Dave's Ride

Just a few months ago I would have called anyone that rode their bicycles out onto the open road nutty, crazy, fruity, looney, insane. But people do it. Everyday. Now I'm married to one. Nope, it's the same husband I've had for about 9 1/2 years, but he's now joined the ranks of nutcases. If you've kept up, (and that's fairly easy to do) you'll recall that on July 4 he rode 70 miles on the Natchez Trace from Hwy 16 outside of Carthage, to Jackson, and back. After that, he decided to try a real, organized, bike ride. So he chose one that took place this morning--Bikes, Blues, and Bayous in Greenville, MS. It was a 62 mile/100 km ride that took him through the rolling flats of the Mississippi Delta. It started at 7:30am and he finished sometime after lunch, not sure exactly. But the point is, he finished. He told me that a lot of people didn't finish. There were ambulances around to haul off the overheated cyclists. This morning the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for most of Mississippi and an excessive heat warning for a lot of it. I've never even heard of an excessive heat warning. I only told Dave about the heat advisory and begged him to drink plenty. He said that he drank about every 2 minutes and never had to go so he knew he was sweating a lot (TMI, I know). But he finished the race. Of course, Matt asked him if he won and wanted to see his trophy. He was not impressed with a t-shirt and a water bottle. Dave said he was not last, but the last ones were close behind him. He didn't get sunburned because he used the sunscreen I sent with him. If he hadn't, I'd probably be writing this from a hospital room. I'm very proud of him, but when he does this again, I hope he chooses a day when the weather people don't have to invent terms to emphasize that it really is hot outside.