The Ride - Chapter 8 (this one's for Gene)

[OMR]

Glen suddenly became aware that he was standing on the side of the main fire road that ran through the park with the now hot sun warming his face. That’s impossible, he thought. I was just on a trail, in the dark, chasing another rider… another rider that had turned out to be himself. That’s impossible, he thought again. I’m here… not there, or wherever “there” really was. But Glen couldn’t deny that he was standing astride his bike, on a familiar trail and not touching some phantom rider that happened to look a lot like him. No, that rider looked exactly like him, same STR jersey… but something was else was different and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Something about the face and then it dawned on him. The other rider had been a younger version of himself. There was no scar across the bridge of the nose. He wondered how he could remember seeing all this in the flash of a moment before the rider had screamed and fallen. That’s right, he thought, the other rider had screamed and fallen when Glen touched him. It had been dark then and he had been a very long way from where he was now standing.

Glen turned to look for the opening announcing the strange trail, but there was nothing to be seen. He was quite sure this had been the section of the trail where he had seen the trail leading to the right between the large coastal oaks. Yet, the more Glen searched, the more he became confused. How could a trail suddenly appear and disappear at will? But then, this was all too familiar as he had searched many years ago for that same opening and not been able to find it until now. Why now? Why at this particular time?

Glen glanced at his watch and saw that only 25 minutes had passed since he left his car trying to catch the other riders in his group. No way! Glen thought. I rode for hours on that trail. Yet his watch and the sun, still low in the early morning sky, stared back at him. There were just too many questions that were flooding his mind now. Pushing them down into the back recesses of his mind, he decided that he had had enough riding for the day and it was time to head back to the car.

Clipping into the pedals, Glen started back down the main trail. He picked up speed and he went to shift into a higher gear, when it dawned on him that this was not his bike. He braked hard and came to a complete stop, dirt swirling in the still air from the sliding stop. The bike was a black Curtlo 29er and not his XC Blur that he had been riding… but this one was a single speed with purple Grafton cranks. Wait a minute… wait a minute!! His bike at home was a black Curtlo 29er with purple Grafton cranks that John Grafton had given him for doing product testing when John was first developing his Joy Stick cranks. There couldn’t be two bikes set up exactly the same … could there?

Glen looked around for his other bike. But the only thing he saw was an empty trail and a small bunny crossing the fire road several hundred yards away. Had he been riding his single speed bike all the time? Glen was beginning to think he didn’t know what to think. In fact he wasn’t sure that now maybe it had all been a dream … or maybe a flash back from that LSD he had taken in college so long ago. But it just all seemed so real. But it wasn’t… it couldn’t be. Maybe he was losing his mind? Glen just wanted to get back home…. Back to Sandy… back to the comfort of safe surroundings….Now!

Arriving back at his car, he noticed that several other riders that he knew had pulled into the parking lot and were pulling their bikes off their cars. Glen rolled over to one rider who he knew as the Gene from the STR Mountain Biking board and asked him what time and day it was, just to verify what he thought he knew. First Gene looked at him strangely, noticing the watch Glen was wearing and then said it was a little before 10 am and it was Friday… a holiday…. all day… then gave Glen an odd look again.

Yeah, that all checked out, Glen thought. He must have only imagined the trail, the other rider… perhaps it had been festering in the back of his mind … the lost trail, Sandy suddenly “coming back to life” so many years ago. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. He just couldn’t seem to think everything straight right now. That’s when Gene asked him what he was doing riding with a flashlight clipped to his Camelback water pack?

The flashlight! The trusty brown plastic official Boy Scout flashlight with a compass built into the handle. It was now firmly clipped to the Camelback. Glen un-clipped the flashlight and flicked it on and off several times just to re-assure himself that it was real. Gene repeated his question. Glen stared at him, unable to speak. Gene finally said whatever, dude, and turned to pump up one of his tires up.

Glen quickly stored his bike on his car’s rack, changed shoes, threw his helmet in the back seat and sped out of the parking lot. Several riders looked curiously at him as he accelerated past them. He glanced in the rear view mirror and saw them gather in a group and continued to watch him until his car turned the corner at the end of the block. That’s odd, Glen thought. I wasn’t speeding that fast … I wonder what they were looking at. But all thoughts of the watchful riders left his mind the near he got to home.

As he pulled into the driveway, he couldn’t help but noticed that his house looked somehow different. It was still the same two-story painted blue with white trim and a flag hanging above the porch. But there was something different about it. Again, he could not quite put his finger on it. The door opened with his key and he called out Sandy’s name, announcing that he was home. But the home had a hollow feel to it… an empty feeling. Maybe Sandy had gotten up, had breakfast and decided to go out… maybe for a road ride. Glen opened the door in the kitchen that went to the garage and didn’t see Sandy’s bike hanging there… but there was his XC bike safe and sound. He must have been mistaken when choosing a bike to ride this morning. He must have taken the Curtlo and only thought he had taken the Blur. Then he remembered the flashlight… and things didn’t make sense again.

