THE RACER Chapter 20

Announcement for the Races
courtesy photobucket.com

 

Lucas went from being down in the dumps to feeling like he had won a victory.

Marley told him he did the right thing by not facing up to the guys who damaged the cycle.  

He said, “There was no need to get beat up as well as having to deal with the damage to the bike.  

 

You won't have anymore trouble out of them from now on.  He and his father have got the message loud and clear that they had better lay off.”

Lucas wasn't sure what had happened to solve the problem, but was glad it was behind him.

The next morning Rita was standing in front of her house waiting for a ride to school.  He wondered, “How did I get the job of chauffeuring her around?”

But in reality he didn't mind that much, for she seemed to enjoy riding behind him.

Marley asked him if he was getting used to riding the bike and if he wanted to start on the other one that was going to be set up for racing?

Lucas said, “I guess so, I had kinda forgotten about that.”

The bike had been stored out of the way and they had to dig it out from a lot of car parts.

As Lucas examined the bike he saw that there were several differences between the one he was now riding and the one he was going to rebuild to race with.

Marley told him, “You need to acquaint your self with where we are going with it.  It won't be nothing like the street bike you are riding.  

There isn't a manual that tells you what you need to do to it, but I have laid it all out for you.  

Study my notes before you start tearing it apart, and the conversion should go off without a hitch.  

Included in there is the parts list.  I want you to familiarize yourself with the reason for each part.”

Lucas agreed to do as he said but found himself wanting to ride his street bike more than rebuilding the racer.

It just occurred to him that Marley had more knowledge than he had ever considered him having.  

He thought, “Someday I'm going to ask him how he got so smart.”

Lucas finally was ready to start the actual work on the racing cycle.  

Marley said he wanted to go over the whole re-build, to make sure he was ready to start the project.  He said, “Do you have in your mind what the bike is going to look like when finished?”

Lucas said, ‘Yes I can see it almost like it was a picture.”

Marley said, “Alright get started with the breakdown of it.”

Once he began working on the cycle, he seldom saw Abel and his new wife even though they lived near him.  For the next two months his routine was get up, pickup Rita, go to school, bring her home, and go to Marley's.

The more he worked on the racer the more the differences stood out.  Then one day after the two months, there is stood, all complete.  

 

It wasn't as pretty as his street bike, but it had a rugged exterior that seemed to say don't mess with me.

Marley came by and said, “What do you think?”

Lucas didn't know what to say so he said, “It looks like a mean machine.”

“The gears are different making it act like a Jack Rabbit on the start.  Do you think you could ride it around in the back lot without destroying it?”

Lucas answered and said, “I'll give it a try!”

         
Much like he did with the race car Marley made for him, he took it slow and easy, feeling his way until he got used to the jerky motions it exhibited.

Marley said be up early on Saturday and meet me at the track.  I have a rider coming over to test it under track conditions.

Lucas had been afraid he was going to be the one to ride it first time on the track.  

 

When he arrived at the track on Saturday, he brought Rita with him.  

It wasn't that he wanted her there necessarily, but she overheard him talking to Marley and invited herself along.

The rider hadn't shown up yet so Marley said to Lucas; get on and do a couple of laps just to warm it up.

Lucas took it slow and easy, but he didn't have any trouble with it.  

When the rider showed up he checked the bike over and said, “It looks okay. Let's see what it will do.”

After several laps he brought it in and said, “That is a lot of machine you have there.  I would like to race it tonight for you because you won't know what you have until it has been raced in a full race.”

Marley agreed and said, “It's all yours for the evening.”

Lucas felt jealous for a moment for he had done almost all the work building this cycle, and now someone else was going to get the accolades.

But then he realized that this is what a builder must feel when his creation is sent out to perform.  

Then he must stand back and let someone else take over.

To be Continued