More and more cars arrived… I noted some from my home, others from strange-sounding places like "Connecticut", "Pennsylvania", "New York", and "Maryland". The people all had bikes with them – common enough, but not for this time of year – and rode around the lot for awhile, keeping warm, as even more cars arrived. Finally, the cars stopped coming, and the people gathered in a group. They stood there for a good bit of time, even though they must have been freezing, and they all seemed to be either looking straight up or straight down. I felt something then… It was faint, and I brushed it aside, concentrating instead on this strange group of bikers.

    At last all seventeen of them pedaled off along the paths created for them, whooping and hollering there, but still subdued. Curious… I followed their progress, watching as they rode over the log piles, through the streams, and around the trees in their path, riding through the snow and cold as if possessed. They rode as a group, taking frequent stops, shouting words of encouragement as the larger obstacles were reached and overcome, or laughing as someone went headlong into the snow. The faint feeling from earlier was much stronger, and I kept hearing someone laugh out loud, the joy in the deep voice obvious – I looked, but saw nothing.

    Turning back to the riders, I let myself be drawn in by the energy coming from them. They seemed to warm the very air as they passed, as if they were pouring out part of themselves as they rode. I started wishing I could join them, riding around the trees, falling down the hills, getting stuck in drifts… It looked like so much fun. I floated along with them as they approached the lot again, breath steaming in the air, watching as all eighteen riders gathered again in the lot, shaking hands, laughing and joking. They all got back in their cars, finally, and drove off – except one. He waved to them, and stood in the lot next to his bike for awhile. 

    I realized that he felt like the energy that had come from the people who rode that day, and was just like me. I finally got up the courage to go over, and ask him why he didn’t leave with the rest….? He turned to me, gave me a big smile, and said, "Well, I think you have a really nice place to ride, here. I’d like to stay awhile, if you don’t mind…?" I welcomed him, and asked him his name.