More on Paying it Forward

Nanda, the recent winner of the Po Campo loop pannier in the "Paying it Forward" contest wrote to follow up on receipt of her new bag. She had such a great story that I thought it would be great to share with others, so here we go. Nanda writes:

"I was riding on a multi-use rails-to-trails type path that connects my town with the next town over (and helps cyclists cross a major highway and get back on friendlier rural roads). A huge windstorm had knocked several small trees over, blocking the path,

*Image from Nanda

so I remembered my promise to pay it forward, went home (only a couple of miles), got a saw, and fixed the situation --the town would have been quick to fix it, but this was over a holiday weekend...which means it would have been a few days before anyone got the message to go do some maintenance. 

*Image from Nanda

I forgot to take an "after" picture. But you can imagine a clear path. : ) I neglected to mention that my husband was the one who pointed out the fact that no one would clear the trail for days. And he packed up the saw for me so we could carry it back to the trail, but he elected to avoid sawing and moving logs due to a back injury (which we hope will heal soon). And it really was just about a mile and a half from home -- absolutely nothing on a road bike. It probably took longer to pack the saw in cardboard and find a backpack than it did to travel back and forth to the down treed."

I enjoyed reading this story from Nanda, and thought it was a great example of helping out others and expecting nothing in return... and in case anyone is wondering how that Po Campo bag is doing, she sent along a picture of that as well.

*Image from Nanda

The pannier looks great on your bike, Nanda, and I'm glad to see you're getting good use out of it. Ride on, and use it in good health (hopefully, your husband will be feeling better soon, too).