I met a gentleman over a cup of coffee yesterday. We started talking while waiting in line to order our drinks. We struck up a conversation and continued to talk as we drank our coffee. I’m pretty sure that our entire conversation was over in about 15 minutes. We had never before met. I doubt if we will ever meet again. Still, I know quite a bit about him.

He is sixty-five years old. His mother will turn 90 on her birthday which is a couple of days after our daughter’s birthday. This is significant for a couple of reasons. We plan to be with our daughter on her birthday and he plans to be with his mother on her birthday. His trip to visit his mother involved flying into Vancouver, BC. Our visit to our daughter will involve flying out of Vancouver, BC.

Besides being in line at a coffee shop and both being somewhat outgoing and interested in other people, the thing that sparked our conversation is that we both arrived at the coffee shop on bicycles. He pulled up a little bit ahead of me, but I saw him riding his bike as I approached the shop. We both were wearing high visibility clothing, but both of us had left our helmets outside with our bikes when we entered the shop.

If he remembers anything about me, it would be that I am six years older than he and that I have a new-to-me electric bicycle. If he doesn’t remember my age, he might remember that he said he might consider getting an electric bicycle when he turns 70 and I waited until after I was 70 to get mine. He might remember that I am shorter than him, that I am nearly bald on top and have a white beard. He might remember that I had a plain cup of decaf coffee. At least I remember that he had four shots of espresso in his drink.

He’ll need the energy. He is on a solo bike trip from Vancouver, BC to the Los Angeles area of California. That’s a trip of over 1,300 miles. He’s traveling solo and he’s traveling light. There wasn’t much luggage on his bike. A trip of that distance means that part of the gear on his bike would be a few tools, spare inner tubes, maybe a few spare spokes, and probably some lubricant.

Of course there are a lot of things about him that I do not know. I don’t know if he has siblings who will be present for his mother’s birthday. I don’t know if he is married or involved in a significant relationship. I don’t know if he has someone he calls on the phone to report his progress. I don’t know if he crossed the border on a Canadian or US Passport, and it is possible he is a citizen of some other country and flew from that country to Canada. He speaks English well and without a significant accent from my point of view.

I don’t know if he will vote in the US Presidential election in November or how he plans to vote if he does. The subject didn’t come up in our conversation.

I know that he had to ride in the rain for the first 40 miles of his trip from the airport to Blaine and that he crossed the international border at Peace Arch in Blaine. That was the first day of his trip. I don’t know what time his flight arrived in Vancouver or how long it took him to go that distance. I do know that he will have to have several days when he rides longer distances if he is to make his goal. I do know that he headed off into a swift headwind. I stayed at the shop a little longer than he. At 71, I don’t pass up many opportunities to use the rest room. I headed off in the same direction he was going, but didn’t catch up to him before it was time for me to turn up the hill to my house.

We live for connection with others. We naturally look for the things we have in common. There is joy in conversation about a common topic even if there are many other topics about which we have not connected. I hope that our brief connection gave him a bit of joy in a day that will include frustration and hard work. I imagine that such a long trip alone on a bicycle will give him plenty of time for solitude and reflection. I know my mind wanders when I ride my bike. A long trip by bike might provide an opportunity for self reflection and even self evaluation. I know my mother took the longest bicycle rides of her life as she processed the grief of my father’s death. She was a bit younger than the man I met yesterday at the time. It is possible that he has know a deep loss. I know that my brother, who wrote a book about riding his bicycle from the West Coast to the East Coast of the US twice, did a lot of reflecting and had his way of thinking changed by his long trips. Neither my mother nor my brother traveled those distances alone, however. It will be different for the man I met yesterday.

I wish I had a way of knowing more of his story. It would be fun to be able to follow his progress. He’s going to pass through some very beautiful country, but it is possible that clouds and smoke will prevent him from seeing some of the scenery. He could have some very warm days as he heads south and he’ll need to be able to carry lots of water for some portions of his ride. I hope he is prepared for the rigors of the journey. I pray for his safety. An injury could derail his plans. An accident could make him late for the celebration.

Along the way he will certainly meet a lot more people. Some of them he will get to know better than was possible for him with me. If he made the progress I expected yesterday, he’ll face partly sunny skies and a high in the seventies today. It could be ten degrees warmer for him the next day and he might need sunscreen. By then he may have forgotten the guy he met at the coffee shop the morning of the second day of his trip. After all we never did learn each other’s names.