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“Well, I haven’t really ridden my bike a whole lot. How do you know which brake is for the front tire, and which one is for the back tire?”
Jacob thought a moment as he swallowed a mouthful of food. “Right is back, left is front,” he said. “No, wait. Right is front, left is back. No, I think I was right the first time. Left is front—”
“Left is back, right is front,” said Nate.
“No, right is back, left is front,” said Jacob.
“You sure?” ask
ed Nate.
“I think so,” said Jacob.
It always took Marvin a moment to figure out his left from his right. He knew he wouldn’t have time if he was speeding down Suicide Hill.
“I really don’t think about it when I’m on my bike,” said Nate. “It just comes natural.”
“You don’t want to brake just with your front brake,” said Jacob. “Your bike could flip over.”
Marvin nodded. He’d heard that before.
“Suicide Hill is so steep, you should probably use both brakes all the time,” said Nate.
“What about gears?” Marvin asked.
“What about them?” asked Nate.
“Do I need to shift gears? Which gear should I use?”
“High gear,” said Jacob.
“Low gear,” said Nate, at almost the same time.
“Low gear going up, high gear going down,” said Jacob.
“I thought it was high gear going up, and low gear going down,” said Nate.
“No, low up, high down,” said Jacob.
“I don’t really think about it when I’m on my bike,” said Nate. “It just comes natural.”
Marvin didn’t think it would come natural to him.
“You won’t need to worry about gears going down the hill,” said Jacob. “You’ll coast almost the whole way. But remember to lean into the turns.”
Marvin didn’t know what that meant.
“You have to lean your bike way over on the sharp turns,” Nate explained. “Have you ever watched a motorcycle race? They lean way over the whole time.”
Marvin had never seen a motorcycle race. He didn’t want to do any fancy riding. He just wanted to get down the hill alive. “I’m just going to try to keep my bike straight up,” he said.
“You can’t do that,” said Jacob. “You have to lean into the turns. Otherwise you’ll slide off the path and you’ll go over the cliff.”
“It comes natural,” Nate assured him.
Jacob and Nate went on up to Jacob’s room.
Marvin stayed where he was, staring at the wall. Well, it’s only Thursday, he told himself.
