What I consider beautiful about Anguilla: The People

By: Cailan Fleming

On Sunday I woke up at 5 o’clock in the morning. Up before the sun, I was heading out on my usual Sunday morning ride. I checked my tire pressure and filled my water bottles. I was off on what was supposed to be a long solo day on the bike. I headed east.

I rode by myself for an hour while I watched the gorgeous sunrise and admired the island. It was a good ride until I heard a loud sound. It sounded like a balloon bust, but 10 times louder.

My bike suddenly began to slow down, I looked down and my front tire was flat. Of all mornings, it had to be the morning I forgot my phone at home. I said to myself my ride is over and it looks like I’m walking home.

Within a minute another cyclist came up to me and stopped, saw I was flat and offered me a tube. This cyclist was a stranger to me. He looked like someone about 30-40 years old. When the bike was fixed and ready to go we rode together. That was one of my favorite rides.

We rode and talked about cycling, sometimes arguing about who is the fastest cyclists and who is going to win the biggest cycling event of the year, the Tour de France. The normal factors that would play in my rides like pain and hunger played no part in that day’s ride. We rode for miles.

It was only when I reached home it hit me: I had spent my whole morning talking to a complete stranger. That is the beauty of Anguilla’s people. That man who I did not know, offered me a tube and saved my Sunday ride.  I now have another cyclist to train with.

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