Last Night's Bicycle Disaster

Prince Edward Island
July 10, `82

A lot has happened in five days, the highlights of which I am about
to relate. The weather got better once I hit New Brunswick. With the
wind at my back, I managed a couple of 90-mile days on a good to
excellent highway. In New Brunswick I was lucky enough to find two
very nice campsites, both of which were in beautiful forests. I am
putting all this down on paper while drinking coffee in McDonald's--an
ideal place to write.

I met Mike at our preestablished destination, a beach park just
outside of Shediac. His bike, however, was on another train. That
mistake would need another day to get resolved. No problem, I went to
the retail brewery and bought 12 beers, and, at the fish store, I
picked up 6 lobsters and a loaf of bread. Mike and I decided to
celebrate our bad luck together. I had left my towel and my spare tire
on a tree stump at last night's campsite and Mike had no bike. Nothing
could dampen our spirits, though. It was a great feast.

The next day we headed out for Prince Edward Island. We were excited.
Behind me, was all of the bad weather, so we took advantage of the
good weather by stopping to enjoy the scenery. My favorite stop was
the one at the end of the day—that was not necessarily so with Mike.
He seemed to enjoy them all. I guess that was why we didn't get to
PEI until almost dark, and, unfortunately, good campsites are hard to
find in the dark. We put our tents up in a mosquito-infested farmer's
field. In the morning, before we could pack up, we were hit by a pack
of flies. Mike was first to leave. He told me that he would meet me at the
first coffee restaurant. It was a bad morning for both of us.

Whoops! I almost forgot about last night's disaster. When we were
looking for a campsite our bikes got tangled, and I went careening
over the handlebars. Fortunately, both Mike and I and the bikes survived
(minus some body contusions), which brings me to the present. It
seems that either Mike or I have made a wrong turn. I'm sitting in the
first restaurant that I came to and there's no Mike. I'm about to
backtrack and check out the other highway. Summerside is the next town
up, so if all else fails I'm sure we will meet there. I hope this is
not another rerun of our last bicycle trip. On that trip we
split up and never did get back together-at least not back together on
bicycles. I know Mike's shortcomings and he knows mine. I am
going to do everything possible to make sure that everything works out
on this trip. This is the last time I will see Mike for a long time.
After this bicycle trip, he is moving to Kansas City to teach school.