by and chat for a bit. It was great to catch up with Rick and talk about our families and riding. 

Then some more time went by and I was about an hour out from shutting the door when my wife and son dropped by and so that made the end of my day a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be. The only bummer was that I didn't get to ride my bicycle home from work. 

So, yeah......no ride out in the country. No ride in the woods, like I traditionally try to do at 'peak Fall color time', and there was another reason for that. My family has been battling head colds, with the exception of myself- so far- and so I stuck around the house to lend a hand where I could with chores and taking care of people. 

I likely missed peak Fall colors, but sometimes more important things come along, like seeing old friends and acquaintances and being there for your family when they need you to be. It ain't always all about bicycles.