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I opened the box to see a two high-end Bluetooth over-the-ear device. Bridges grabbed my phone and connected it to my device before he put his over his ear and connected it to his cellphone that was in a holster on his belt. “Call me.”

He handed over my phone, and I scrolled to his name from my list of contacts. His phone rang once before he connected. We both smiled.

“Okay. Stay connected. If you need anything, tell me. You can drop a pin, and I can get the other bike and find you. Please, please be careful.” He pulled the keys to the RV from the pocket of his track suit.

“I know it’s an expensive bike. I’ll be careful with it.”

I lifted my leg over the seat and kicked up the stand before Bridges stepped in front of the front tire.

“I don’t give a shit about the bike. I can build a hundred more that will be much better. You take care of you. Don’t take off yet. I’ve got a hydration backpack for you with water, and I’m going to strap an inflated spare tire to your back in case you have a flat. Remember how I showed you to pop off the tire and innertube? Just bring me the wheel. I’ll see you in a couple of hours. Be careful with the curves. Hopefully, there aren’t too many leaves on the trail to make it slick.” He helped me with the spare tire harness and then the hydration backpack, and it was like I was back at work riding around the city.

Bridges stepped closer to hand me my helmet, and he stared at my lips for a long moment before patting me on the shoulder. He headed to button up the RV so he could meet me at Bonnie’s Biscuits, which, according to the map, was trailside just off the state road.

I clipped my shoes into the pedals and turned to wave at him as he detached the long extension cord from the electric post at our campsite. With that, I was off.

There were still sponsors to secure for the cross-country ride, but this was one step closer to the end goal I had to achieve to take care of my mother—whether she wanted it or not.

I hoped I was ready for the very long ride that would help me achieve my goal.

Chapter Ten

Bridges

“You there, Bridges?” Weston’s voice came over the earpiece I was wearing. I’d just left the campground and was headed to Bonnie’s Biscuits, our first meet-up spot.

“Yes, West. You okay? You have water. Do you need to stop?”

“No. Just kinda bored. What did you think about when you were riding long distances?” He was breathing heavily, but this was upstate New York, and there were plenty of hills. I’d ridden the whole trail before. It was a ball buster.

“Uh, I thought about what I wanted to conquer next. We can look at some trails for training in the Midwest for later this fall and then in the Southwest for training over the winter. Have you thought about whether you want to map your trail south to avoid the mountains, or do you want to go north? The southern trek is about five-hundred miles longer, but no mountains.”

West hummed. “I think before I make a decision I should ride some mountain trails to see how grueling it is.”

That was smart. One never knew until they tried.

“We can go for a weekend to West Virginia and you can get some exposure to mountain bike trails. They’re not as high as the Rockies, but it would give you experience. You still okay?”

“I’ll meet you at Bonnie’s. Stay awake, old man.” Weston chuckled.

“Old man? Oh, you must be pedaling awfully slow if you’ve got time to annoy me. Speed up. I’ll see you soon. What do you want me to order you when I beat you there?” The phone went dead, and I laughed. The guy had a competitive streak that I appreciated.

Twenty minutes later I pulled into the parking lot because I had to go through the little town to find the place and the speed limit was twenty-miles-per-hour. Of course, the residents of the town weren’t driving that fast, stopping to talk to folks on the sidewalks with no care or concern for holding up the flow of traffic. I was the only one honking and getting flipped off by grandmas and grandpas.

When I finally pulled into the parking lot of the diner, there was West leaning against his bike, flipping me off as I shifted into park. I’d had more than enough of that for one day.

“Took you long enough.” He was laughing as he watched the slow parade of senior citizens out for the day to shop or whatever they did on a Saturday morning.

“Kiss my ass,” I said as he stood away from the bike, which he’d already fastened to a bike stand in front of the diner.

West laughed. “Maybe once we get to know each other better.”

His comment took me off balance, but only for a moment. The kid had a good trash-talk game.

We went into the diner and got a booth, West sitting across from me. The server left menus and poured each of us a cup of coffee before hurrying away to wait on other customers.

“Remember, coffee makes you need to shit. Not many places to do that on the road,” I offered.

The handsome young man laughed. “I’ll take care of it before we leave. So, you and Alexis? That anything?”