Bears Know Best

Chapter 11: A New Hobby?

THE NEXT MORNING, I woke up and felt a twinge of excitement that I was going to go riding with Alyssa. Danielle and Breanna had only added to my guess that Alyssa was actually really talented at cycling. 'She'll probably leave me in the dust just to get even with me,' I laughed to myself. I knew that my clothes didn't matter at that moment, and just threw on a pair of shorts, a sports bra, a tank top, and put my hair into a ponytail

Alyssa was waiting downstairs by her door when I walked up. She was already dressed in skin tight cycling shorts and a purple cycling jersey that had her family's last name on it... and sponsors???

"Come on!!!" she exclaimed as she dragged me inside.

We hurried upstairs to her room where she had a pair of shorts that looked way too small for her, and a jersey that was purple and black without any sponsors logos on it. "I hope they fit," she said hesitantly. "You're about the size I was a couple years ago," she said.

I turned red, "Is that a short joke?" I smiled though.

"Here, why don't you try these panties too, I think they're a little bit less rough on riding," she said.

Ten minutes later I was clad in spandex shorts and her old jersey. She put my hair in a braid that she thought would help make the helmet more comfortable for me. I caught a glance of the two of us in her dresser mirror, and laughed, "I look like your little sister," I told her.

"I always wanted a little sister to pick on!" she said as she tickled my side a little bit.

"Not fair!" I squealed and the two of us went downstairs giggling towards their garage. I just about gasped as I did so!

"How many bikes do you guys own?" I asked.

"Umm... I try not to count," she said sheepishly.

"Why so many?" I asked as I did count. I'd reached eighteen pretty quickly before she responded.

"Well, Mom and Dad both have training bikes that they ride on most of the time, and then race bikes. We all have mountain bikes and cross bikes... Well, it just sort of becomes an obsession" she told me.

"I thought my dad's football gear collection was large..."

"Well, it should be, isn't he like pretty good?"

I nodded. I didn't really want to talk about Dad and the situation there right then.

"So, are you ready?" she asked.

"I think so." I told her.

The two of us walked over to where her pride and joy was. The bike she'd been given as a present for her birthday in April was pretty, and I noticed she even had her name stenciled on the bike. She smiled as I said, "Pretty. I'm guessing it's pretty fast?"

She just smiled at me. "Here, let's see if we can get this old one of mine to fit you. She walked over to a bike that was much shorter, and looked like it might be about the right size for me. "I hope it fits..." she said with some concern.

"I can always get my dad to buy a smaller one if I need to," I said.

"Maybe... it's kind of hard-to-find road bikes any smaller. They normally just make normal kids bikes in those sizes."

"Way to make me feel better," I grumbled.

She gave me a hug, "You're going to have to grow at some point, right?"

"Maybe, but don't most girls stop growing by fourteen?" I asked.

"Some keep growing, and it may just be that you've been late in developing there." She paused, "Plus, maybe the doctors will figure it out."