“ohhhh yeah, baby”
“oh yes oh yes oh yes”
“Oh my god”
“ahhh I love you”
“ummm you know what I need”
“More! More!”
“Don’t go, stay with me”
These were the moans and sighs that I got today.
From the riders.
All because I had a misting water bottle full of ice water along the long hot stretch of country roads outside of Bradley.
With responses like this I should carry a water bottle more often.
Man oh man it was a scorcher. Day 3 is always hot. Lots of riders (and roadies) get crispy fried. Some get dehydrated. Those who don’t listen to the warning of “drink before you get thirsty, eat before you’re hungry” end up with an IV in their arm in the medical tent.
I tried to make a voice log today, but I didn’t have much in the way of cell phone signals.
To tell you the truth I’m really wiped out today. Ken and my van have been out since 10am and we wrapped around 8pm. We stayed out until the last rider came in. I got to ride on the back of SFRacerX’s KTM as part of the full on all motorcycle safety motorcade of the last two riders. That was totally moving. This army of roaring iron horses slowly escorting the last rider, brave and strong despite the long journey…
All for personal perseverance… and for perseverance against the damned disease.
In so many ways this is the most rewarding vacation I can spend. We are all here to make a difference.
In others ways it’s hard work and not the ideal vacation of fun and leisure. (Drag ourselves out of the tent at o’dark-thirty, ride up and down, up and down the route cheering up cyclists who are crying tears of frustration for not being able to finish their ride. Crying our eyes out for the loved ones we’ve lost and lending a shoulder to those who are crying for their personal losses.)
It’s bizarre what brings us a sense of purpose and accomplishment. It’s just hard to explain this. You really have to be part of this to understand. And for some reason, sense of accomplishment, authentic community (even if temporary) and contribution to making the world a bit better, is quite addicting. So people keep coming back.
My sweep buddy Ken, he’s not going Sweep next year. Instead he’s going to ride. I keep giving him hell that I’m going to sweep his butt in. It’s all good natured bantering, but we both know we’ll both be there.
It’s nearly 10pm. The showers are closed now so I’ll have to schedule that in tomorrow. But I wanted to make sure to get a dispatch out to you.
Now there’s a self inflating air mattress that’s calling my name…
Good night and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
