Lindsay's Joyride

by Molly Hurford

  When we all say good night, it doesn’t feel like goodbye, even though the competition is over. We’ve got way too much planned to quit now.

  Since the competition last week, it feels like everything has changed. Today, for example, I’m sitting outside in Phoebe’s front yard, watching Dave mess around on his bike in the driveway. Jen and Ali are flanking me as we lounge in the shade under a tree, sipping the kombucha that Phoebe made and Ben mixed with ice and lemonade. Even Jen likes it! I’m not finding as much time to write now that I actually have friends. (I have friends!) Mom will be happy about that anyway. Still, don’t think I’ve forgotten about this training journal. I actually saw Ali looking at it the other day when it was sticking out of my backpack, and I think she was kind of interested. Not that I would let her read it, of course. Maybe someday.

  I promised the girls I was just writing down a quick entry, so I’ll make this brief. I can’t quite believe that this is my real life. It’s pretty exciting—but even with the competition, the movie-worthy dance scene, and all that stuff, the normal daily living with Phoebe isn’t hectic. We train, we eat, we talk and hang out. And that’s sort of the best part.

  Superhero Tip: Enjoy the ride—sometimes literally! Day-to-day practice isn’t automatically condensed into a training montage, but I’m starting to realize that you have to appreciate the stuff that happens between the panels of the comic book. That white space is where the relaxing and the real fun happens.

  Chilling out,

  Lindsay

  (Factual, but not a great sign-off.)

  CHAPTER 33

  Ali and I are flipping through my comic book collection, and Jen is casually flipping through one of Phoebe’s fashion magazines, trying to keep it under wraps so Phoebe won’t snatch it back. But Phoebe’s not paying attention to us at all—she’s too preoccupied laughing at something Ben said while she tosses the Frisbee to Penguin. Penguin, for the record, is not great at Frisbee, but then again, his legs are only about four inches long. It’s hard for him to get a lot of speed. Every so often Ali asks me a question about one of my comic books, or Jen stops to point at a cool outfit in the magazine (most of them look like superhero costumes anyway, all tights and spandex). I’m laughing and joking along with them.

  It’s been a good summer.

  The only problem is, I don’t want it to end. I think Phoebe and Ben have been scheming. Real-life scheming, not supervillain stuff. He’s been over a lot more often, and I’ve seen them in the park’s office and on the phone tons lately. I know Jen and Ali want to stay for the rest of the summer, maybe longer, but I don’t know when they both have to go home. We’re just hoping Ben can start working with us and Phoebe before then. We have a lot of work to do if we’re going to win the intermediate competition next year. The official team name: Shred Girls, of course!

  “How many days left?” Ali asks. I know what she means: we’re getting closer and closer to when we’ll all be going home, and I’m sad even thinking about my new friends leaving.

  “Unless I change my parents’ minds, I only have eleven days left,” sighs Jen. “I never thought I’d say this, but I don’t want to leave you weirdos.”

  Huh. Maybe being a weirdo isn’t so bad, because it sounds nice the way she’s saying it!

  Mom and Dad are coming home soon, and while I’ll be happy to see them again, I’m really going to miss staying with Phoebe. But now that we’re friends and she’s coaching me, I should see her more. I’ve already talked to my parents about it, although they kept repeating, “Wait, what?” when I tried to tell them about the competition. I think they couldn’t wrap their heads around me doing a sport—let alone doing well in it. Or maybe they thought I had gone crazy this summer and imagined the whole thing.

  Either way, they eventually understood. I think they’re even going to let me stay with Phoebe a couple of days a week for the rest of the summer so that I can keep training with her, and luckily, she seems to actually want me here.

  “Linds, I can see you thinking from here. Calm it down,” she says from where she and Ben are sitting, having exhausted poor Penguin with Frisbee overload. I jerk out of my thinking position, while Penguin remains lying on his side, panting heavily.

  “I was just wondering…why did you decide to hang out with me this summer? You didn’t have to,” I say.

  “Lindsay…” Phoebe shakes her head. “I know it’s a little weird, especially since you thought I was a supervillain for the first week,” she says. “And, hey, I wasn’t really sure how this summer would go either. I didn’t know if we’d get along, or if I’d be shipping you off to Estonia on an express flight.”

  “Really?” I ask, curious. She was as nervous as I was?

  “Really,” she says. “But clearly, I didn’t have much to worry about—I think we worked together just fine.”

