"It's kind of early to be out riding a bike, isn't it?" he said pulling up next to her.
"I could say the same for you," she said.
"Yeah, but I don't have a flat tire and we're quite a ways from town."
"I guess I never really thought about that."
"Well, lucky for you, I have a patching kit and a pump. Would you like some help?"
"That would be nice. Thank you," she said with genuine gratitude.
He flipped her bike over and pulled off the rear wheel and got to work. "I hope you won't take this the wrong way ma'am, but is it really safe for a woman to be out her by herself in the middle of nowhere?"
He could tell she was a novice rider and she probably felt a little foolish. "You should have your cell phone with you at least," he said as he ran his tire tool inside the rim to expose the tube.
"I should probably have one of those, too," she said pointing at the odd-shaped tool. "I've never had a flat before and it never occurred to me I'd get one way out here."
"Murphy's Law says they'll happen at the worst possible time and place. Again, I hope you won't take offense, but riding without a helmet is really dangerous. I can assure you the pavement is a lot harder than your head."
He had the tube out, blew it up and listened for the hiss. He put a small amount of saliva where he thought it might be and it immediately bubbled up. "I guess you've done this a time or two," she said watching intently.
"You could say that," he told her as he dried it off and applied some liquid glue before sticking the patch on. He blew on it to speed up the drying time then stuffed in back inside the wheel before re-inflating it. "You really should have a spare tube with you along with the patch kit. And a pump."
"To be honest, I haven't ridden since I was a girl and back then you just jumped on the bike and rode it. Then again, I wasn't ever going very far and my dad was always there to fix anything that went wrong."
He noticed the ring on her finger and said, "Can't talk your husband into riding with you?"
As he set the wheel back into the frame she said, "Hardly." She hesitated then said, "Besides, that's the last person I want to have go riding with me."
"Sorry. None of my business," he said as he re-attached the chain. He spun the pedals a time or two to make sure the wheel was true then flipped it over. "That should hold until you can get a new tube. Do you have a long ride back?"
"Well, I kind of lost track. I never meant to go this far, but it's just so pleasant this time of year, you know? A couple of miles turned into five and now I'm not really sure how far out I am."
He sighed and said, "Tell you what. I'll ride back with you just in case."
"Oh, no! You don't need to do that. I'm sure I'll be fine. Thank you for fixing that flat for me, though. I really appreciate it."
"Look, I know women are all about being independent and what not, but if that patch fails you a mile down the road, you'll be right back where you were and still all alone. So call me old fashioned, but I can't let you do that."
"You're awfully young to be offering life advice, aren't you?" she said in a way that didn't sound condescending at all.
He smiled and told her, "Chronologically, I will readily admit to being on the lower end of the spectrum, but I have a lot of miles on me and I don't just mean from cycling."
He waited for her to turn the bike around and get started before falling in alongside her.
"I didn't mean anything by that, by they way. After all, you stopped and rescued me and I don't even know your name. Mine's Marlis. Looks like Mar-LEES but it's pronounced MAR-less."
"Marlis? I don't think I've heard that before."
"It's German. My maiden name was Hoffman. My grandparents came here after the war and my parents spoke German in the house where I grew up. My last name is Granger now, by the way."
"Marlis Granger. That seems appropriate," he told her.
"And how did you arrive at that conclusion if I may ask?" she asked looking over at him.
He smiled and said, "It's a really beautiful name. Just like you."
She laughed and said, "Hmmm. I'm going to accept your compliment without further comment. Thank you. That was very nice. So...are you going to tell me your name or are you just going to be the handsome, young mystery man who rode in on his steel steed to save a damsel in distress?"
"Hmmm," said mocking her but not in a mean way. "I too, am going to accept your compliment without further comment." She laughed at his word theft. "I'm Lane McMichael, by the way."
"I love unusual names," she told him.
"Like Marlis?" he said.
She laughed again. "Point taken."
The rode along in silence for a while and he asked her, "Mind if I ask what you're doing out here all alone this early on a Sunday morning, Ms. Granger?"
"I'd forgotten how old I am until you called me that. Gee, thanks. I really appreciate it, Lane."
"Considering the fact I'm all of 19, most women are going to be older than me by default. But I would hardly call you 'old.' In fact, you look, well very... Sorry. I should probably mind my own business here."
"Oh, okay. Well, to answer your question, I was thinking about riding the STP this year. Do you know what that is?" she asked him.
"Having just completed it the first time myself last year, I'm very familiar with the Seattle-to-Portland fun ride. I'm gonna go way out on a limb here and venture a guess this is your first such ride." Before she could respond he said, "And by first ride I'm talking about as in this morning."
"Is it that obvious?" she said.
"Well, no helmet, no pump, no cell phone, no..."
"Okay, okay. I get it. Next time I'll have all the right stuff."
"Um...while you're at it, you might want to consider buying a bicycle you can actually ride that far on, too."