Page 22 of Shared By the Mountain Men

He hefted the bottle of Jim Beam. “That’s Jimmy. He makes me introspective.” Using the same hand that was holding the bottle, he pointed his index finger at me. “This is your rare glimpse of honesty from me. Help me remember in the morning, when I’m sober?”

I yanked the bottle from him, took another sip, and slammed it down on the table. “You’ve got a deal. Though I doubt you’ll want to hear it.”

“That’s why I asked someone like you to tell me.”

“A stranger?”

“A bitch,” he replied with a toothy grin. “I know I can trust you to bluntly tell me what I need to hear.”

One of the cats jumped up onto the railing next to Jack’s feet. It swished its tail angrily.

“Fuck off, Joline. Jealous girl.”

The cat hissed at me, then looked expectantly at Jack again.

“Looks like that’s my cue to leave,” I said, rising on my unsteady ankle. I carefully walked down the porch steps and took the bike from where I had rested it.

Suddenly, Jack lowered his feet from the railing and stood up. “Where’d you get that bike?”

“Ash gave it to me.”

“He gave you…” Jack trailed off in a fit of laughter, growing in intensity until he was doubled over the railing.

“What’s so funny I demanded?”

“Jack sat back down and propped his feet up again. “You wouldn’t get the joke.”

His laughter followed me all the way to my cabin.

10

Melissa

I spent the next morning drinking my coffee on the porch while staring at the bike chained to the railing. Why had Jack laughed when he found out Ash had lent it to me? It looked like a totally normal mountain bike. The paint was faded in a few places, and there were several spots of dried mud, but otherwise it appeared perfectly serviceable.

There was something on the stem beneath the handlebars that caught my attention. I put down my coffee and limped over to the bike to get a closer look. Wrapped around the metal stem were six plastic bands of different colors, similar to the ones that went on your wrist at a special event. They were overlapping, so I splayed them out to read each one individually.

RAGBRAI 2017

RAGBRAI 2018

RAGBRAI 2019

RAGBRAI 2021

RAGBRAI 2022

RAGBRAI 2023

“The hell is RAGBRAI?” I wondered out loud.

I finished my coffee, changed out of my pajamas, and then took the bike for a spin. It immediately occurred to me that I hadn’t ridden a bike in over a decade, but after a few wobbles it immediately came back to me.

I circled the campsite a few times, ignoring the looks from two little boys on their own bikes, and then turned onto the trail that ran along the river. To my surprise—and relief—my ankle didn’t hurt at all while pedaling; the circular motion didn’t extend my foot upward in the same way hiking did. Riding the bike was smooth and painless.

My trek across Colorado would have gone a lot faster on a bike than on foot.

The riverside trail extended all the way into town—it wasn’t as direct as the road I had followed yesterday, but it was still a quick trip on a bicycle. I rode up the main street until I found an enticing looking brunch spot, then pulled over and chained the bike up out front.

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