Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-08-22
TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY MILES
ON A uIEE.

BE ready at o'clock in the morn
ing, were my chum's last words.
when he departed from my home on
Sunday afternoon.
o'clock. you ask Wei Just for a
| little spin on our 'bikes." We had
decided about two weeks before the
| appointed time to take spin 70
one hundred and twenty miles from
Petersburg.
II was on August II, 1919, when we
left and l want to say that the
weather wasn't bit cool
Wen, as l have said before. ne
warned me to be ready at 4 o'clock,
as we wanted to get an early start
! was sure OF getting up in time. SO
retired ut +. NJ. on Sunday evening
and was soon having dreams abou,
bicycles of all kinds.
II seemed that i had been asleep
| about five minutes when l thought
| heard the fire bell, and upon look
Ing up l saw tho alarm clock doing
rang; SO loud, and II never Will I
christcned Vt with q shoe). AT 1:1O
i was ready to leave, having awak-
ened ut 1880 o'clock. I waited about
ten minutes, hut no Slue (this was
my chum's nick name). was getting
little uneasy. when upon looking
up the street / saw some sight. There
coming down the sidewalk was Slue
Will All outil cHouGn 10 sup
ply small army. Bundles in the
front basket almost hid him COM
pictcly, and nearly all l could sec
Was two legs working tho pcddlcs
like piston rods. But believe me. he
WAS sorry he ever put such a. bundle
on his wheel, and 1 was. too. only
mine was not as large and heavy AZ
his.
We were soon On our way. and
when the sun came up we were just
in sight of Fords depot. We didn't
have any accidents so far except for
running through n creek about to
feet deep. in the dark. We stopped
In Ford few minutes. then re-
sumcd our journey, About ~ o'clock
We arrived In blackstone. Just out
side of town we ate our dinner. which
we carried with US. After eating a
hearty meal We started out again.
and after much pedding. dusty and
tired. we arrived in Ontario. a small
town outside Of Keysville. about sun
set After getting II refreshing drink
of water tand oh! Boy! it was
town and started making prcpara-
tons TO hit the hay" We dis
mounted. entered grove of pines.
and after gathering a quantity of
over them and promptly hit the hay"
But we only stayed on that pleasant
bed for few minutes. for some un-
known invertcbrstc animal ut
liking TO the flavor of our flesh and
they did not hesitate 10 20 the limit
to satisfy their bioodthirsty taste.
They soon had us on the warpn.h.
we took to our beds" again. but
nothing doing" They could not &c
defeated so easily. Well. we couldn't
stay. there and let them drill holes in
us. for IL am not mistaken. ] think
l cncc saw the shadow of ones dag
ger as he came between the rays
OF the moon and myself. and IL It
wasn't one foot long. II WASH. an
inch. So after holding n consulta-
ton ns to what action we had better
take. we decided to retreat. for in
the meantime the enemy had been
calling achievements.
We soon had our OUTFIT again
packed on our wheels and were ready
TO resume ou- journey.
There WAS Il full moon and IL lit
up the road like day, so we didn't
have much trouble seeing where We
were going.
We arrived in the town of KeysviIle
seen something moving in a grave
yard that We were passing on the
way. l think perhaps we wouldn't
nave gotten there much before IL
keys1iIle. we asked n man thcro the
way to Charlotte Courthouse. I
cannot ,,:a say exactly whose fault 1t
ever II was. II certainly gave us a
pull; We evidently took the wrong
rohd. Tor after riding about thirteen
house II there was such n place IS
Charlotte Courthouse, and to our
great pleasure. We found that we
were on the wrong road. Well, II ii
fairies. we may have asked fairy
TO transfer us 10 the right road, but
as 1t was the twentieth century. there
Vas no such luck. After taking a
,in.r
couple OF trees. we finally reached
keysville again about IL O'Clock. No.
we were not tired. Just little rest
five miles, and for nothing; YOU saw.
No. II wasn't for nothing, for we Ger
tainly got plenty OF exercise, and IL
exercise EXERCISE is good for one. we should
But to end sad story, for that day.
we turned into bed at the hotel and
! knew nothing until my chum woke
me up the next morning about 10
o'clock. After eating n Welcome and
hearty breakfast. we again started
on our trip.
W. DID some one say sore and stiff?
Every time one of our joints moved
turned.
we travelled steadily on from Keys
village of Charlotte Courthouse. Cui-
len IL Fincent's store, we arrived AZ
our destination. which was l20 miles
from home. and we made it in fifteen
riding hours.
When we arrived we ate our fill
and shortly afterwards went to bed
not to wake again until . O'Clock the
next morning
My chum stayed two weeks and
stayed four weeks. during which
time l had some time" and to end
II all, after we had taken our rent
down We found we had pitched il on
the site of an old anti-bellum grave
yard.
Well, ! suppose 1t was as we'll that
we did not find it out while we were
sleeping there. for some fellow would
have had to give up the bicycle riding
championship.
My chum left on Thursday and
made the return trip in a little over
twelve hours and I left two weeks
later. making the trip in about eleven
hours. But believe the reason of nv
making 1t quicker was because il
was sunday and lonely-why I had to
go fast to make the wind talk to me.
Having rode our wheels 240 miles
IN twenty-five riding hours 1 think
we done very well for amateurs. and
We expect to make another trip soon.
would you like to go? If you need
exercise come and let's take the trip
together.
WIN. q. FRIEND.