He escapes by chewing holes in the sheets, but, unfortunately, he must leave the motorcycle behind. Ralph and the motorcycle are almost sucked up by a maid's vacuum cleaner, but Ralph escapes, riding into a pile of dirty bedsheets. Gridley thinks she is imagining things, but she is still sure that she saw a mouse riding a motorcycle. One night he is spotted by Keith's mother, and Mr. While Keith and his family explore California, Ralph recklessly rides the motorcycle through the depths of the hotel. Although Ralph's mother worries that he is in contact with humans, Keith shows Ralph how to start the motorcycle-make an engine-like noise-and lets Ralph ride it during the nighttime. Keith discovers his missing motorcycle in the wastebasket along with Ralph and the two strike a friendship. Startled by a telephone ring, he and the motorcycle fall into a metal wastebasket. While Keith is away, Ralph attempts to ride it, but cannot figure out how to start it. Keith leaves a toy motorcycle on his bedside table, which interests Ralph.

One day a boy named Keith Gridley and his family visit the hotel on their way through California. Ralph longs for a life of danger and speed, wishing to get away from his relatives, who worry about the mice colony being discovered. Ralph is a mouse who lives in the run-down Mountain View Inn, a battered resort hotel in the Sierra Nevada of California.