CYCLES
He nodded at us, friendly-like. "You boys going on an adventure?"
I knew the answer to that one, but I didn't want to encourage him. I looked at Matt.
Matt smiled politely. He brushed his straw-like, blonde hair behind his ear and said, "Yep."
“Cool, I've done some riding, myself.” He smiled brighter. I don’t know how you can go from a genuine smile, to an even more genuine smile because it’s kind of like being more complete than complete, but he did it. “My name’s Ron.” He pointed at the stitched patch on the chest of his uniform, “But people call me Big Red!”
I felt like I was surely going to disappoint Big Red.
"How far you goin'? Doing the Cascades?" Big Red walked closer to us. His eyes scanned the bike with glee as he talked.
I focused on assisting Matt with the bike. I let him do the talking while I held the unwieldy cardboard in place.
Matt grabbed the bike frame securely. He glanced at Big Red and said, "Yeah, the Cascades, then uh- to Portland, Maine." He smiled with a twinkle in his eye, recognizing our naive audacity.
Big Red's eyes double in size and so did his agape smile. "Alright! That's the way. Wooo. You boys are in for it!"
Matt lifted the frame. It was caught on a bit of tape. He tugged with a bit too much force and momentarily lost his balance. I dutifully readjusted my hold and cleared any other tape that was threatening to slow our efforts.
Matt answered Big Red, "Yehp." He threw a knowing bashful glance at me. We were in for it alright.
Big Red stepped closer, "So, you been doing some centuries? You been watering up?" Big Red, damn it all, knew how to be friendly. He hooked his thumbs on his belt and rocked his hips.
I looked at Matt, trying to send him a telepathic message that indicated I hadn't the slightest idea what Big Red was talking about. Sure, centuries, decades, millenniums, we've been doing all of it. Watering up, watering down, out, every way you can water, we've been doing it. This is why I kept my mouth shut and fiddled with pieces of the bike still in the box, like I knew what to do with them other than hand them to Matt.
Matt bravely obliged Big Red's inquiries, "Um, not really. We did a little bit of riding. Nothing too long. I don't really buy into the watering up stuff." He chuckled at the end of his answer. Matt also knew how to be friendly, when he had no other alternatives. He flipped the frame of the bike over and balanced it upside down. He reached for and pointed at the rear wheel in the box. I handed it to him.
Big Red squatted down to our level, it gave him a better view of the bike and deeper sense of us. "Well, you'll work it out on the way, right?" He flashed a bonding grin at me, He turned his gaze toward the bike and stroked his beard, "You get in there and you pedal." His thoughts had shifted toward the bike. "That is quite the monster. A tandem, huh?" He shook his head in disbelief and admiration for our bravery.
“Yeah, I bought it for my girlfriend and me, couldn’t pass up the deal. I was working at a bike shop. Figured it’d be faster in the straight-aways with two of us on one bike.” Matt said as he attached the rear wheel.
I had moved from my post at the cardboard holding position to a new post, bike frame steadying position. A vital role in bicycle assembly for those of you unfamiliar with bike mechanic work. Bike frame steadying prevents bike frame jiggle, you never want jiggle during assembly, trust me. Figuring I could handle the risk of distraction from the highly sensitive nature of my work, I said, “Yeah, and that way I didn’t have to buy a touring bike.” I smiled at Big Red and Matt.
Big Red took his eyes from the work being done on the rear wheel and glanced up at me with an ‘I gotcha ‘nod. He looked back to the wheel, he said. “I thought tandems were still all cantilever breaks. I thought the hubs wouldn’t take drums.” He had noticed the drum brake on the rear wheel. This was his way of indicating he knew his way around a bicycle.
Matt didn’t look up from his work, he reached back and grabbed one of the pedals from the box as he spoke. “Yeah, they are pretty much, but the MT3000 comes with a drum break compatible hub. It’s a Hugi. I guess they’re the best rear hubs in the world. I installed the drum before we left, didn’t want to blow out a tire coming down a mountain. Had to drill a couple extra braze-ons into the frame though. These aren’t really designed for extended tours.” Matt knew how to talk shop with the best of ‘em, and usually threw-out the techno babble at the beginning to discourage needless bullshit conversations.
Big Red raised his eyebrows slightly in acknowledgment of Matt’s expertise, yet held his own.“They won’t compromise the integrity of the frame?” He said. He was referring to the braze-ons, little holes in the frame with screws and nuts that can be used to affix racks, water bottles, and pumps, and what not to the frame.
“Hope not.” Matt flashed a big grin at Big Red.
Big Red smiled back.
