Loaner Vehicle And Free Dinner With Oil Change

Day 36: A mountain bike, an oil change and mushrooms...you might be able to connect two of those if you were inventive, but hooking all three together might take some work. As you may recall, I purchased a new car last spring. It was due for service, so I called the dealership this morning and asked them if they could squeeze me in. An afternoon appointment gave me time to do some shopping and photography, so I left immediately. When I finally reached the service desk, I was prepared to spend 45 minutes to an hour sitting in an uncomfortable chair, staring at something excruciatingly boring on a television screen. Boy, was I in for a surprise!

My service advisor was a young man, perhaps in his late twenties, and I knew him to be a bicyclist. Out in one of the bays, I could see a hefty green mountain bike leaning up against the wall. "Josh," I said, "is that classy green machine yours?"

He assured me that it was, and then repeated an offer he had made to me at my last appointment (an offer I had declined). "You wanta go for a ride while your car's in the shop?" We'd discussed bikes and trails before. After a slight hesitation on my part, we went out to the bay and he lowered the seat so my feet would touch the pedals. The bike was tall enough that I could barely swing a leg over the bar. "It's got hydraulic disk brakes," he cautioned as he handed me his helmet. "Use a light touch or you'll go flying." Great...just what I needed to hear with new glasses on my nose and the camera slung around my neck!

But out I went, and man, what a ride! This bike made my own mountain bike feel like a bucket of bolts! I covered half a dozen miles on the trail behind the dealership before I finally decided I'd better get back before Josh thought I'd made off with his wheels.

So how do the mushrooms figure into this tale? Quite surprisingly, as a matter of fact. I found a nice cluster of Shaggymanes in good condition, and me without a sack or bag to my name! I rode back with them in my belt pouch, the satchel which serves as my equivalent of a purse. Shaggy Soup was the main feature of the menu tonight!