  She gestures to herself and then me, and I realize that we’re wearing pretty much the same thing: leggings and a T-shirt from Joyride. Our hair is even pulled back in braids. Since the start of the summer, her hair has gotten lighter, almost the same shade of brown as mine, and since I’ve grown a bit more in the last couple of months, now we’re not even that different in height. We really do look more like sisters than cousins. Or a superhero and supervillain. Maybe I needed to grow into it. And maybe she did too.

  Either way, it’s pretty great. “Well, thanks,” I say. “Really. I’ve had the best summer.”

  “Me too,” says Phoebe. “So…” She trails off.

  I know what’s coming. I’m freaked out about going back home, even though I miss my parents. Ali and Jen and I have been trying to figure out how we’re going to stay together as a team—Phoebe made some vague noise about starting a program for us at Joyride, but so far, nothing official has come of it.

  “What?” I ask, suspicious. “Are you kicking me out?”

  She laughs. “Actually, it’s the opposite. I talked to your parents, Jen’s parents, and Ali’s parents about a plan Ben and I came up with. But before I say anything else, tell me something: How serious are you about riding? Do you love it?”

  I’m stumped for a second. Earlier this summer, I would have said absolutely not, and why the heck would I want to ride a bike at all, let alone over a bunch of weird jumps. But that was before I met the girls, before I managed to jump…before I realized that I didn’t need to be anything but myself to have fun in the bike park with my friends. And it was before I could bunny hop, or hold a plank for a minute straight. And way before another girl my age stopped me at the park to ask where I got my cool shirt and helmet.

  “I really, really love it,” I say honestly.

  “Great. Because Ben and I worked out a plan, and we’re hoping you guys will be excited about it. There’s a big bike park on the West Coast that I think you guys would love, with a huge training center. You three are a little young for the programs that the actual cycling association puts on, but Ben and I convinced them that the two of us could host a mini camp for you girls and a few others this August that will finish with another competition.” She pauses to catch her breath. “What do you think?”

  I can’t believe it. The three of us—four, if you count Phoebe—spending the rest of the summer riding bikes and hanging out on the West Coast? “That sounds amazing,” I say. “Do you really think we’re good enough?”

  “We’ve been showing people that security-camera video of you catching Sam, plus the footage of all of you at the competition, and a lot of them think the three of you could be really good with a little more work,” she replies. “Your parents think it would be great for you. Between us, they seem a little too excited. I think they think you’re shy or something. No idea why,” she adds playfully.

  “Beats me,” I say, and duck behind my comic book as Phoebe tosses a piece of ice from her glass at me.

  “S
o you’re in?” she asks.

  “Definitely!” I say, practically squealing it.

  “Great. Ali and Jen?” The two of them were clearly eavesdropping, and they basically fall over themselves to rush toward us and shout yes.

  “Oh, and we’ll be staying in Ali’s dad’s house for the month, since it’s right near the bike park,” Phoebe adds casually. “So get used to having brothers.”

  Oh boy.

  By the time we drive over to the park for an afternoon practice session, my head is spinning with all the ideas Phoebe has for training. She has a whole plan already worked out with Ben, and I can’t believe that they’re going to spend all this time making us better.

  The three of us hit the pump track first to warm up, like we always do, but it’s even more exciting now. We’re a team! (Or a league, in superhero lingo.)

  “Shred Girls forever,” says Ali as we pause at the top of the track, and she puts her hands out for high fives.

  “Shred Girls!” we all yell, and it bounces off the walls in an echo. People turn and stare a bit, but I don’t care. Let them watch!

  “Let’s ride,” I say, grabbing my bike, and the three of us spin off toward the jump lines. We have a lot of practicing to do.

  So. This summer I learned how to ride a bike, solve a crime, make new friends, talk to a boy, and dress in a style that’s all me. Riding the bike was definitely the best part. Or maybe the friends. Heck, the pizza was pretty great too. It’s been a crazy summer, and I can’t wait to start my next journal out on the West Coast. This is the last page I have in this diary, so it’s time to wrap it up and say goodbye for now. I’ll write again soon!

  Shred Girls forever,

  Lindsay

  (Now, that feels right.)

  They wear funny clothes in bright colors, with kind of ridiculous logos—and sometimes, like Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent, they even hide the spandex parts under baggy clothes.

  They fly (though for cyclists, I don’t think that’s always a good thing—like right before they crash).

  They have kind of silly (but important) headgear.

