Section 1 Summary

A young man is riding his old-fashioned one-speed bike on a journey from Monument, Massachusetts to Rutterburg, Vermont. He is going to visit his father in Rutterburg and thinks of him as he rides out of town. The bike is the kind his father rode as a kid years ago - no speed, no fenders, warped tires, cracked handlebars, and brakes that don't always work. It is 10:00 on a cold October morning and the young man is determined to make the long trip on his bike. He has thirty-five dollars and ninety-three cents which is enough for a bus ticket, but he doesn't want to be confined in the bus, preferring the open road. He is riding by his own strength and power and for the sake of his father. As he rides through town, he thinks of his father, who reads Thomas...