THE RACER Chapter 26

The Challenged Race was On
courtesy photobucket.com

 

The rest of the day Ally clung onto Lucas so much so he finally said, “Let’s get something to eat.”

This gave him some respite from her talking constantly.  He thought she was going to order the whole menu.  

 

He had seen her mother a time or two and she tended to be on the heavy side.  He thought if she continues to eat like this she will catch up to her mom’s size before she get’s out of school.

After eating they went back to the track to get ready for their race.  There were always a few extra bikes around for you never knew when one would break down and a rider would be out of luck if he didn’t have a ride. 

They each picked a bike that they felt comfortable riding so the were ready for the evenings special race.

The word spread by radio that a girl had challenged a racer to a one on one race this evening.  

 

As the crowd began to fill up Lucas saw that there were a lot more women filling the stands than usual.  

 

By the time to start the first heat race the stands were overflowing and this was making him nervous.

Ordinarily the stands would only be half full for a race like tonight. Just before the main event the crowd was getting a little rowdy and the announcer said the special race would start in five minutes.

Lucas mounted his bike and Ally did likewise.  Her bike hesitated on starting.  It ran rough at first then it smoothed out.  They pulled out on the track at the finished line, and the flagman got ready to drop the flag.

By this time everyone was on their feet and shouting. The flagman reminded them they were to run four laps and raised the flag. He shouted ready, set, and go as he dropped the flag.

They both got off to a good start but by the end of the first lap Ally was leading by a hundred feet.  

By the end of the second lap it was only fifty feet as Lucas closed the separation.  It stayed the same on the third lap and increased a little at the beginning of the last lap.

          
Then Lucas began to come on strong and at the finish he was a half a wheel ahead.

The people went crazy for they didn’t know who won until they checked the photo finish.

There were a lot of boos in the stand but most were satisfied because Ally almost won and she was their heroine.

After a few minutes they were able to restore order and the main event was ready to run.

It was certainty anti-climatic but the people were buzzing with excitement and everyone got their money’s worth this night.

When Lucas and Ally finished their race and pulled up to the finish line the biggest event of the night was when Ally while sitting on her bike reached up and pulled her helmet off and her long dark hair came billowing down over her shoulders.

When the people saw her hair they went ape-pee.

This was the talk of the town the next day, and suddenly Ally was the most popular girl in town.  

Lucas thought it is strange if you can capture people’s thoughts they will go wild.  He could have beaten her by a large margin but that wouldn’t have been as exciting.

The regular riders could have left them both in their dust, but that again wouldn’t have evoked the response the way it played out, because the fans were fully engaged in the goings on.   

To be Continued