  They’re all helping to save the world—but cyclists do it by cutting down on pollution caused by driving!

  They have super-muscular legs.

  Sometimes they really can save the day.

  Bike riding is super fun, but it can be intimidating at first…not just because of the riding, but because of all the crazy new words you’re going to hear tossed around! Don’t worry—you’ll pick up on the lingo really quick once you get riding. But why wait? If you had a great time reading about Lindsay, Ali, and Jen, here’s a guide to all the cool things they do and see at Joyride:

  Berm: A banked curve on a track, used for maintaining speed and smooth cornering.

  BMX: An abbreviation for “bicycle motocross,” a style of bike riding and racing.

  Bunny hop: A trick in which the rider lifts both wheels off the ground at once.

  Case: Hitting the back wheel of the bike on an obstacle that one is trying to clear.

  Drop-in: The act of approaching a feature. One would “drop in” on a jump line.

  Feature: Any human-made obstacle in a park.

  Foam pit: A pit that riders go off and land in. Similar to a ball pit in a kids’ play place, it’s used for practicing tricks and jumps.

  Freeride: A style of BMX focusing more on tricks and style than speed.

  J-Hop: A trick in which the rider lifts first the front wheel and then the rear wheel.

  Jump line: A straight line of rollers similar to the ones on the pump track, but higher, intended to get the rider some air while going over them.

  Manual: Riding a wheelie without pedaling.

  Pump track: An oval-shaped track with bermed corners and rollers spaced throughout, which can be ridden by “pumping” instead of pedaling. Typically used as a warm-up loop in practice sessions.

  Roller: A small hill on a track; rollers are usually separated at regular intervals.

  Wheelie: A trick in which the rider lifts the front wheel into the air while pedaling and maintaining balance.

  Whoops: Another term for rollers, or bumps.

  Thanks so much for reading this book—I hope you loved it. (I know I loved writing it, almost as much as I love riding bikes. And that’s a lot.)

  I hope you stay in touch. You can do that by going online and checking out Shred-Girls.com. We have a whole community of rad real-life young girls who love to ride, training advice and videos from coaches, all the intel you need to get started riding, and—of course—the inside scoop on Lindsay, Jen, and Ali’s next adventures!

  Come visit!

  Love,

  Molly

  I’d like to thank the real-life Shred Girls who’ve submitted interviews for Shred-Girls.com and who’ve inspired me (and Lindsay, Ali, and Jen) on a daily basis.

  My Baby-Sitters Club–loving sister who tolerated me narrating outfits as a kid and encouraged me to embrace my love of a good makeover montage whenever possible. My ultimate sidekick.

  Lindsay, my original Shred Girl, who got me out of my shell as a kid. My partner in crime, and the girl who taught me the value of female friendship.

  My parents, who let this Shred Girl develop at her own pace and find her love of bikes in her own time (but who fostered an early love of bikes, even though I was a reluctant athlete!).

  My charming husband, who is not a comic aficionado but who now has a ridiculous understanding of the genre thanks to my constant chatter about superhero plot points. (As a cycling coach, however, his skills advice was invaluable.)

  My amazing crew of friends, who helped by offering advice and opinions when needed, and especially Robbie, who helped edit the first draft into something infinitely better than my initial attempt.

  Rodale Kids and the awesome editors I’ve been lucky enough to work with—especially Mark Weinstein, who first reached out; the amazing Trisha de Guzman, who has been a tireless editor and fellow secret nerd and bookworm to bounce ideas off; plus editors Caroline Abbey and Dani Valladares, who really helped make the Shred Girls come to life and cleaned up my messes beautifully. And of course huge thanks to the fabulous designer Jeff Shake and the incredibly talented illustrator Violet Lemay, who I swear could see into my brain when she sketched out what Lindsay, Ali, and Jen would look like! Huge thanks to them for making Shred Girls become a reality—and a book series that will reach tons of young girls and potential cyclists!

  Molly Hurford is an author, a coach, and a lover of all things outdoors. She’s a cyclist and runner, as well as a sports and nutrition writer. She runs the online publication The Outdoor Edit and, with her partner, hosts a podcast called The Consummate Athlete. Her mission is “to get girls and women to embrace wellness and adventure!” Shred Girls: Lindsay’s Joyride is her middle-grade debut.

  For more adventures—both in real life and in the books—make sure you check out Shred-Girls.com.

  What’s next on

  your reading list?

  Discover your next

  great read!

  Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.

  Sign up now.