THE PALE RIDER: A Stan Powell Thriller by Chris Merrill

Author:Chris Merrill [Merrill, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Four

The sign on the front of the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery read, Always Brewing. The downtown Denver brewpub was a favorite watering hole for locals, but tonight the Japanese bicycle component giant Shimano had rented out the brewery for the evening. Hired for the gig, Pyromania, the Def Leppard cover band, had already worked their way through a couple of the band’s eighties rock favorites. It was still early, and according to the band’s drummer, it took a few drinks before the lead singer found his groove.

Stan and Zandy arrived to a full house, as it was apparent to them that bicycle frame builders, with their limited means, would rarely pass up the chance for free food and drink.

Zandy didn’t see her usual stout being poured that night, so she opted for the Wicked Elf Ale, a Belgian Dubbel ale. Stan ordered the Passionfruit Chowdah Head, a hazy IPA.

“Does that come with a tiny umbrella?” Zandy joked.

“It should, with a name like that,” Powell laughed.

They noticed Gavin Tuesday sitting in a comfortable chair at the far end of the brewpub. As usual, Tuesday was keeping a large group entertained with another tale from his remarkable life.

“Hey you two,” a voice called out from behind.

“Hey Christian,” Zandy said as she and Stan turned to see Christian McCollum of Hank Jones Bicycle Supply standing behind them. McCollum was wearing a black Thunder Chicken Cycling Team t-shirt, a pair of Lucky Brand jeans and Chicago Bulls red and black Nike Air Jordan high tops.

“How was your first day at the show?” McCollum asked.

“It was amazing,” Zandy replied. “I’ve never seen so many incredible bicycles before.”

“I have a feeling we’ll be taking out a loan once we get back home so we can afford the new bicycles we want,” Powell laughed.

“I’ve been coming to this show for a few years now, and I’m always blown away by what these guys do with a pile of steel tubes,” McCollum said.

“Hey, we met a guy named Bruce over at the Tough Wall booth,” Zandy said. “What’s the story on that guy? Seems like he would be better off selling used cars.”

“Oh dear,” McCollum said. “I’m sorry you had to suffer through Bruce Thornton. Did he try to sell you some bicycle tubing?”

“Yep. We got a credit application and everything,” Powell laughed.

“He’s been trying to break into the bicycle tubing business but hasn’t had much luck,” McCollum said. “His tubing simply isn’t very good, and the word is out.”

“He seems pretty harmless,” Zandy said.

“I think so,” McCollum said. “But he’s got to be losing a ton of money on the bicycle tubing side of the business. Thin-walled, butted bicycle tubing is difficult to produce, and the tooling cost alone is a major investment.”

“That’s interesting,” Powell said. “So, not all steel tubing is the same?”

“No, it’s not,” McCollum replied. “Today’s modern steel bicycle tubing is light, strong, and rides better than any other material. Good tubing manufacturers are able to produce super-thin-walled tubing with varying thicknesses

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.