Transportation

Chip dropped me off at the Cedar Shoals subdivision south of Athens. I would be easy enough for me to hitch a ride back from there. I’m going to steal something from the sitcom The Odd Couple. If all territory is alike than all aspirin are the same too. I’m sorry, but contrary to the Parchment theory this looked like ‘prime’ territory. This neighborhood was the first I had been to where I saw little kids. It was such a shame that I would not be able to come back for a long time, since I was following the ‘spider web’ procedure for covering territory.

The place reminded me though, that another mission of mine was to borrow a bicycle for transportation. I always wondered who in their right mind would lend a working bicycle to a complete stranger for the summer.

At my third house, a man was gardening in the front yard. I started my demo right there, but we got to talking about what I had set out to do that summer.

“You, young lady have chosen a long row to hoe.” he said. I told him that I needed a bicycle for transportation. He was shocked that I was on foot. He led me around to the back of the house where four bicycles leaned against the wall. They were covered by an overhang and were not rusting too badly. He dug through the stack and pulled out a dark green three speed Sears Americruiser that was boy’s style and had a metal rack on the back. It also had flat tires. He got the pump out of the garage and filled the tires. He took down a cloth and cleaned the bike off. “Here try this out.” he said. Leaving my sales case behind, I rolled the bike down the driveway, hopped on and rode around the block. The bike was in fine shape and it felt great to be on wheels again. I used to ride my bike a lot at home, since there was no public transportation. The bike was stuck in third gear. When, I got back, the man had located a tire generating headlight from another bike and attached it the front and wheel of the green one. He also gave me a bungee cord to hold my sales case on the rack with.

“It’s great! I’ really like to borrow it.” I said.

“Borrow it? For how long?”

“For the summer. I plan to return it to you at the end of the summer.”

“Just take it. You don’t need to bring it back. At least someone who really needs it will be using it. It’s just sitting around here rusting.”

“I couldn’t do that sir. I will return it at the end of the summer. I really appreciate your kindness.” I insisted. He just gave me a wave and I rode off. I decided to return immediately to the territory where I was selling on Thursday. The bicycle felt wonderful underneath me. It rolled smoothly and seemed effortless after miles of walking. I covered the four miles back to Athens in no time.

Mary also managed to borrow a bike around the same time I did. It was a red ten speed.

[Author's apologies for the bad color here. I am dealing with changing gif to jpg. Guess it needs more work.]