All her welding done on the two bikes, Diane went about checking the frames for their structural integrity. It would not be good to have a weld fail on one of her bikes. There really was no need as Little Timmy had looked over her shoulder often as she fabricated the frames, but it was a habit she wanted to keep. It was her name on the bikes after all .

She had stamped the frames with a serial number so she could tell them apart. She had done a very good job, nice clean welds that would be easy to prep for finishing. George Riley was on his way over from the local paint and body shop. He had done the paint on Derek's and her bikes. Derek had created her logos and the paint schemes for the two bikes.

Drew's bike was to be a metal flake blue, with Diane Biggs on the down tube and front forks, DB Bikes on the seat tube, and Drew Bond on the top tube, all in white. Maddy's would be a dark cherry metal flake, with her name Maddy Peters on the top tube and the rest the same also in white.

She matched the front forks with their respective bikes, and started prepping the welds; they would be invisible when the bike was painted. It would look as if the frame was one piece when she was finished.

George showed up as she was finishing her sanding.

“Hi George. How are you?”

“Fine Diane. What'cha got for me.”

“I have two bikes to be painted. She pulled out Derek's rough paint schemes. I want them to scream quality George. They need to look sharp. First bike a metal flake blue, with all my logos and Drew Bond painted on the tubes according to these guides. The second bike I want sort of a dark cherry with logos and the name Maddy Peters. They have got to say look at me, I am a great bike. I trust you on paint. Do you know what I mean? I need to make sure the right paint gets on the right bike. They might look alike but they are different. I have them tagged, this one s Drew's and the other Maddy's . The front forks are labeled also. I would hate to have to send Little Timmy to correct any mistakes.”

“I promise no mistakes Diane, please don't send Timmy after me.”

“I need them to be tens George, if you know what I mean.”

George signed for the bikes and loaded them on his truck.

She had three weeks to get them put together. It should take about four days for paint and finish work , no big problem on time.

She decided to call Ms. Bell over at the school. She was busy so left a message for her to call me at her leisure.

Diane broke early and went to her house. She cleaned up and got dressed. It was hard to find time to look good, working in a fab shop.

Going into the computer room, she started looking up cycling gear on the internet. She ordered some for cold weather. Then had another idea, canceled her order and looked for a DC cycle shop. Lastly, she downloaded maps to several shops. The phone rang and Diane answered it on the second ring.

“Hello.”

“Hello Diane, Jessica you called,”

“Yes. How are you doing?”

“I am doing great.”

“Are you busy tonight, How about Italian?”

“Sounds good ; how about I come pick you up in an hour?”

“Okay, look forward to seeing you. Bye.”

Diane went to her room and put makeup, hose, a nice dress and put heels on for a change. In no time at all she looked good. A knock at the door announced Miss Bell's arrival.

“Hello Miss Bell,” Diane said as she grabbed her coat.

“Diane it is Jessica and it is so good seeing you. I have not seen you since John's death. You are looking good though, have you been working out?” Jessica asked as we headed to the car.

“Yes, I have been riding bikes since May ; I have been working in Dad's shop and I have started a new business.”

“Let's go to Harrisonburg and eat there, how does that sound to you?”

“I would like that. I really appreciate everything you and the rest of the community have done for me. I just want to be able to give something back to them.”

“You have dear by staying here and reopening your shop. Your shop helps keeps open many other businesses. I would like to see you get a college degree though. Have you given that any thought?”

“Yes I have, but right now I need to be in the shop. I spend twenty to thirty hours a week working with the guys, and another twenty hours a week building custom bikes. If I had to hire another fabricator , we would be on the edge. Spring through late fall is our busy season. Derek is working with us and he is actually bringing in business. He is hunting orphaned parts that we can fabricate.”

“What is that?”

“Say like a machine part that breaks down and the parts are no longer available anywhere. We can fabricate or produce those parts to get the machines running again. There is a lot of money in that. Have you seen Derek lately? He has changed a whole bunch.”

“No I haven't seen him since he graduated but Britney told me she had met him at your place.”

