My Favorite Riders in November

THANK YOU FOR SERVING

My first ride of the month was one of the most memorable of the year.  He served in the marine corps and as a defense contractor for eleven years in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan.  Many of his experiences still haunt him, including losing three of his friends when our embassy was attacked.  He was willing to share part of his story with me on an early morning ride.

He was born in Japan on a military base and he told me an incredible story.  The Emperor of Japan was still alive and there was a law that anyone born in Japan belonged to the State.  He told me, "My parents had to sue the Emperor to keep me."  He is working locally and still has security clearance and keeps up with events overseas.  I hope he finds some peace.

THE FIGHTER

In January I should hit 15,000 total rides.  I have had a lot of good rides and many great rides and a handful of unforgettable rides. I picked up the above woman from a very nice hotel in Isle of Palms, near Charleston, South Carolina and it was one of my best rides ever.  She had just had a free night there after winning a contest run by a local business.  She wrote a twenty page essay on how she just survived breast cancer.

She is a pre-school teacher and after a self-exam she received the bad news from her doctor.  Over a year and a half she went through radiation, chemo, and finally surgery.  During this time while she took care of her two sons, she also started college and wrote a book.  The book is for children and explains to them why their parent is sick with cancer.  She is self-publishing the book and is having it edited now.

She inspired me and at the end of the ride insisted on giving me the pink sash she is wearing above.  It says "FIGHTER" and has the breast cancer insignia on it.  She wanted me to hang it in my car for others to see and thirty minutes later I put it in front of my car above the money hanging over my head. Her words of wisdom were simple, "Your situation is not your destination."  This picture will also go in the car so my passengers can see and hear about this fighter, a real winner in life. 

KITESURFING ANYONE?

People move to The South for many reasons, but my last ride of the month was easily the most fascinating one.  My rider moved from Vermont to the Charleston area because he wanted to live in a place that had very good conditions for kitesurfing.  He learned it on his own and explained it in detail to me what it is.  I have seen this pictured above, but I didn't know it was called kitesurfing.  It's also referred to as kiteboarding.  It's a sport of finesse that you use the wind to lift you off the water sometimes 50-100 feet in the air.

His interesting hobby almost prevented me from hearing about his incredible journey he took a few years ago: he sailed around the world for almost two years.  He joined his dad and a group of sailors on twenty boats with around one hundred people who made this journey together.  He was grateful to have spent the time with his dad.  This once in a lifetime experience has brought him new challenges in trying to adjust to normal living after spending so much time on just appreciating very simple living.  I have no doubt he will find his challenges and excitement in other places and I encouraged him to start fresh as a professional athlete would after retiring.  It was a great way to end the month and be thankful for what I have and for Thanksgiving in a few days.

THE "UN-RUDY"

The young couple immediately had me laughing.  He said he was a field goal kicker for Notre Dame and I said THE Notre Dame? He made a comment about another Notre Dame and then I realized he was playing for THE Notre Dame. He had only been kicking for a year and he was a walk-on there.  I said, "It must be great to be the field goal kicker for THE Notre Dame Fighting Irish." He replied, "It is and I'm paying $83,000 a year to do it."

One of the greatest sports movies of all-time was, "Rudy," who was a walk-on to Notre Dame and got to play in one game due to his persistence.  He told me that he met Joe Montana, the Hall of Fame quarterback, who went to school at Notre Dame.  He told me that Montana was not a fan of the movie. Still, I was a fan of this guy who was living the dream and I wished him well.

GETTING READY FOR THE PROS?

I don't recall ever having a current college football player for a major school in my car, but this guy was on the LSU football team.  Although he is a cornerback and on the team, he is not playing this year.  They have been trying to "grow" him by giving him a strict diet.  He told me, "I'm eating five pounds of steak a week."  He also runs track and plays volleyball and has incredible leaping ability.  He currently has deals with Puma and Nike and is enjoying his college experience.  He had a terrific personality and I'm sure whatever his future is, he's going to do very well.

HISTORY WITH A COLLEGE PROFESSOR

I had only four miles to drive this woman to the airport and I tried to convince her to skip her flight so I could talk to her longer.  She teaches locally and I told her a couple history stories from my Uber adventures.  When I told her I drove someone locally whose mom worked with Eleanor Roosevelt, she told me that, "She's my favorite person in history."  She was a tour guy in college at Eleanor Roosevelt's home in New York City.  She told me the house was a gift from FDR's mom, but the catch was that his mom was going to live there at the same time.  She also said, "The FBI had a big file on her, they thought she was a threat."  I would have been happy with another four miles with her, maybe next time.

THE BUFFALO MAFIA

I was going to pick up a Frank and as I pulled up I saw the above three people wearing shirts that said, "Mafia." They looked friendly and explained that as fans of The Buffalo Bills they are part of the "Buffalo Mafia." Their son was celebrating his 18th birthday and I took them to a bar/restaurant to watch the Bills game.  Frank and his wife are both hair stylists and they got a good laugh out of Lily, my mannequin. They were on their way to watch the Bills game. Their picture is now hanging in my car for future members of the "Buffalo Mafia."