Stage 14 - Blazing Saddles

95 degrees isn't too hot when you can share it with friends.

Before I had even ridden a mile I met The Boss out on the road. Barry had left home an hour and a half earlier so he could get a ride in before the temperatures soared. We rode together for 15 miles and then met up with Mike and Russ. The Boss headed home and Mike, Russ and I headed into the wind.

The route was similar to yesterday's except that we made a foray into the mighty hills of the Holy Hill area. If you like to get over-heated then I can recommend riding around Holy Hill when temps are in the mid 90's. The hills and trees block the wind and the roads are stifling. Oh, and the hills are steep too. A good test for an undershirt. Mike did clue us in on the best way to utilize an undershirt; cut the hem so that it just passes your belly button when you're standing. That way when you're bent over on the bike it'll reach your waist. And don't tuck it in. It goes on over your bibs and under your jersey.

Once or twice a car or truck buzzed by too close. It was a good thing that Darin wasn't with us. During a solo ride yesterday Darin reacted instinctively to being almost run off the road by a car; he squirted the driver with his water bottle. That resulted in a car-bike chase through and around a neighborhood until Darin finally ditched the guy. Like the Sergeant from Hill Street Blues used to say, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Let's be careful out there!".

A majestic bird. Proud till the end.

Out on the road we were surprised by a very large Great Horned Owl standing in the ditch near the road. The feathers on the roadside and it's seeming inability to flee suggested to us that it must have been hit by a car. Probably in-flight, last evening. Unsure of what to do, we tried to startle it into flying but the beautiful bird of prey was clearly at the end of it's life. It could barely turns it's head, and even that was very slow and deliberate. We could only hope that the end would come quickly and that it wouldn't suffer as the blazing sun rose into the sky.

Three bikers are enough to make a useful pace-line and throughout the ride we would take turns pulling at the front and then drifting back for a little rest and relaxation. The miles go by much faster when compared to riding alone. Not only are you going faster, but the time flies too because little conversations would spring up as thoughts entered our heads. No subject is sacred when guys are suffering on bicycles. Without divulging any State secrets just let me say that it's always interesting and it's always entertaining.

So entertaining in fact that we ended up riding much farther than planned or anticipated. 56 was the plan, 70 was the reality. That gives me a monster 386 miles in the past six days. Thank goodness for rest days.

Mike and Russ happy to be near the end of a long, hot ride


Did you ever notice that when you actually know something about a subject that's covered in the newspapers, the newspapers often get the facts wrong? Makes you wonder how accurate the stories that you don't know much about are. Especially when it comes to the world's largest and best financed news organization, the New York Times. They have hundreds of fact checkers and editors and surely everything that they print is correct, right? Have fun reading this ARTICLE about today's Tour de France stage. Especially the part near the end about how in 1986 Greg LeMond became the first American to wear the yellow jersey by taking control of the Tour on L'Alpe d"Huez. WRONG! LeMond had taken the race lead the day before by finishing 3'21" ahead of Bernard Hinault at the finish in Serre Chevalier. You can read a great article about the 1986 Tour HERE. And do you know what else is incorrect about the Times article? LeMond was not the first American to wear the yellow jersey; Alex Stieda from British Columbia was (in the 1986 Tour, before LeMond). Sure, it's easy to assume that American means from the United States, but shouldn't the NY Times be able to make that distinction? Frickin' Times. You can't believe anything that they print.

Today's Mileage Goal: 56.11. Miles Ridden: 70(!).