“Well he has gone from geek to hunk since he started working for me and riding his bike. He is even dating now, a couple of girls down at Waynesboro. The girls know each other too.”

They arrived at a restaurant in Harrisonburg and parked. They saw a couple of older men trying to make it to the same restaurant, wearing American Legion caps. They were having a hard time walking.

“Can you gentlemen help us ladies get to the restaurant? I just am not use to these heels.” Diane asked.

The two men turned to us, took our arms and we helped them reach their destination. There were a few other men there with the A.L. that night. We left our escorts with their friends and were seated.

We ordered drinks and checked the menus. Diane ordered fettuccine alfredo with chicken breast and Jessica ordered chicken parmesana.

“Well all this talking is nice Diane and I know you don't get out much, but I think you have other things on your mind.”

“Tell me about England and the kids over there.”

Jessica talked for an hour and a half about all they had done and the things they had seen. She talked about their kids and the British kids warmly. She mentioned the trouble Dan had gotten in and about him being removed from the program. Her version was greatly edited from Brit's version. Diane asked specifically about Drew and the rest of the Bonds. When Diane asked about Gaby, Jessica paused.

“How much do you know?”

“More than I should know. Nobody told me, Derek and I worked out that something was not quite right. Brit sent me a power point slide show with her pics and that confirmed what we suspected. Look I don't want to hurt Drew or Gaby. I am building bikes now and I want him to ride my bikes. If there is anything I can do to look out for him , it's in my best interest. I also know that Rhod cross-dresses too. I also know that some of the people here may sound dumb as dirt, but they are sharp as tacks.”

“Well we might well see Gaby and Mfanwy at the cheerleader competition they are entered in.”

“We need to get those in the know together and talk about how we can help them and keep them from being hurt Jessica.”

“You may be right Diane, I will call you.”

The two ladies talked for another half hour. Diane insisted that the meal was her treat and thanked Jessica for her company. The ride back to Grottoes was as enjoyable as the meal. Diane waved as Miss Bell drove off.

Morning came early. Diane dressed in her cold weather gear , found Derek had already loaded both their bikes and gear in her truck. She nuked six Hot Pockets, grabbed four cokes and headed to the truck. Charlottesville had a thirty-two mile ride for the serious riders. Diane was one of their top female riders now. It was not a race but you couldn't convince some of the riders it wasn't. It was a safe ride at least; Virginia State Troopers would control the intersections.

She and Derek arrived about thirty minutes before the start. It was rather cool but that would be good once she got up to speed. She made sure her water bottles were full, and ate an energy bar before she started her stretching. There were about sixty riders this day. Derek got her signed in and made sure her bike was in order. He was good tinkering with bikes now but if anything were wrong , he would defer to her.

Diane joined the bikes at the start line and the starter's gun was fired just like a race. There were no really big hills on this ride and the pace was fast. She was stuck in the middle of the group and could find no way of extricating herself until the weaker riders started dropping off the pace at about ten miles into ride. Then she made her way to the edge and started pulling forward. The pack split again at about twenty-seven miles and about ten riders pulled away, Diane was with them. At about two miles four riders split off again but she couldn't keep up. She rode in at 72 minutes 22 seconds 7th overall and 3rd female.

Diane was gasping for breath, Derek took her bike from her and helped her find a seat, while she recovered. She chugged some gatoraide ®. One of the other riders came over to her.

“You are going to be a hell of a rider once you learn how to ride. You rode most of that ride on your own, You need to learn to ride in the slipstream so you will have some umph left over at the end of the ride. How long have you been riding seriously?”

“About six months, I ride at least twenty-five miles a day.”

“You ought to join us for a training session some time. Jack Rodgers is the name.”

“Diane Biggs, and this is Derek Drake.” She reached in a pocket, drew out her card and handed it to Jack.

He looked at the card and asked, “You build bikes?”

“Yes I build them out of titanium alloys. Derek here designs them and I fabricate the frames and front forks. I rode the bike I built, wanna see.”

