Mitchell and Dudley still disagree about which bicycle is better, so they settle on a race.
On a smooth street, Mitchell’s red bicycle reaches the oak tree first. Dudley asks for another course: a gravel lane outside town, where he knows which tracks are packed hard and which stones will roll beneath a tire.
This time Dudley wins. A moment later, a bit of wire flattens Mitchell’s rear tire.
The boys walk to Jack Floyd’s shed for a patch kit and a pump. Finding the leak takes longer than either race, but they get the tire holding air again.
From the top of Main Street, they can see the drainage ditch they’ll try tomorrow. They can also see the hill in Dudley’s cousin’s story.
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