The Detour Through the Pass

Ruben had been counting down to this cycling trip for months. Three days of mountain passes with his father, just the two of them and two loaded bikes. By the second afternoon, though, his rear derailleur had started grinding, and now it wouldn't shift at all.

鲁本为这次骑行旅行已经倒数了好几个月。和父亲一起，在山口之间骑三天，只有他们两个人和两辆载满行李的自行车。可是到了第二天下午，他的后拨链器开始发出磨蹭的声音，现在更是完全变不了速了。

"It's jammed on the smallest gear," Nikolai said, crouched beside the bike, turning the pedal slowly to listen. "That's not something I can fix with what's in my kit."

“它卡死在最小的那一档了，”尼古拉说，他蹲在车旁，慢慢转动踏板听着声音。“我工具包里的东西修不了这个。”

Ruben looked up the pass ahead of them, still six kilometers of steep climbing before the next town. "So what, we push the bikes the whole way?"

鲁本抬头望向前方的山口，到下一个小镇之前，还有六公里陡峭的上坡。“那怎么办，我们一路推着车走吗？”

"If we pushed them, we'd be walking until well past dark," Nikolai said. "There's a lower route that skips the pass completely — longer, but flat. We'd reach the town by evening instead of tomorrow morning."

“要是推着走，我们得走到天黑很久以后了，”尼古拉说。“有一条低一点的路，完全绕开山口——路更长，不过是平的。我们傍晚就能到镇上，而不是等到明天早上。”

"We planned this whole trip around riding the pass, though," Ruben said, unable to hide his disappointment. "That was the point."

“可是我们整个行程都是围着骑那个山口来计划的啊，”鲁本说，掩饰不住失望。“那才是重点。”

Nikolai straightened up and looked at his son for a moment before answering. "I know. But the point was also finishing the trip together, not proving something on one stretch of road."

尼古拉直起身，看了儿子一会儿才回答。“我知道。但重点也是我们一起完成这次旅行，而不是在某一段路上证明什么。”

Ruben was quiet, turning the pedal himself and hearing the same grinding sound his father had described. Reported like that, the choice sounded obvious, though it hadn't felt obvious a minute earlier.

鲁本没有说话，自己转了转踏板，听到了和父亲描述的一样的磨蹭声。这样说出来以后，选择听起来就很明显了，虽然一分钟前，他并不觉得明显。

"Fine. The lower route," he said. "But we're doing the pass next summer. No excuses."

“好吧。走低的那条路，”他说。“不过明年夏天我们要骑那个山口。没有借口。”

"Deal," Nikolai said, already checking the map for the turn.

“一言为定，”尼古拉说，已经在看地图上的转弯处了。

The lower road wound through farmland instead of switchbacks, flatter and, Ruben had to admit, quietly beautiful in a way the pass wouldn't have been. His single working gear meant standing on the pedals more than he would have liked, but the distance passed easily enough.

低处的那条路穿过农田，而不是一连串的急转弯，更平坦，而且鲁本不得不承认，有一种山口所不会有的安静的美。他只剩一档可用，这意味着得比他愿意的更多地站起来蹬踏板，不过路程还是不知不觉地过去了。

They reached the town just as the last light left the sky, tired but not defeated. Ruben leaned his bike against the hostel wall and looked back the way they'd come.

他们到达小镇时，天上最后一丝光亮刚好褪去，两人疲惫，却并未被打败。鲁本把自行车靠在旅舍的墙边，回头望向他们来时的路。

"Next summer," he said again, like a promise he intended to keep.

“明年夏天，”他又说了一遍，像是一个他打算兑现的承诺。