stick a fork in me, I am done

Some observations from today's Covered Bridge Metric.... and yes, that pic above is what i look like and yes I am done, NO MORE sponsored rides this year. Got so much sun today I am cooked, the first part of the ride before lunch was very good but after lunch, holy smokes, it got hotter than hell, really, i must use the word hell.

The heat was unrelenting from about 11:30 am and on. But despite this we were managing to plod along albeit with difficulty. Hey we are almost at 50 miles and kaboom, I get a flat on my front tire, and manage to fall onto Connie and damage her wheel, man, that sure sounds bad.

It's probably good that I fell on Connie as I might have been run over by a very impatient lady in a big car behind us. And from there it all went downhill.


We found some shade and I changed my tire, inflate it and voila, a few minutes later it is flat. Start over in oven like heat and get the tire changed and inflated. Connie has to call SAG after I flattened her bike.

Ellen cramped up very badly and almost walked the last 10 miles. Cassandra was again, way ahead, blond hair flying as she sped up and down hill and valley. Mary Pat took a short cut, and meanwhile Tom is waiting for her on some hot hill cursing his bad luck. He met us at our tire changing spot and collapsed. He finally got going again but it was a tough row to hoe and he also cramped up.

Eileen and Ron were a distant spot , we saw very little of them. Just eating their wake!!

One very funny thing I did notice, since shade was at a premium, every time we passed a decent sized tree, the bikers were all huddled under it, just like the cows do when out in pasture and seeking shade. I had to chuckle at this site,

A big bonus to our hotter than hell ride, is that I now look like a raccoon. Sunburnt face

and raccoon eyes from my sunglasses. And yes, i feel just like the little guy above.

Elaine and I were the last to come in and some guy had the nerve to yell at Elaine cuz she could not get over fast enough for him on some hill, I said, "we are slow", he says, " i can see that"

and on a very very somber note, we saw two accidents, one we came upon, it was a sharp turn and apparently the rider hit a hole and broke her neck and reports we heard were that she died. We saw another rider take a turn too fast and we heard he broke an arm or leg.

We saw many men and women riding way too fast for the crowds and the sharp turns. Not sure why so many folks need to ride with such speed on such a ride as Covered Bridge as it is crowded and the ride has many turns. I am even more committed in promoting safe bike riding, and today apparently speed does indeed kill.