Troy, New York

Said very eloquently tonight by our ride leader Mike, “We have reached our five percent.” Today two more riders went down with injuries that will certainly prevent them from biking for the next month or more. Jim, the delightful gentleman from Memphis, crashed today while riding on the bike path. I guess his deal was that he was not paying close enough attention to the road, there was a bump and he went flying. He went down hard and broke his collar bone. Joe, who was riding directly behind him also went down, but he walked away without major injury. In a totally unrelated event, Murray (arguably the strongest rider on this trip) went down after getting pinched between a car and a curb. He said that as the car bore in on him he tried to bail out onto the sidewalk via a driveway ramp – it was not a successful bail. I do not know enough detail to try and recount his fall, but I can tell you that seeing him later on I knew that it probably wasn’t pleasant. After his fall Murray went to the hospital where he was examined and diagnosed with a contusion on his hip. He was released and sent back to the hotel in the America By Bike van – a trip that was apparently also very painful. Dad and I were among the many people needed to get him into the hotel – he was in more pain than I care to think about. The grimace on his face made me hurt just to look at, I wondered how this was just a bruise. After spending a few hours at the hotel, Murray decided that it would be best for him to return to the hospital for more tests and some stronger drugs.

At least we are all alive. Mike said at the beginning of the ride that every year we can expect five percent of those who start the ride in Oregon to not finish. I guess that Murray and Jim took those statistical bullets for the team. We wish them the best.

Other than the fact that three people were injured (two of whom won’t be finishing the ride), the ride was downright pleasant. It was a flat day and there was a tailwind that pushed us. For the first 50 miles I was in a group that was simply racing at a torrid pace. We left everyone else in the dust, including the SAG wagon that was supposed to set up the second rest stop. That was a first for me and made me feel much faster than I really am. The last thirty miles of the ride were spent on a bike trail. It was nice and shaded and helped protect us from the intermittent rain.

I got in early and had a great burger at a local diner with terribly slow service (but it seemed like the deck was stacked against the teenage waitress, she really did need more help). By two pm dad and I were getting our picture taken by a girl from the Albany Times Union and by two-thirty we were doing an interview for the local Fox station. Dad really relishes the opportunity to have attention focused on him in a positive light – I bet that he takes it as affirmation that he is doing the right thing with his summer. I don’t like doing interviews because it makes me feel like a sham – so I guess that it is good that dad loves this all so much. I work much better as a coordinator anyway.

Paul

Footnotes for August 4th:

• I hate biking. It makes me depressed to know that I have to bike, even for three days. I think that I am going to start therapy soon after I return to Toronto.