Our knobby tires rolled along the single track, each pedal stroke was accompanied by a quiet whir from the electric assist. Cody lead the way, intermittently glancing down at his phone on a handlebar mount. He was following a gps course laid out by previous riders. Aki trailed behind him and I followed along in sweep. We had started riding before dawn and now the sun was just starting to creep over the horizon, lighting up the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. I pulled in behind Aki and heard the distinct sound of his dry chain running through the derailer. You know I had chain lube back at base you could have used. He didn’t look back, he just said, I’ve got some with me. And you’re saving it for just the right moment? I asked. Is it bothering you? It’s just noisy. It’s not as noisy as you hassling me about it. He had a point. I backed off of his wheel and left some more space. It was fun giving him grief, it reminded me of the rides we used to do together before all this shit. I sto