By Brandon Case
Pratt cycler and columnist
Special to the Tribune

Joe Strohl saved the night. Here’s how.

It had been a great night ride, until bicycle’s rear tire flatted 10 miles southeast of Pratt. Slime tube sealant oozed out of the tire onto the rim.

After removing the bad tube, wiping out the Slime and checking both inside and outside the tire for goatheads (removed two), I installed a new tube.

I would soon be on my way. Wrong.

The tube wasn’t taking air, and the air pump kept seizing up as I rapidly pushed the handle up and down. Problem-solving time. First, I removed the valve stem core and replaced it with a new one. Then, I took apart and put back together the air pump several times (in between rapid pumping efforts), finally using some chain lube on the shaft, which seemed to help. Unfortunately, I heard air escaping whenever I stopped pumping and soon realized the air pump was leaking air at about the same rate I was pumping it into the tube.

I somehow managed to get 4-5 psi of air into the new tube, reinstalled the tire, loaded everything back into the panniers (including the bad tube), and slowly rode a little over a mile west and north toward the house with the bright light. I hoped that someone would be there and have an air pump or air compressor.

I noisily ground down the gravel drive leading to the door, also noticing a light was on inside the house.

I knocked on the front door. No answer, although a security light turned on as I stepped onto the porch. I waited and knocked again. Still no answer. I started to leave, and that’s when Joe Strohl came to the door.

I asked him if I could use the small air tank I had almost tripped over on my way up to the door, explaining my predicament. He said sure, went back inside and then came back outside with a flashlight.

Unfortunately, the air tank had bled out all of its air, and he didn’t have a hand pump.

However, he offered, more than once, to take me and my bicycle back into Pratt. I gratefully accepted, considering the alternative.

On our trip north, I learned that he grew up in the St. Leo area of Kingman County, worked for OneOK (aka Kansas Gas Service), and has a daughter who works at the hospital.

“Nobody has ever knocked on that door,” he told me and initially questioned who or what it might be.

I expressed thanks that he answered the door and also for the ride into town, which surely prevented the bicycle rim and tire from being ruined.

Merry Christmas, Joe Strohl, and all the others out there who take the risk and help a stranger.