Earlier this week, Mike, a mate of mine, phoned me. “We’re in Wupperthal,” he said, “and the bike’s rear wheel is shot. I think there are at least twenty spokes broken.”
Now what?
He sounded pretty upset.
Worse still, he added, “because Wupperthal is a missionary town, there’s no alcohol available –we can’t even sit down over some beers and hatch a plan!”

“Wait, let me phone John,” I said.
John works for his father’s transport company in Tulbagh. It’s 150km from where Mike is stranded, but it’s all I can think of. Not only does John drive a bakkie, but he’s also a biker, so he understands...

I’m sitting in Cape Town, more than 300km away. I’m feeling a bit helpless and frustrated.

A while later John phones me. He’s taken the back wheel off his own bike and he’s already on his way to the stricken biker in his Ford Ranger.
When he got there, he gave Mike his wheel, so Mike could continue on his journey.

John had never even met Mike before.

So what’s the moral of the story? Each one of us could unexpectedly run into trouble, at any time, especially when we explore the back roads. We need to keep our eyes open and be willing to help others in distress, because out there, it’s only a question of time before we ourselves will need someone else’s help.

“No,” John laughed afterwards, “that was nothing, really. I’ve been helped way more by others!” Which kind of proves my point: What goes around, comes around.