Gregory and Julie are waiting for her. So is the van and Jerry, along with the 18 folks who have decided to shuttle over the pass. She describes her encounter to Jerry. He tells her the animal was probably a coyote but maybe a wolf. If Susan could give a better estimate of size or color (was the scruffy coat more grey or brown?), Jerry would have a better idea, but Susan’s adrenaline response had been more to power her feet than to enable her eyes. He assumes it was a coyote.

He also assumes Susan will ride in the van, but she tells him otherwise. “At least, I was planning to try the pass,” she says as she unwraps her sandwich, “but the look of surprise on your face makes me think maybe I’m making a mistake?”

“No. No. Do the pass. I don’t mean to discourage you.” He takes a break from racking bikes to look at her. “It’s just that I assumed everyone who was here was waiting for me to finish the racking so we could go. I think it’s great that you want to ride it. Do it. Really.”

“But come on, Jerry. How hard is it?”

“Oh it’s a slog; don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to mislead you. I’d rather you finish it and give me shit about making it sound too hard than the reverse. But the thing is… anyone who wants to do the pass does it.”

Greg and Julie wait for Susan to finish her lunch and they push off together, but they pull out of sight on the first of the three long inclines in the 12-kilometer pass. Susan returns to her own thoughts, safe in the knowledge that the route is obvious and won’t permit a wrong turn.

She didn’t realize that she was on her fourth course to fitness when she booked them on the bike tour. She had always wanted to try a bicycle vacation, and Gregory was now well enough to enjoy one. She thought it would be an adventure to share. She figured it would be good for him to experience the exertion and reward.

They travel well together. That isn’t a big surprise; they live well together too, but each has a separate bedroom at home and different schedules and intentions. For the trip they are spending nine nights together and ten days in close proximity. On other vacations they’d gotten on each others’ nerves after three days. But not this time. They pedal 30 to 60 miles a day, and hike a bit too, all of which make her too tired to worry and him too beat to complain.

She can see the good effects on him – his glowing face, new muscles starting in his arms and calves, the improved posture and vigor in his paces – but she’s not sure whether he has noted them. Once only, on the second morning of the ride, as they pushed off on the road again after stopping so he could shoot pictures of a natural terraced waterfall against granite and limestone walls, Greg marveled aloud about how wonderful it was to travel so far through beauty on one’s own power. “Wow,” he sent his words back to her as he pedaled down right foot first. “I can’t believe I’m moving through here on a bike. I feel so sorry for these people in cars…”

For herself, Susan thought the trip would give her a lot of exercise and some quality time with her son. She was a bit nervous about the exercise. Even though she is active for her age, her sports consist of a stationary bike for 30 minutes a day and a lot of walking. She knew that a week of full-time cycling would be a challenge, and she was anxious about that before the trip and edgy again each morning as the guides described the hills and turns of the route ahead. As it happened, she calmed down each day when she began pedaling, as if her nerves were really an adrenaline factory that begged for activity.

Of course she got the exercise she expected, especially since she opted to skip the support van and ride the full route. She was surprised that her legs gave her no trouble: no aches or cramps or strains. But she felt the ride in her extremities; she strained both hands with all the downhill braking, and she often had numb feet when she first walked after some time on the bike. She was surprised about the genital tenderness. Everyone commented about the fundamental problem before and during the trip, many brought gel seats or covers with them, and all added layers of crotch padding as the week went on. Even so, Susan wasn’t prepared for how much the pressure on her pelvic bone got to her.