Ace had objected, but his father had had the last word, saying that it would help sell bikes, and that was that.
A local rock band composed of eighth graders played songs about freedom and the open road. And the club members spent their time talking to anyone they could collar about how great mountain biking was and how things were going to be different now between bikers and nonbikers.
The Repairathon committee had added another event during the week as well: a trail litter pickup. The club members had let everyone know that they were going out on their bikes the next day with plastic garbage bags, to pick up whatever trailside litter they could find.
“How much have we brought in?” Will asked Danny and Gail. Over a hundred people had shown up for the Saturday event, and Will thought that each had contributed from two to ten dollars toward trail repair. Gail and Danny were counting up the money as the day’s festivities were coming to an end.
“Let’s see,” Danny said. “Exactly four hundred twenty-two dollars and fifty cents!”
“Awesome!” Gail said, writing down the number. “Man, this is great — I can’t believe we didn’t think of doing this before!”
“We signed up five new members for the club,” Will informed them. “Juliette has the rule sheets they signed.”
“Cool!” Gail bubbled. “Hey, Will, when I graduate, I know who I’m nominating as club president. You!”
“Me?” he said, shocked. “I only started a couple months ago, and I’m not that good.”
“Who cares?” Gail asked. “Look how much you’ve brought to the club. We’re not hated by everybody anymore, we’ve got a bunch of new members, we’re gonna have clean trails, and best of all, you brought us Danny!”
“Yeah,” Will agreed. “Once everybody saw that the writer of the petition was in the biking club, it kind of made people think again about us.”
Danny beamed at them. “I can’t believe I hated mountain biking,” he said. “What a dork I was.”
“Nah,” Will said. “You were just misinformed — that’s all.” And the three friends shared a laugh.
Just then, Will spotted his parents over by the coffee machine the club had borrowed for the occasion. “Hey, Mom! Dad!” he called out, waving. Turning to Gail and Danny, he excused himself, saying, “I want to go see how they’re doing.”
He ran over to where they were standing. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad,” he said. “Pretty amazing day, huh?”
“Son,” his father said, “we’re both so proud of you. You had a problem about what to do with yourself after school, and look what a great solution you came up with!”
“I guess so,” Will admitted with a shy grin.
“Will,” his mother added, “I have to say, I never thought things would turn out so well. Congratulations, honey!” And she gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Will was too happy even to wipe off the lipstick she left behind.
“And you know, Will,” his dad said, “your mom and I have been talking. We’ve decided that you were right — we’ve been working too much and not spending enough time with you.”
“Aw,” Will said, “I didn’t mean to give you a hard time about that.”
“No, you were right,” his mother said. “We deserved it. So each of us is going to leave work early one day a week. That way, you won’t have to spend afternoons in the library anymore.”
Suddenly Will realized that in the weeks he’d been mountain biking, he’d changed his attitudes. “I’ve actually come to like the library, to tell you the truth,” he admitted. “Oh, don’t get me wrong — I’d rather spend the time with you guys. But I really like reading now.”
“Do you realize,” his mother asked, “that you haven’t watched TV or played a computer game in weeks?”
Will had to laugh, “No,” he said, looking around at all the new mountain bikes on display, “I guess I haven’t!”
Matt Christopher®
Sports Bio Bookshelf
Muhammad Ali Mario Lemieux
Lance Armstrong Tara Lipinski
Kobe Bryant Mark McGwire
Jennifer Capriati Yao Ming
Jeff Gordon Shaquille O’Neal
Ken Griffey Jr. Alex Rodriguez
Mia Hamm Babe Ruth
Tony Hawk Curt Schilling
Ichiro Sammy Sosa
Derek Jeter Venus and Serena Williams
Randy Johnson Tiger Woods
Michael Jordan
THE #1 SPORTS SERIES FOR KIDS
MATT CHRISTOPHER®
Read them all!
Baseball Pals Dive Right In
Baseball Turnaround Double Play at Short
Body Check Fairway Phenom
Catch That Pass! Football Fugitive
Catcher with a Glass Arm Football Nightmare
Catching Waves The Fox Steals Home
Center Court Sting Goalkeeper in Charge
Centerfield Ballhawk The Great Quarterback Switch
Challenge at Second Base Halfback Attack *
The Comeback Challenge The Hockey Machine
Cool as Ice Ice Magic
The Diamond Champs Inline skater
Dirt Bike Racer Johnny Long Legs
Dirt Bike Runaway The Kid Who Only Hit Homers
Lacrosse Face-Off Skateboard Tough
Line Drive to Short ** Slam Dunk
Long-Arm Quarterback Snowboard Champ
Long Shot for Paul Snowboard Maverick
Look Who’s Playing First Base Snowboard Showdown
Miracle at the Plate Soccer Duel
Mountain Bike Mania Soccer Halfback
No Arm in Left Field Soccer Scoop
Nothin’ But Net Stealing Home
The Prime-Time Pitcher The Team That Couldn’t Lose
Red-Hot Hightops Tennis Ace
The Reluctant Pitcher Tight End
Return of the Home Run Kid Top Wing
Roller Hockey Radicals Touchdown for Tommy
Run For It Tough to Tackle
Shoot for the Hoop Wheel Wizards
Shortstop from Tokyo Windmill Windup
Skateboard Renegade Wingman on Ice
The Year Mom Won the Pennant
All available in paperback from Little, Brown and Company
MOUNTAIN BIKE MANIA
Is Will pedaling out of control?
Will Matthews is lousy at all sports, but even he knows how to ride a bike. He just never dreamed that it could be such a rush! Soon after he joins a mountain biking club, he’s hurtling down hills, pedaling over mud-churned trails, and leaping over rocks and gullies. But is he moving so fast that he’s forgotten the friend he left behind? And are all his new friends as cool as they seem?
Matt Christopher is the name young readers turn to when they’re looking for fast-paced, action-packed sports novels. For a list of all his titles, please see the last pages of this book.
* Previously published as Crackerjack Halfback
** Previously published as Pressure Play