Travis Guthmiller knows what it's like to break down on the road.

That's why the Medina man helped two travelers who were broken down with their wares in Cleveland get to the Bismarck Tribune Sport Show just a little behind schedule.

"He offered to pull us to Bismarck," said Drew Arnold, whose parents started Reeds Family Outdoor Outfitters in Walker, Minn., about 50 years ago. Reeds is doing its first Bismarck show.

"I travel a lot. I know how it is when you break down in middle of nowhere and don't know anybody," said Guthmiller, whose business, Guthmiller Earthmoving, has an office in Cleveland. "I figured if I help them, hopefully I don't break down in the future."

And help them he did, not only towing their trailer and its jumbled contents to the Bismarck Civic Center, but backing the trailer in and helping Arnold and E.J. Johnson, also of Reeds, unload its goods, with help from some Tribune volunteers.

Although Arnold offered to pay him, Guthmiller declined money.

"They gave me a little GPS. That's fine with me. They got to the show, and I have a new toy," said Guthmiller, 31.

The GPS unit not only will help Guthmiller navigate in cities, but also when he's hunting.

"He loves to hunt in Montana and Wyoming," Johnson said. "He's a great kid."

The three men and Guthmiller's Labrador retriever, Tuff, rode together in the cab of Guthmiller's diesel dooley.

Arnold and Johnson started their journey from Walker, Minn., at 3 a.m. Thursday. And everything was going fine until they got to Valley City.

"It was windy, maybe 30 miles per hour," said Arnold, who was driving. "Something happened to the left rear tire of the trailer. We did two 360s and jackknifed into the ditch," almost ending up in the Valley City police chief's backyard.

They got towed out and got the tires changed, with $10,000 to $15,000 damage to the truck, and no telling how much to the trailer.

They dropped the transmission and rear differential near Cleveland, and "limped to the Northern Lights Cafe," Arnold said.

When they asked if they could get help, they were pointed to Guthmiller.

"He had never pulled a load quite like that," Arnold said of the 34-foot trailer containing their inventory. "He backed us in and helped unload us."

"There was a lot of stuff in the trailer. It was all kind of messed around," Guthmiller said.

"It was left, right, upside down," Arnold said of their inventory.

Reeds goes to about two dozen sport shows a year, and they got a good response Friday, said Arnold. The Sport Show continues today from noon to 5 p.m.

Guthmiller got home at about 5:30 after the three-hour round trip to Bismarck and the trailer unpacking time.

"It worked out good," Guthmiller said. "We needed parts out of Bismarck, and I brought them back on my way home."

(Reach outdoor writer Richard Hinton at 250-8256 or richard.hinton@;bismarcktribune.com.)