Ellen finally sets a date for the bicycle ride she has promised Theo, insisting they go early to avoid the heat. She tells Theo that Jason at RiverRides Bike Shop will have a special, easy bicycle ready, and she orders Theo to bring nothing so he can keep both hands on the handlebars while she carries water in her basket.

Theo visits the shop in advance to meet Jason and test the bike in a lot behind the store. Jason gives Theo a basic orientation and reassures him, noting that Ellen rarely rides with anyone and that the invitation is a sign of trust. Theo thanks Jason for looking after Ellen and leaves feeling ready.

The next morning Theo arrives at the shop just before seven, dressed for comfort, and finds Ellen waiting with her bicycle, the “Noble Invention.” Ellen hands Theo a water bottle and lectures him about hydration and Jason’s saying, “Motion is lotion.” Wanting to be “careful” and avoid trouble, Ellen produces a homemade “STUDENT DRIVER” sign and has Jason attach it to Theo’s seat post, which Theo finds hilarious and accepts as a playful badge of learning.

They walk their bikes to the Riverwalk and start riding, with Theo pushing off first and wobbling briefly before finding his balance. Ellen rides ahead at a safe distance and monitors Theo in a handlebar mirror. As Theo settles in, the ride triggers a vivid childhood memory of bicycling through Pinhão in Portugal, and he laughs aloud with the joy of moving “forward in space and backward in time.”

The pair ride through late-summer scenery—wildflowers starting to bloom, trees showing heat stress, and stretches of trail made golden with fallen leaves—startling a doe and fawn along the way. Ellen calls a “hydration break” at a rest area overlooking the river, and Theo eagerly thanks her, stretching and refilling his bottle so his legs do not stiffen.

During the break, Theo asks about Ellen’s history on the trail, and Ellen explains that she once lived alone in a tent by the river after finding the Mission too crowded and the area under the bridge unsafe. She says she came to Golden after hearing about it from a homeless person in Athens and hitchhiked and walked there, choosing it partly because she liked the name. She mentions that she and someone named William once expected kindness in Charleston but were disappointed, then confirms Theo has read William Saroyan—especially the bicycle stories—before ending the chapter by asking Theo an odd, reflective question: where night comes from.