As I was pedaling my way to the start of the ride, some
guy in a black van started pacing me, honking and waving.
That would be Bob Hurley, who then proceeded to pull away
from me at a pace only slightly faster than what he usually
passes me when he's on bike!

I got to Challenger to find Bob, Wes (Kelley?), and Mark
(Hotchkin?) waiting.   (Sorry about the uncertainty with
the names -- I didn't have my notebook with me, and I'd
say that my memory was going except it's always been this
way!)

Around 6:25, Lou Persennaire showed up.   We waited the last
few minutes, but apparently everyone else was getting ready
for DALMAC.

We started off through the neighborhood, and noticed along
the way that a number of the side streets were at the "bunch
of gravel dumped on the pavement" stage of preparation for
resurfacing.   A few times we had to swing wide through the
intersections when the gravel had been carried onto Discovery
street by cars.  I thought I heard ominous music playing,
but Bob assured me that someone in one of the houses just
had the stereo turned up too loud.

We made the turns onto Fawnwood without incident, but just
at the intersection of Fawnwood and Promise was another
section of gravel-on-pavement, and I didn't realize that I
was on loose surface until I had already started to turn!

The bike and I did a full flip with a quarter twist.  I
think the judges said:   Lou - 9.6;  Mark - 9.8; Wes - 9.7;
Bob 8.5 (Bob's always been a tough judge!)   I wish someone
had been there with a camcorder, because that must have
looked spectacular!

I dragged myself and my bike over to the side of the road
and surveyed the damage.   My elbow and my right knee were
scratched up, and after using my water bottle to clean up
a bit I found a pretty good gash just below my left knee.

Luckily for me, Wes is a firefighter, and had a med kit in
his pack.   A few gauze pads, some tape, and I stood up and
tested my legs to see how they would hold me up.   Amazingly,
I had nearly no pain at all!   I decided to keep going and
see how I felt after a few more miles.

As you might expect, everyone was REALLY careful to point
out any gravel on the road to me for the rest of the ride!
(Thanks, guys, where were you when I needed you?)

Mark mentioned that East Paris was under construction, so
we detoured from Tom's planned route and continued down
Hanna Lake road instead.   At 108th, Hanna Lake turned to
gravel.   We detoured to Patterson, having had our fill of
gravel for the night.   As we passed East Paris, we noticed
that it was OK to the South of 108th.

We rode the loop around Green Lake, headed up East Paris,
and detoured over to Hanna Lake when we ran into the part
of East Paris that was under construction.   My impromptu
gymnastics demonstration put us behind schedule, so we got
back just after sunset.

Final stats:  Somewhere between 33 and 35 miles (depending
on whose computer you believe), and I have no idea what our
time was because I had miles from my house to the ride on
my computer and Bob forgot to reset his.

After a stop at home, I hit the med center.   Seven stitches
and a tetanus shot.

Thanks again to Wes for the patch job that kept me in one
piece for the ride!


Mike Burden
(Guest RC)