Some wonderful things have happened on my rides. 

I try to be conscious each time one happens. 

Lock them in my head. 

Some people would call it luck. 

But luck has nothing to do with it. 

If you ride lots, and ride the DERAILLEUR way, they are guaranteed. 

‘There is another way to ride.’ 

When you do, ‘things’ happen. 

Lots of ‘things.’ 

I come back with a good story from every ride. 

Ask my friends. 

But this is my favourite. 

Hands down, for sure, no doubt, absolutely. 

I went away with two friends. 

It was not a long trip, just a few days. 

I have a Pickup, so it is easy to bring the bikes. 

On the Saturday morning, we left for a ride that we knew would encompass the day. 

Around four o’clock, my two friends had to head back to where we were staying. 

They had a few things to do. 

It was October, and one of those perfect, glorious Fall days. 

When we got back to our place, I decided that I wanted to stay out, keep riding, and ride the city. 

Off they went, and off I went. 

I rode around aimlessly. 

In my element. 

‘Vibing.’ 

I rode up this one street. 

The sun had gone behind the buildings. 

But it shone through a crack and landed on this bar with a little deck out front. 

It was ‘nature’s spotlight.’ 

Yeah, I stopped. 

I put my bike against the railing. 

The deck was quiet, just two guys sitting at a table having a beer. 

‘We will watch your bike if you want to go in and get a beer,’ one of the guys said. 

I thanked them and told them how nice it was of them. 

I went inside and decided that a beer for each of them would be a nice gesture. 

I handed them each a beer, which led them to ask me to join them. 

Great guys in every way. 

Great conversation. 

Lots of laughs. 

One of the guys said something that intrigued me. 

‘I picked up Jerome this afternoon from the airport, he flew in for his show.’ 

Yeah, so I am thinking, ‘Show?’ 

‘Show?’ I asked. 

‘I am a DJ,’ Jerome responds. 

He was very humble, but through his friend, I realized how big a DJ he is. 

JEROME IS A MAJOR DJ. 

Tours the world. 

I could go on and on here about how great these two guys were. 

An hour goes by, and another round goes by before we all have to get on our way. 

But I am now on ‘The Guest List,’ for his night’s performance. 

I am thinking about my two friends. 

I did not have to think long. 

He was adamant about knowing who I was with. 

They were now on ‘The Guest List’ too. 

I meet back up with my friends. 

I am excited to tell them about our ‘plans’ for the evening. 

But before I can, my friend says, Haha…wait for it. 

He says that he saw that a DJ that he likes was in town. 

He says, ‘After dinner, we should go catch him.’ 

Yes, the DJ I just had a beer with. 

So now I am thinking, ‘You know? I am not going to tell them.’ 

I know exactly how to play this out. 

We had a few beers at our place and headed out for dinner. 

It was hard to keep the constant smile off my face. 

We ate at this great restaurant. 

The day was perfect. 

The night was perfect but was about to become even more perfect. 

We leave the restaurant and make our way over to the club. 

It was down a cul de sac. 

If it were not for the long line, you would never know it was a club. 

Nothing, just a black door. 

I am bursting inside. 

BURSTING 

I want what is going to happen to go on for as long as possible. 

I decided to still not say a thing as we got into the line. 

I wanted them to experience the line so that what I was about to do would stand out even more. 

The line is moving, but not really moving. 

‘Come with me,’ I said. 

We walk out of the line, go between two cars, and start walking down the street. 

My friends are not angry, but they are concerned that we just lost our space in line. 

We slid back in between two cars and are now at the black door. 

The door is guarded by three gentlemen. 

We are standing in front of them. 

I said to one of them, Oh man, I love this part, I said to him, ‘I am a friend of Jerome’s.’ 

He takes his clipboard off the stool. 

‘Name?’ 

‘TJ’ 

He looks at his clipboard and nods. 

Then he says to my friends, ‘Mark? Ryan?’ 

I wish you could have seen their faces. 

They nodded, laughed, and shook their heads. 

He pulls back the rope and says, ‘Have a great night, TJ, Mark, and Ryan.’ 

Mark and Ryan still talk about that moment. 

I think they have told everyone they know. 

They think it is best. 

I do, too. 

What a moment. 

It gets better. 

An hour into his set, Jerome sees me in the crowd and gives me a nod. 

But he nods in a way that says, ‘Go to go to the side.’ 

A minute later, I got a tap on my shoulder. 

A lovely woman uses her finger to say, ‘Follow me.’ 

So off we go. 

We walked out to a hallway, and up a couple of stairs. 

She opens the door, and we are now on the stage. 

Not the part of the stage that can be seen by the audience. 

It is off to the side, behind a curtain. 

Jerome sees me and smiles. 

There are four couches. 

It is the lounge that is set up by the major Vodka Company that promotes his shows. 

It was well into the morning when we made our way home. 

Let’s just say the sun was up, way up. 

Oh, how I love to share this story. 

Writing this took ten minutes. 

Zero edits, cut, paste, and post. 

It was such a special night. 

I wrote this while smiling the whole time. 

I still keep in touch with Jerome. 

I talked with him yesterday. 

It was what got me thinking. 

I should share this. 

Thanks. 

When you ride, do the ride. 

But never forget about this kind of riding. 

The aimless city streets one. 

This is the ride where ‘things happen.’ 

…And if you see the sun shining directly on something like ‘nature’s spotlight,’ STOP. 

‘Hands down, for sure, no doubt, absolutely, my favourite bike story’ 

Insert Trophy emoji here. 

‘There is another way to ride.’