Stage 19 - Port Washington

Once again it was Barry "The Boss" to the rescue. I needed some big miles today and after riding in the rain last night my enthusiasm was pretty low.

Barry called, told me when and where to meet him, so early this morning off I went.

We rode north and east to Port Washington (see photo, below) into the strong headwind so that we could have a tailwind along Lake Michigan most of the way home.

We rode 54 miles together and I took a long way home so that I ended up with 62 miles. I only needed 47 but yesterday's ride was 12 miles short. Even with the winds we averaged over 19 mph.

Why is it that almost every time I go for a bike ride, or drive in my car, I see some other driver toss a cigarette butt out their window? In addition to littering (Why don't cops start ticketing this? Could be a big revenue generator. $163.00 a pop here in WI), it's a fire hazard and it's just plain rude.

I understand that smokers clearly don't respect themselves so I shouldn't be surprised when they don't respect others.

It also highlights just how disengaged natural selection has become. Today's society supports and protects everyone, whether deserved or earned or not. Most of the smokers that I know wouldn't survive two days without some assistance from society at large. Put them in an independent setting and even a loss of eyeglasses would probably prove fatal.

Further, because the need to prevail (survive) is not really necessary as it might have been just 200 years ago, the warped gene of a smoker, which would have died if not for society, continues to multiply, weakening the human race with each generation. Ay, carumba!

Hey, only two more stages to go! The Tour is almost over and I'm not sure if I'm happy about it or not. It's been difficult, but it's also been fun.