It was such a fine November afternoon, it was the first day of falling back into time, the boy knew that as his old friend Roger used to say, he should be burning daylight. So the boy put on his bicycle clothes and set out on his Italian Basso bicycle, but the back tire was flat. So the boy returned and got his Canadian Miele bicycle and aired up the two tires, and set out. But the seat was too low so the boy returned home to find an Allen wrench to raise the seat. The boy started out again but his Cateye Astrale 8 distant and speed computer would not work. So he got off the bike and tried to make it work. It would not work, no matter what the boy did. So the boy said, I do not care about the speed and the distance, I shall just ride until I decide to turn around. So the boy set out and he rode. He rode past the Pounds Hammock where the yellow flowers were in the wet ditches from the previous nights rain. He rode past the Gateway College and the new library and out toward US90 on the newly paved college entrance curving road around the municipal airport. It was a smooth ride on the 23c continental tires aired to about 90psi. The boy said to himself, what a foolish boy I am! I packed a pump and a tire wrench, but I did not pack a tube! What good would a pump and tire lever do the boy if he had a flat? Well, the boy had the Apple IPhone4 and he determined he would call his mommy if he had a flat.
She would come and bring him home if he got tired or had a flat. But the boy did not have a flat and as he turned off the four-lane divided US90 by the big cold storage plant and ambled down Still Road , he crossed the still warm railroad tracks from the train that had just passed. He rode and rode in the pine wood forest of the Osceola and thought of the huge Canebrake rattlesnake he once saw crossing the road, and how he stopped and the Canebrake let him take his picture. The boy liked Canebrakes, even if no one else did and tried to run them over. Well, the boy came to the place he thought would be a good turning around place. It was the crooked pine tree with the placard way up high out of reach around its trunk that said, "Judy's Tree". The boy several years ago came with his friend Steve and they placed the placard on the tree in memory of their friend Judy, who they used to ride around in the woods with in her old Chevy pickup truck and her little mutt dog. Judy died of cancer and the boy was very sad every time he rode by Judy's tree. There was one little yellow flower growing beside the tree and he took a picture, thinking, Judy probably would appreciate that.
The ride back was less tiresome as the wind was to his back and he was able to speed along, though speeding to the boy was around 13 miles per hour. He promised he would not tell his playmate Rick who liked to speed along over 20 miles per hour.
It was a good ride and it was over all too soon. And it was only four and the burning daylight was already winding down. The boy did not like the new time, but he had no say in the matter, so he just accepted it.
He put the bike back in the shed next to the Basso and took the Astrale inside with him to put a new 2032 battery in it so next time he rode, he would know exactly how far sixteen miles were and how fast twelve miles per hour was, but it really did not matter to the boy. The boy was just glad to ride his bicycle.
