THE RACER Chapter 21

Racing Cycle
courtesy free clip art

 

Marley was scrutinizing the performance of the cycle and making notes as each lap was laid down by the rider.

After each ten laps he would bring it in and they checked it over for any visible defects.

There were a number of riders standing around and checking how the bike handled. They all wanted to try it out on the track but Marley nixed that idea.

The one who enjoyed the morning most was Rita.  Even though the main interest was the new cycle, she was grown up enough to be noticed by the bike riders and was enjoying the attention she was getting.

Lucas for the most part was just a spectator except for his own notes he was taking.

After their allotted time expired, Lucas parked the bike near the speakers stand so it could be viewed by the fans of the sport.  

 

Something that stuck in Lucas's mind was that a lot of the riders were the same age as he or even younger than him but their skills outshone his abilities by far.

There was a lot of interest shown by the riders, and their managers in what turned out to be a demonstration and it suddenly hit Lucas!  

This was a sales pitch for a future modified racing bike.

Lucas had done most of the actual work, but the design, engineering and parts selection was done by Marley and his staff.  Marley was going to market this machine!

They loaded the bike on the truck and Lucas asked, “Did you make any sales?”

Marley smiled and said, “You figured that out did you?”

Lucas said, “Yea, it took me a while but I got it.”  He said, “Why didn't you tell me from the beginning what we were doing?”

Marley said, “Perhaps I should have but the only way to keep a secret is to keep it to yourself.  If my guys that had been working on building the bike the word would have gotten out somehow, but no one paid any attention to what you were doing.  

Think about how you felt while building the bike and how much different you would have felt if you knew what I had in mind.”

 
Lucas thought about what Marley had said and he had to agree it would have been hard for him not to let it slip out so it was better the way it played out.

Marley said, “We have to make several improvements on the design.  Things we couldn't see until the test was over, so it's back to the drawing board. 

This time you can have a couple of guys helping you for I want you to be in on everything now.”

Lucas found Rita over at the refreshment stand talking to some of the riders and he said to her, “Let's go.”

One of the guys said, “You go ahead I will see that she gets home alright.”

Before he could say anything else Lucas spoke up and said, “I wouldn't dream of inconveniencing you.”

He took her hand and led her away to where his bike was parked.

On the way home he said, “You were in over your head and it was my fault. Those guys are way too old for you.  You better stick with me for a while longer.”

He couldn't see her face but she squeezed his waist a bit tighter so he figured she got his message although he didn't exactly understand what the message was himself.

When he dropped her off at home she said, “Let's go to the movies tonight.”

     
She said, “One of the guys at the track said he had seen it and he wanted to take me to see it.”

Lucas said, “Okay, we can go.”

On the way home he wondered if he wasn't the one who was being taken advantage of.

Could it be she was smarter than he thought?  Maybe she was putting on an act and was going to get him to do what she wanted when she wanted by pretending to do something foolish if he didn't intervene.

Could it be that she had already developed some, “Womanly wiles already?”

When he arrived home his father John was ill and the doctor had called for an ambulance.

He was sent to the hospital and there he lingered for several weeks and then they received a call saying John had passed on.

 To be Continued