A Bicycle Built For Two
UPLIFTING SHORT STORY WRITTEN BY LISA ALLEN
Life takes a turn for the better – with a little tandem effort…
“You’ve signed us up for what?”
Jamie grinned at his wife, Lucinda. “A charity bike ride. I thought it would be fun!”
Lu stared at him open-mouthed. “Fun? You thought it would be… us… on a bike ride for charity…?”
He grinned again. “Erm, yeah, that’s what I just said, just in a different order.”
“But I haven’t ridden a bike since I was a teenager, Jamie. And I hate exercise! How far is this charity bike ride exactly?” Lu could feel her muscles shrinking at the mere thought of it.
“Only 20K.”
Lu swiped the brightly coloured leaflet advertising the bike ride from her husband’s hand. “Twenty kilometres? Twelve miles! That’s a half marathon, Jamie!”
She tossed the leaflet back at him. “Well you can count me out. I’m not fit enough to run five minutes round the block, let alone hours on a bike.”
“But you will be in a couple of months. I thought we could train for it together.” Jamie patted his beer belly. “I’m not exactly in great shape at the moment. And you’re always saying we don’t get to spend enough time together!” He gave her his best winning grin.
A smile fell across Lu’s lips. It was true; she was always saying that lately. Though spending her weekends cycling was not exactly what she’d had in mind.
A wave of sadness spun through her heart. The last few months had been… difficult. Lucinda had been made redundant from her job and was struggling to find a new one.
She missed the social side of work, and being at home she’d found herself falling into a rut of scrolling through endless job adverts and waiting for interview replies whilst comfort eating on the sofa most days.
It was like life had somehow skidded to a stop.
Jamie had been working extra hours to bring in some more money, which Lu had felt bad about, too. Despite trying to stay upbeat, everything just felt a real struggle.
She sighed. “I’m not sure.”
“It’s not a race, Lu.” He nudged her arm playfully. “Well, not a serious one, anyway. It’s sort of like a fun run, but with bikes, so I guess you could call it a –”
Lu looked at him, deadpan. “Joy ride?
He laughed out loud. “Exactly, just without the car thefts. And guess what – I’ve already hired our bike.”
Lucinda’s brow creased. “Don’t you mean, bikes, plural?”
Jamie shook his head.
Nope, singular. I’ve hired us a bicycle for two!
He beamed.
“A tandem?” Lu’s eyes flashed with horror. “Are you mad? Why didn’t you just go the whole hog and hire a couple of Penny Farthings?”
“Someone else beat me to it.”
“Oh my!” She stared at him. “You’re not even joking, are you?”
The first training session had not gone well. As soon as they picked up the tandem from the cycle hire, the sky filled with mizzle and Lucinda’s mood turned dark.
“This is stupid, Jamie,” she scowled as he held the bicycle steady for her to climb on. “And why have I got to sit behind you? I feel like the back end of a pantomime horse on this thing.”
Jamie beamed brightly, ignoring the amused smiles of Sunday morning forest walkers. “Because I know the training route – just a couple of miles to get us started. There’s a pub at the end, so we can stop for a rest.”
Lu groaned. Her mood had been so low lately she’d had to force herself to get out of bed this morning. She’d never have the energy to get to the pub, let alone finish a race in a few weeks. What on earth was she doing here?
Lucinda was surprised and rather anxious to see so many people at the start line of the charity bike ride. Friends, families, and spectators waving and pointing at the crazy collection of cyclists; some in fancy dress, others in serious cycle gear, and there were even a couple of Penny Farthings!
Jamie glanced over his shoulder as they waited behind the other cyclists. “I’m really proud of you, you know.”
Lu grinned. “For the job offer, or this?” The happy news had come out of the blue last week, from one of her many applications and interviews. It seemed cycling had literally got their lives moving forward again.
Jamie smiled. “Both. You never gave up, even when things seemed impossible.”
“And you never gave up on me. Now look at us!” she laughed.
The Klaxon blasted through the air and cyclists of every shape, age and outfit flew across the start line. Lucinda and Jamie flew along with them, the crowd cheering, and for the first time in months Lucinda felt her heart spinning with happiness.
Read more uplifting short stories:
Read Life Is A Journey, Isla’s Capri, and Talk Talk, plus many more in our archives.