Glen took the stairs to their bedroom on the 2nd story two at a time. Opening the bedroom door, Sandy was not in bed. Only the rumpled sheets greeted him. Must have gone for that road ride, Glen thought. Shedding his clothes, he turned the shower on, hoping a good hot soak would help sooth his mind which continued to spin at a mind numbing rate. Somehow the hot clouds of steam made him felt better… better that is until he happened to notice that all of Sandy’s hair and make-up were gone from the bathroom counter. Quickly opening the medicine cabinet, he could find nothing of Sandy’s. Running naked into the bedroom, Glen pulled open the drawer on Sandy’s side of the dresser… only to find his underwear and socks looking back at him. Turning to open the mirrored closet doors, Glen caught a glance of his face and he didn’t like what he saw… confusion and panic. Rolling the heavy door back on its hinges, Glen glanced into the closet and found nothing but his own clothes. Not even an empty hanger was left from Sandy’s clothes that had previously hung in neat rows. Sandy was very organized that way. Glen was not. His side of the large closet had always been a riot of color while hers was thoughtfully organized in a color coordinated manner. Now only Glen’s clothes hung in disarray throughout. The rack that had been holding all of Sandy’s shoes was also gone.

Slowly walking back into the empty bedroom, Glen glanced at the top of the dresser… looking for that picture of the two of them on the top of Saddleback Mountain in the snow on their bikes. That had been a particular favorite one of Sandy and Glen as she had been proud that her tires were the first to make tracks in the snow on top of that frozen peak. But the only one in that picture standing beside a bike in the snow was Glen. There were only his tracks in the snow. She was in none of the pictures. Only shots of him on Half Dome, camping in Moab, boarding in Utah… all only of him… alone. It began to dawn on Glen there was no Sandy…. anywhere.

She had simply been erased from Glen’s life.

[PacMan]

Chapter 9 please. Post haste!!

[OMR]

Originally Posted by PacMan

Chapter 9 please. Post haste!!

My little fingers can only type so fast....are you beginning to get where I'm going with this???

[foofighter]

see what happens when you take that path! you loose your wife! even though she should have technically been dead to begin with.

[genusmtbkr5]

Wow, can't even begin to imagine where this is going. There always seems to be a twist. Great stuff! Thanks OMR!

[OMR]

Why does this suddenly publish now with Font = New Times Roman and Size = 3??? What should I be using not to have this happen... like it use to be??? Makes it hard for grasshoppers to read.

[foofighter]

george disabled the font features

[OMR]

Originally Posted by foofighter

george disabled the font features

Understood, then what font and size should I be using???

[PacMan]

Originally Posted by OMR

My little fingers can only type so fast....are you beginning to get where I'm going with this???

Ya, but I'm torn between trying to figure it out and not thinking about it and just seeing where it goes.

[foofighter]

Originally Posted by OMR

Understood, then what font and size should I be using???

i dunno we'll have to consult the jefe

[genusmtbkr5]

Originally Posted by OMR

Understood, then what font and size should I be using???

I editted it so it can be read easiler. For now, just stay with the standard text and size. All that can be changed is color, bold, italic or underline.

[OMR]

Originally Posted by PacMan

Ya, but I'm torn between tying to figure it out and not thinking about it and just see where it goes.

Sorta like finding a good new single track....

Originally Posted by genusmtbkr5

I editted it so it can be read easiler. For now, just stay with the standard text and size. All that can be changed is color, bold, italic or underline.

What is the standard text and size??... I'm creating this in a word doc and pasting it into the thread.

[genusmtbkr5]

Originally Posted by OMR

What is the standard text and size??... I'm creating this in a word doc and pasting it into the thread.

Try Veranda, size 2

[doulos]

I went on vacation fo a week and a half and did some catching up on the RIDE! I agree... I don't know where this is going to but I need to know what's going to happen next. That must suck... losing your wife twice.

[OMR]

Originally Posted by doulos

I went on vacation fo a week and a half and did some catching up on the RIDE! I agree... I don't know where this is going to but I need to know what's going to happen next. That must suck... losing your wife twice.

He he he he....

[bighit8]

I need chapters 1 through 6. Can you e-mail them to me.I'm just getting in on this. I am an avid reader and this is gonna kill me.

[un-kola]

Originally Posted by OMR

My little fingers can only type so fast....are you beginning to get where I'm going with this???

You're making a soap opera junkie outta me!This is great stuff. Thanks OMR.-Lloyd

[OMR]

Originally Posted by bighit8

I need chapters