Chapter Two
Lunch was at a gorgeous beach at the halfway point of the day. Despite a slight fall chill, there were a good number of people at the shore, in addition to the riders and crew, enjoying the cloudless day. Jason, Drew, Kyle, and Diane sat on a concrete barrier, watching the waves roll in and out while they finished lunch.
Jason caught a flash of red hair glistening in the sun. His heart fluttered a little bit seeing Ben’s handsome yet tired expression as he rested his bike against a tree.
“Hey, Ben!” Jason waved.
It took Ben a moment to spot him. He returned the wave and offered a weary smile.
“Hey! Let me grab some food and I’ll be over.”
“Who’s that?” Diane asked.
“The guy I helped with the flat earlier. First year. Nice guy.”
“And not bad looking either,” said Drew.
Ben joined them, and there were introductions all around.
“How’s it been going?” Jason asked as Ben sat down next to him.
“I thought it was bad enough that I walked up the big hill this morning, but the hills keep coming. Didn’t someone say it flattened out after the big climb?” Ben took a big bite out of his turkey sandwich.
“It’s all relative,” Drew said. “Compared to that monster, it might as well be flat. It doesn’t truly smooth out until about the last twenty miles.”
“I swear the elevation chart is deceptive.”
“I stopped looking at that after the first year.” Jason nibbled on a peanut butter cookie he’d picked up with lunch. “It caused more trouble for my mental health than it was worth. Now I only pay attention to the mileage between rest stops.”
“At least the scenery is awesome and the people are fun. Coming in here I was with iPod guy again. We arrived to the soundtrack from Priscilla. That music kept me going.”
Jason loved how, even through the tiredness he heard in Ben’s voice, the newbie sounded happy. He might even call it content, although the contentment might also come from being on the beach on a gorgeous day.
“Jason mentioned you all met each other on your first year. It’s cool how you all became a team.”
Diane nodded. “That first day I managed to round up some great company. My girlfriend is on the crew now. Michele wasn’t having any more of the biking, but she’s here. You can meet her at dinner tonight. She’s out in a van somewhere.”
“That’s great she still comes with you even though she doesn’t want to ride,” Ben said.
“We lost a friend a few years ago and wanted to give back in his honor. People forget that the virus still kills people so….”
Ben nodded and Drew put his hand on Diane’s.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to bring us all down.” Her voice swung back to the energetic tone she’d started with.
“Not at all,” Ben said.
“Anyway.” Diane strung that word out to further the transition. “I met Jason at lunch. We were getting food and got talking about a neighborhood we’d passed through with spectators holding up signs and waiving at the riders. That support was incredible. He joined Michele and me after lunch.”
“They found us toward the end of that day.” Drew laid his head on Kyle’s shoulder. “Michele helped me deal with a chain that had come off.”
Watching Drew and Kyle always made Jason ridiculously happy. The ride had a few couples on it, but something about Drew and Kyle with the way they looked out for each other and checked in was special. Sometimes it was as simple as a look across a parking lot—a cocked eyebrow or variation on a smile—other times it was bringing food, or a drink or simply quiet chatter in areas of the road where it was safe to ride side by side. Jason hoped to one day have the kind of tight relationship they did.
“So cool that you’re all so close? All of you in the city?” Ben dug into his bag of chips and popped a couple barbeque ones in his mouth.
“We bailed out last year to Seattle,” Kyle said.
“But we couldn’t miss this,” Drew added.
“And I thought I was crazy shipping a bike from Chicago.”
“It’s crazy how much that costs, isn’t it?” Kyle made a shocked face as Drew talked.
“Right!” Ben got extra loud and animated. “I couldn’t believe it. I’d have rather just given that money to the ride itself. But, what can you do? The bike has to be here.”
“Move back.” Jason nudged Kyle’s foot with his own.
“Doubtful. We really like the house we found. Come visit and see for yourself.”
“Don’t you go recruiting people to the West Coast,” Diane said in her best faux stern voice.
“No way. New Yorker through and through.” Jason reassured her while Ben chuckled and Drew and Kyle shook their heads.
“Lunch closes in twenty minutes!” The dreaded announcement came from one of the crew members working at the food table.
“Oh man, I get less and less time at each stop. You guys should get going if you’re ready. Don’t wait for my slow ass. I’m probably going to use at least fifteen of the twenty minutes.” Ben took another big bite of his sandwich.
“You sure?” Jason was happy to wait even if his friends wanted to move on.
“We can hang for a bit longer.” Kyle made no move to get up.
“No man left behind,” Diane said. “You’re already an honorary member of our little pack just by having lunch with us.
Jason knew Ben would be welcomed, but loved that they made it clear that he was a teammate now.
Ben shook his head as he swallowed the last of his food. “I’m good, seriously.”
“All right.” Jason clapped Ben on the back as the others collected their lunch trash. He knew better than to try to nudge someone along. “We’ll see you later.” He stopped short of standing and pulled his phone out of his jersey. “What’s your number? Let’s trade in case you want to message before we’re at the hotel.”
“Oh, thanks man.” Ben gave his number. Once Jason entered it, he called so Ben’s phone had his.
“It’s always good to have people’s numbers out here.” Jason pocketed his phone and stood. “See you down the road.”
“Absolutely.”
Fun fact: In this chapter I make mention of people standing alongside the road waving signs and supporting the riders. It always inspired me when people took the time out of their weekend to hang out in their yard, have signs and cheer us all along. There’s one person through the years who stands out. He was a young man, probably 10 or 11, and he’d wait in his yard all day Saturday to cheer the riders. The first year I saw him, I was riding alone and his presence and enthusiasm for the ride bolstered me along to the next rest stop. The next year, my friends and I stopped to say hello and thanked him for being out there with his sign. I hope now, that he must be in his late teens or early 20s, that he remembers all the riders trying to do some good in the world and that he’s doing the same in some capacity.
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