The Ride.
Two nights had passed since my Concrete dream and Charles’ visit the next morning that left me interrogative, but that feeling actually passed pretty quickly, and I was convinced after all that my fitness that morning was a sole biological mechanism; and Google searches supported this idea.
On the evening before the bike ride, I declined two invitations to go out because I wanted to be alert and in shape for the ride. I had nothing to prove, but I was worried that Peter would be bored if I wasn’t able to follow him, for the beginning at least.
—New text to « TL Peter 🍆 »
Me: Ready for tomorrow? When should I come over? 🚲
Peter: 10 at my place?
Me: Sounds good, should I bring something?
Peter: Bike helmet, and strong legs haha 💪
Me: You’re gonna destroy me aren't you? 😅
Peter: Probably.
Peter: But that’s fine, first time’s always hard. 😉
Me: That’s what she said 😂
Peter: Haha
Peter: Don’t say that too fast, your butt’s probably gonna hurt like hell on Sunday 🍑
Me: Omg, better not say that to Logan 🤦♂️
Me: We have a soccer game on Sunday
Peter: Yea well 😜
Peter: Good luck with that 🙌
Me: See u tomorrow 👊
I went to bed half-worried about the ride, but also half-confident. Despite what Logan said the other night, I felt pretty in shape back then and I knew I already had strong legs from soccer. The next day I woke up from a dreamless night, and yet still standing tall down there, supporting my theory that biology was the sole responsible and that weird dream was something I probably wouldn’t have remembered if Charles hadn’t waken me in the middle of it.
I was nothing if not on time, so after a nice breakfast, I rang Peter’s doorbell at 10 sharp, with the bike helmet in my hand. Peter opened the door, wearing dark blue sweatpants and a black hoodie. He welcomed me inside his apartment, and gave me a tour. He was living on his own already, in a pretty nice apartment, soberly decorated, with carefully and subtlety curated bike art. I remember wondering how he was able to rent out such a big apartment on a bike mechanic’s salary, but it slipped my mind quickly.
« Shall we get changed? » he asked with his characteristic smile. « Sure, hand over the Lycra » I replied half-laughing, kind of impatient to see the clothes he was about to lend me. He grinned and showed me to his bedroom, where his wardrobe was located.
« So, here are your bib shorts… And, here’s a jersey that should fit. » he said while handing me a pair of black shorts and a dark blue jersey with white stripes that looked actually pretty nice. « Oh wow, these are actually stylish. » I replied. « You do realise that we weren’t actually gonna wear neon clothes like in that Call On Me video, right? » he said, referring to Eric Prydz world renown clip. I grinned. He made me comfortable right away, and the worry started to fade. I knew he was going to be a good guide to my first ride.
He pulled out a pair of beige shorts and an army green jersey for him, which I actually thought were less stylish than the ones he gave me. We talked a little about the route we were going to take, he told me that it’d be mostly flat but I should prepare my legs for some small uphills and that he actually prepared several routes that he could pick on the go, after evaluating my skills. « Alright, let’s put these on, I don’t wanna miss that sunny window ». I agreed and pulled down the sweatpants I was wearing for comfort as he took off his black hoodie, revealing his impressively lean chest. Not muscular, but you could see every detail of a chest and arms’ muscles. His abs were particularly defined, not bumpy, but you could sure see the contour of his six-leaning-eight pack.
I put one of my legs into the shorts, when he stopped me: « Dude, what are you doing? ». I lifted one of my eyebrows in interrogation and naively replied « Getting dressed, what does it look like? ». He grinned in amusement: « Gosh you’re such a newbie. You’re not supposed to wear underwear in bike shorts, there’s a cloth inside that prevents chafing. » I was a little surprised, but trusted the pro, what choice did I have anyway: « Oh, yeah sorry, I didn’t know that. ». He smiled and said a very gentle « That’s alright, you couldn’t have known. But you’ll see, it’s pretty comfy. ».
At that moment, it hit me that it was only the third time I was seeing Peter, and yet, we would see each other’s manhood in two of those occasions. I didn’t know him that well yet, so as I precaution, I felt the need to ask: « Do you want some privacy? I can go in the bathroom if you’d prefer. »
He cracked a smile and said « Nah man, I think we’re past that » and took off his sweatpants. Just before he revealed himself to me, I thought back about what had happened at new year’s eve. I have to admit that, when replaying this episode in my head, I had convinced myself that maybe the whole scene was exaggerated and that alcohol played some tricks with my vision.
His sweatpants’ waistband hit his ankles, he took off one leg, then the other from his clothing that was on the ground, and I couldn’t help but look up. My mouth let out an uncontrolled « fuck » at the sight of his member. Visibly surprised about my reaction, Peter felt the need to comment back, a little annoyed « come one dude, it’s just a dick », to which I felt the need to apologise, confused. « Yeah, sorry, don’t know why I said that ».
Of course, Peter knew that he was oversized. Between Logan who had been teasing him about it and simply from seeing other guys in the locker room at school back then, it couldn’t have escaped him. Still, it was hard not to look. Hard not to stare even. Which Peter noticed. He was very open about it. A few minutes later, on the bike, we would actually talk about how it felt for him to be known as the guy who has a big one; he would tell me that even if it annoyed him a little, he was used to people, mostly guys; staring, and that he eventually got used to it, and found the better way to deal was to try and normalise the situation. Probably why he said: « Plus from what I remember, you’re pretty big yourself ». I shrugged and didn’t really say anything.
