I managed to choke down two biscuits at breakfast. I was encouraged to eat more to help keep my strength up but I just couldn’t do it. I also couldn’t manage to keep from crying. I tried telling people that I was just super excited to get going and that they were tears of anticipation but apparently no one had really ever heard of tears of anticipation before and they weren’t buying it.
After breakfast, we lined up for our group picture and then took the bikes on a final test run around the yard. And as I live and breathe, a miracle occurred. As Tim was riding bike #2 around the yard, the chain broke. Hallelujah! Suddenly the skies parted and the angels sang and I was transported to a beautiful place filled with lollipops and rainbows. And then, simply by uttering, “Well, good thing we have an extra bike,” Dave brought me crashing back to reality. An extra bike? When did we get an extra bike? And there I was, sitting astride bike #8, a bike that I didn’t even know existed. This was worse than before! Obviously bike #2 was an evil thing. It had thrown me off countless times. It had pushed me off of a bridge and dumped me into patches of grass. But at least I had some idea of how bike #2 operated. This bike #8 was a whole new animal.
As we pedaled out of the yard I realized that my brakes weren’t working. Could it be possible? Two miracles in one day? I called out to Dave that the brakes didn’t work on this new bike. He stopped and pulled out his small tool kit. He knelt by my bike, did something to something, and then declared that it would be fine to ride. I tried to argue that it was obvious I wasn’t meant to go on this trip but he just smiled and ordered me to the front of the group.
And so our three-day bike trip began.
photo by: ranwar http://www.flickr.com/photos/ranwar/5418007857/
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