I tried to smile, but to anyone watching from afar, they’d know that my smile was a thinly veiled attempt at hiding my real feeling of, ‘Wait, what’d you just say! You’re saying the holes I watched you drill into the frame may (or may not) make it crumble mid-ride?’ I didn’t say that though. Instead I forced an unconvincing smile, attempting to include myself in the smile bonding.
Big Red looked at his wrist watch. It was a diver’s watch. He said, “Well, I’m gonna let you boys do your thing. I gotta get back to work.” He stood up and stretched. “What were your names?”
“Matt.”
“Chris.”
We exchanged handshakes.
“Well, Matt and Chris, I wish you boys well, and I’m a little, well a lot envious. You’re gonna have one hell of a time on that bad boy.”
“Whatta’ ya’ talking about? It’s a she.” Matt said with feigned indignation.
Big Red paused his backward walk exit. “Oh, yeah? Did you name her?”
Matt and I exchanged guilty glances. We answered at almost, but not quite the same time, making it sound extra nerdy and clumsy. “Pamela Lee.”
Big Red smirked, “You boys are crazy. Safe travels.” He shook his head and walked off.
Matt and I felt cool for a moment.
I saw the glass doors beyond Big Red. The sun was lower, baggage claim had quieted, any clang, bang or loud speaker was now distant, it was twilight.
We spent the next hour getting the bike together. I stood on the bike and held the handle bars as Matt stood over the front wheel tightening and adjusting them.
“Hold it still, Marflake.”
“I am holding it. Trying to.”
“Does it look straight to you?”
“I guess. I can’t really tell.”
“I think it’s crooked. Hold it steady while I loosen it a bit.”
I held the handlebars. We finally got them in place, then I held the rear handle bars. Those were easier.
Then I held the cranks in place while Matt screwed on the clip pedals, no problem.
We attached the front and rear racks. We held the rear panniers in each arm, using our body as a balancing scale.
“I think this one’s heavier, maybe we should put something heavier in this one.”
We did the same with the rear panniers, then attached all of them to the bike, then strapped the sleeping bags to the rear panniers, but had trouble doing it with them on the bike, so we took them back off the bike, strapped the bags securely on the panniers and put everything back on the bike. Then we stacked the bed rolls and tent on the rear rack and tightened the straps.
I looked outside it was dark.
Matt studied a map. “Okay, it looks like we turn out of the airport drive, take a right then go down this road about a mile and the Econo-lodge is on the right.
“Cool.” I said. We were both ready to get the hell out of the baggage claim.
We donned our bike helmets, mine was blue, Matt’s was red. we’d already put on our special bike shoes that clipped into the clip pedals. We walked Pamela Lee toward the glass doors, our shoes clicking on the floor like tap dancers exiting a stage. We wore shorts and t-shirts, no need to change into bike clothes for a mile ride.
The air was crisp, a gentle summer wind blew across my ears, warm but summer evening warm. I felt the strap of the helmet on my cheek, that was going to take some adjusting. I heard a jet take off in the distance.
Matt straddled the front of the bike, the captain’s position. I straddled the back, the stoker. Matt pushed the left side pedal down and clipped in, I clipped in a moment after. Matt looked back at me, “Ready?”
I nodded.
We had to be in sync. We swung the left side pedal upward, then pushed down in unison as we lifted our bodies onto the seats and coasted forward. We clipped into the right side.
This was it, we were riding across the country and I was more concerned about finding the hotel and adjusting my uneven chin strap. We rode the quarter mile down the airport drive to the main drag and turned right onto the four-lane boulevard. Cars zoomed by, the air felt refreshing on my face and arms. I looked to the airport and saw another plane take off, I pedaled.
I looked to the other side and saw explosions in the sky, fireworks in the distance, it was that time, fourth of July, get your lawn chairs and look up into the night. We heard the crackle and the fizzle pop of the fading bloom of light, then another boom! Cars zipped by as I looked upward, a giant green chrysanthemum. I looked back to the road, I saw it’s remains reflected on the passing cars.
I couldn’t believe the serendipity. We didn’t plan to start our trip across America ushered by an old-fashioned fourth of July fireworks display in honor of the land we were setting out to pedal across. Matt glanced back at me laughing.
“Crazy!” Matt said, looking back to the sky.
I smiled back and nodded, “Yeah.”
Boom, Boom, BOOM! Light streams, flashes and flares, fizzle, crackle, BOOM, crackle, crackle in the sky. On the road, zoom, whiz, honk. In my head I was clear, taking it all in, telling myself to remember.
I remember.
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This is the second part of Chapter One of the very first draft of a book I'm writing, You can click here for CHAPTER ONE PART ONE. You're getting it as I'm writing it, so there are mistakes, fat, gems, and things that will be cut, and gems that have not yet been mined. I hope you enjoy seeing me write A book in chapter order. It's propelling me to write!