While he pulled up his shorts and put his arms in the braces, I took off my tee, and pulled down my trunks. Mocking my reaction from earlier, he looked down and dropped an exaggerated « fuuuuuck ». I chuckled, obviously amused by his reaction and how cool he was with the inappropriate one I had only seconds ago. I grabbed the shorts that were on his bed and put them on, struggling a little to put on the braces. I was about to put on my jersey when Peter stopped me again: « Wait dude ».
I was wondering what I did wrong now, was I supposed to do something or wear something before putting on the jersey? « Let’s send a pic to Logan like that, he’s gonna freak. » said Peter while grabbing his phone that was on the nightstand. He approached me and put one arm around my shoulder while holding his phone up with his other arm. « Flex your abs dude », he told me just before clicking the button.
He took his arms down and showed me the picture of the two of us in tight cycling shorts, our bare chests only covered by the braces holding up the shorts, flexing our muscles so much we couldn’t breathe. « Looks good » he told me. I looked attentively at the phone. « Oh dude wait don’t send it, we can clearly see your… thing heading left there » I said trying not to laugh too much. He looked at the phone again, and said « Oh shit you’re right, big guys problems, am I right? » before laughing vigorously. A few seconds later, he put his hands down the shorts, following the light yet defined trail leading to his rod, repositioned it so it wouldn’t show ostensibly, and repeated the process of the picture taking.
« And, sent. » he said grinning before continuing « come on, let’s head out ».
I put the on the jersey and my helmet, as well as the cycling shoes Peter also lended me. « You good? » Peter asked. I nodded in agreement. « Let’s get started then, just follow my lead ». I barely got on the bike, clipped in the left shoe, then tried to clip the right one, but somehow couldn’t, which lead me to fall on my side, like french crepe you’d flip over.
« Oh shit man, are you ok? ». I was laughing extensively at the ridiculousness of the situation and said, still on the floor laughing « Alright, I guess I’m not a natural ». Peter got down of his bike, gave me a hand to get up, patted me on the back, and said as if he really meant it « Happens to the best of us, come on, let’s get to the actual riding part ».
The second time I actually managed to clip both shoes on and to start peddling. We rode for two hours. I had a lot of fun, and surprised myself climbing some of the hills smoothly. It’s was a different kind of effort than soccer, more linear, longer, that required a more constant, less explosive energy.
The flat parts were a nice occasion to chat, Peter had picked a route that was not busy with cars, which allowed us to cycle next to each other. We talked about a lot of different things: girls, parties, the sort of music he liked - mostly rap and hip hop, which is a genre I couldn’t care less about; eventually about his attributes again. He told me that he was slowly getting annoyed by Logan teasing him about it, which I completely understood, Logan could be very irritating at times. Mostly he hated it because he felt like it was reductive and didn’t want to be just that guy. I felt for him, although it seemed kind of a first world problem, but eh? Rich people are allowed to have problems too. Still, as a gesture I even promised I would rename his contact in my phone, maybe to something more bike related.
When eventually done with the course, we arrived back at Peter’s home, got off the bike and sat on a little bench that was just by his door. Peter seemed like he had just woken up, but I was exhausted. He fist bumped me and said :
« - Nicely done dude, I think you could actually be pretty good at this.
- You think? I’m really exhausted man
- It’s your first time, you thought you were gonna beat me or something?
- Oh no, I’m actually quite happy with how it went
- Guess those soccer legs aren’t that bad » he said while tapping on my thigh.
« - Thanks man.
- You wanna shower here?
- Nah, I’m gonna head home and take a nap straight after that. Can I keep these for now? I don’t wanna get my other clothes sweaty.
- Sure, you can even keep ‘em if you want, I got tons of cycling stuff anyways
- No dude, it’s fine I'll just buy some
- Meaning you wanna do it again some time? ». Peter said smirking at me.
Guilty as charged. I really liked it. « Yeah » I said, with a small grin, almost shy to admit that I really appreciated the ride. Peter put both his arms around me and hugged me after that. I guess he felt really happy to have a new riding buddy, he didn’t have much as it turns out, and cycling was about to be less lonely for him. I hopped in the car and headed home.
As I was about to hit the showers, I realised that I had actually forgotten my other clothes at Peter’s.
—New text to « TL Peter 🍆 »
Me: Dude, forgot my clothes at ur place
Peter: Yup, set them aside, come grab ‘em whenever you want.
Peter: Or I can come by later bring them to you.
Me: Keep in touch
Me: Thanks again for showing me the ropes 🚲
Peter: My pleasure man 💪
Me: And so much more 👀🍆
Peter: 😂
Peter: U dick
Me: 😂
Me: Can you send me that pic you sent to Logan?
Me: What did he say btw?
Peter : **New Picture**
Peter : He said « bunch of pussies »
Me: We look gooooooood 😎
Me: Haha, yeah classic Logan 😂
I dropped my phone in the bathroom, turned on the shower and looked myself in the mirror, still wearing those tight cycling clothes. I remember feeling strong, confident, and felt as if I was looking at the future.
After a hot steamy shower, I was even more tired than before. I pat myself dry and laid in my bed for a nap, without even putting on any underwear, too fatigued to go through any of my stuff. I realised my phone was still in the bathroom, but had zero energy left to get up, and fell asleep a few seconds after that, my legs sore from that bike ride but my head filled with the memories of my very first ride as well as the laughs we shared with Peter, who now I had confirmed, definitely deserved his nickname.
This story is part of a series exploring the outrageous adventures of a tight-knit group of friends. It delves into the chaotic mix of bromance, experimentation, and discovering new boundaries of friendship and pleasure. While purely fictional, some moments may be loosely inspired by the author’s personal experiences. Feedback is always welcome!
Thank you for reading.
