far the youngest of the riders (excluding co-leader Steve)(*). Young,
as in: always the last person to get going in the morning (Hold page
1! Young man likes to sleep late!); and as in: when there's leftover
food the first person we all look to to finish it up (he rarely
disappoints); and as in: always on the lookout for extreme/outlandish
adventures and behaviors (e.g., cliff-jumping into the Jacks Fork
River; trying to attain the highest maximum bike speed; rising to
Steve and my ridiculous challenge that he couldn't put 8 marshmallows
in his mouth at once and then swallow them (he did 9, and almost
gagged during the swallow phase, but powered on through)). By his own
admission, Phil likes to ride a bike more than anything else in the
world. So the Trans-Am ride was a perfect gift from his mom. (Nice
going, mom!)
When I first encountered Phil, at our group's get-acquainted meeting
in Williamsburg, I worried that he was going to be very unhappy being
such an outlier, age-wise, but it seems that doesn't matter much to
him at all. He and Steve pal around and ride together a lot, of
course, especially on days when Steve rides sweep -- Phil hangs around
camp late and the two "kids" ride sweep together, in effect. But Phil
seems quite content to ride with the grey- (or no-) hairs, too. He's
ridden with Hugh a couple of times, and he and I rode together for
most of the day when we left KY and entered IL, and had a fine old
time of it. We talked a lot, about big stuff -- being a adult, future
plans, family, school, marriage (it was the day of my anniversary),
etc etc etc. Phil is a very interesting kid, who seems to be
floundering a little as he traverses the somtimes difficult border
between kid-hood and adulthood (again, hold page 1, blah blah blah).
For example, I don't know all the details, but his educational history
is kind of checkered. He hasn't finished college, and I think he's
tried several different majors at more than one school. Maybe the trip
will help him sort things out a little. But even if it doesn't, he's
going to have -- and IS having -- a very good time.
-------------
(*) Chronologically, Phil isn't THAT much younger than Lucille and
Robin, but they still seem to be of different generations.
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