Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Dust Off


No way, mes amis!

I was not feeling well this weekend with a stomach problem, Gentle Reader. Thought I was doing okay and rode in Monday morning, but by the afternoon I was not well. Little Egypt was not available to evacuate me from the San, but my neighbor and good friend Brucie Bruce (two Bruces on the block) was running errands nearby, and he came and fetched me after work with his truck.

It was 104 outside in the afternoon, and quite humid. Had I tried to ride home in the condition I was in, I would have become dehydrated quickly—then I would be in trouble for sure.

This happened to me on a 600 Km brevet once and it was not fun. Sometimes, the ailment will “run its course” as they say, but in my case, I deteriorated rapidly about two-thirds into the brevet and almost passed out. Fortunately, Steve Star of the Blog was with me and after a pleading call on the cell, and lots of negotiating—his wife Kim drove down and plucked us off the course just in time.

I was on a Permanent a few years ago with Paul Layton, Steve, and RBA Susan Plonsky—and the same thing got to me. However this time there was no choice but to ride it out. We were in the middle of no-where in the desert and everyone had to ride on to make the time cut off before the sun set. If I was still on the course they’d come and get me they said. I just crawled in, Gentle Readers of This Blog, in a stupor and with about two or three minutes to spare.

Much better now--back on the road.

Cheers! Bruce

2 comments:

Big Oak said...

Glad to hear you are feeling better. 104 degrees would kill me.

Bruce's Bike Blog said...

Brother Big Oak, How are you?

Thing about the Desert is that the heat can make a little thing a big deal fast! I'd get full of buck-shot if somebody saw me using their bushes for an emergency pit stop...