It was way too hot to be out riding this afternoon! It was 101 when I left to ride out and find the "4K for Cancer" riders and bring them into town. I'd talked with one of them and I thought they were closer to town than they were, so I kitted up and headed out!
I rode along at a fairly easy pace, not wanting to overexert in the heat. I climbed up and out of town and then settled in to a rhythm and let the miles roll under my tires. When I got to Cairo and hadn't seen the group yet, I was a little concerned. I didn't really want to deal with the four-lane stuff, but I crossed over to the wide left shoulder and rode against traffic. I was just a little concerned when I saw a highway patrol car, but he didn't even give me a flash of his lights as he sped on his way. Finally, when I'd ridden about 13.5 miles out of town, I spotted a cluster of cyclists headed toward me. I swung around and rolled to a stop so they could catch me.
When we were all together, we rolled on down the road. I talked with the riders as we made progress against the blast furnace wind. Today was, for them, better than yesterday. Less than 24 hours ago, they rode 102 miles into a furious headwind in the Kansas heat. Ugh! I'm glad I didn't do that with them.
We rode fairly slowly into town, stopping once for the "water wagon" which pulled off at Cairo. We stopped again in the shade of some trees at a house. I didn't figure the owner would mind. They came out after we'd been there for a few minutes and were pretty friendly. They even let one of the girls use their bathroom.
From that house, we rode all the way into town and I took my charges down to Sixth Street and across to the old gym where they're staying tonight. I rested for a bit, then left for home where I showered and returned to work.
This evening, I may go out for a short ride with a couple of the guys who were in the support vehicles today. We'll see! (garmin data)
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