Derek released the bike from the rack and rolled it over to them. Jack inspected the bike and picked it up.

“A little heavier than Carbon fiber but that is one serious bike there Diane. What would one go for like that ? ”

“Just like that custom built for the rider $3,800 depends on the accessories. If you just want the frame and front fork $2000. I guarantee my welds won't fail. I lace my own wheels too.”

“A little steep for me right now, but I will keep you in mind.”

Diane cleaned up and changed clothes. She had told Derek about her plans and together they headed off to DC.

They shopped the bikes with a few stores and left flyers on Diane's custom built bikes with a few. Derek took notes of area rides and groups. Diane bought the cold weather riding gear for the kids and herself, then headed to a silk screener that was open on Saturday and ordered some T-shirts with her logo on them and for the cycle gear.

Diane decided to catch a fifty mile DC area ride on Sunday so they stayed in a motel. Diane washed and dried her gear at the motel. Derek moved their bikes into the room. They then hit an Italian buffet; Diane had people staring at her as she ate plates of pasta and pizza. Back at their room sleep came fast.

Morning came early Diane dressed and they headed to a nearby diner. Diane ate a big breakfast and they headed to the site of the ride. It was a little cooler today in the low 40's at the time of the ride, but there were more riders a bout seventy in this group.

Diane got a good start and was to the front of the group. She was not trapped this time , and made her way to the lead. The pace was a little slower than the previous day so she decided to pull ahead; at about the fifteen mile mark a few riders came with her. A few miles later a rider behind her yelled at her to catch the back of the line or she would burnout. She pulled over , the seven riders passed her and she caught the back. The line rotated every few minutes and another rider was in front. She found her pace was a little faster and not as trying. On a long straight , she looked back and could not see the pack behind them. At about thirty miles their pace slowed a bit. Everyone seemed to be taking a rest. A small group appeared in the distance behind them. At about forty miles they had lost two riders and gained five from the rear. When they passed the forty-eight mile marker Diane fell off pace, another rider caught up with her and they rode together. At half a mile, she had nothing left and her partner left her. She finished 12 th overall and 4th woman at 2 hours 7 minutes 24 seconds. She forced herself to ride for another half mile, at a much slower pace. Derek caught her helped her off her bike and to the ground.

Twenty minutes after she finished she got up off the ground. Her legs were stiff but capable. Derek was at the back of the truck peddling her bikes to a small group. He was a heck of a salesman as she listened to him. He knew his bikes well from a technical point of view. Derek drew her into the group and they chatted with the people for several minutes.

The two headed back to Grottoes. Derek told her on the way that he had tentatively sold four bikes. Two of them were to be Christmas presents a mom was buying for her fourteen and sixteen year old daughters. They will have to start those as soon as possible, but it could be done ; eleven days to work and four days in paint. As long as things were confirmed early and down payments made. Derek had given the mom a sheet with the required measurements and information along with the accessories catalogues.

They got back to Grottoes and called it an early day. Diane was tired but it was a good tired. She felt that she had accomplished something.

Diane took her morning ride not as aggressively as before but she still attacked that climb. It was like the climb became the purpose of the whole ride. She returned to her home not near her best time but happy.

By the time she got to work the shop was hopping.

“Those two orders for bikes came in, paid in full and Derek is handling the designs now.” Sally handed Diane a print out. She had even ordered the hardware specified by the buyer.

“Let's not shoot for more than eight bikes a month right now. We can do two more before Christmas, if we get any orders in before Wednesday. We need to order more tube.”

“Ok we will set up a schedule on bikes , and the tube is already on order.” Sally grinned.

They did get two more orders before Wednesday for delivery before Christmas. Both shops were doing well in a normally slow time. All six bikes were ready and delivered on time. It brought in a good amount of cash, a little over eight grand. Diane had Sally write bonus checks of $750 for everyone on the 23rd for the shop Christmas party and closed the shop for a week. Everyone got a Biggs Bikes T-shirt.

To be Continued

Paula Dillon 09.02.05 © 2005
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