Thursday, Day 6, Franklin Pierce College, Rindge, NH 10:50PM
Hiya gang,
We had a bundle of events and activities today, let me see if I can recap them all…
First off, JC from Norm’s Ski and Bike in Keene, NH really hooked up our three mechanics today… He donated some extra parts that are extremely hard to find, and not typically stocked in ANY bike shop, let alone one actually on our route. That was really helpful, and greatly appreciated to re-stock the mechanics, and by the riders that needed that gear. Norm’s Ski and Bike has been a supporter, and has hosted of one our rest stops for MANY years- the whole staff there have opened up their facilities to our every need, and this is just one more example of how great they have been to us.
Now, for some of the off route stuff… The weather, that was threatening all day, held off. Some riders went for a swim in the pond that is parallel to the main college entrance, and the foreground of most of the campus vistas, while others decided it was a nice time to just hang around the truck, and curse the work done by the glaciers that created the Connecticut River Valley.
We had a fast, but nice dinner at the school cafe, then went on to our annual awards ceremony, hosted in the President’s office meeting room… Nice digs…
Bob and Eric (Two of the three mechanics) presented a couple hand-made awards, Lindsay, (head of route-marking) presented each of the volunteers with a personalized thank-you gift, Ryan had many gifts for the cyclists, and then, I levied judgement, and presented “The Rock”.
This year’s Rock (Awarded to the person who brings the heaviest luggage) was a close contest- It took me, my new co-pilot Sam, two riders, and a member of the Franklin Pierce event staff to determine which was the heaviest bag… It was THAT close.
We went back to the truck for the final raffle of the year, then, we righted a wrong that occurred on day 2-
We had changed this year’s route slightly in the Kennebunk area- since many local businesses were closed… Someone was put in charge of re-marking that area, and painting over all the old marks… A small section of that area was missed- that resulted in our riders doing an 8 mile circle, almost back to where they had begun. This caused much unhappiness…
Ryan, Our “Friendly neighborhood ADA guy”, was the culprit, so we gave him a “Gatorade bath” like those reserved for winning football coaches- but with a little NEC twist-
Unlike the college and pro athletes, we dumped 6 gallons of water (From a big orange cooler) over his head, then poured two cans of powdered gatorade concentrate (Lime flavor) over his wet head and body… Let’s just say he was more than a little sticky, and promises to be more thorough in the future.
OK, It’s now 11:30 PM, I either need to learn to type faster, or think faster…
I’m guessing typing classes are cheaper…
More tomorrow, 5:15 AM comes pretty early.
Bye for now!
Gearman
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