The Bike Ride "Flying Fickle Finger Of Fate" Awards
The Nr. 1 recipient of this award has got to go to the Aid Station #5 operators who, when closing their Aid Station after the last rider cleared, dumped all their remaining water supply...at a time when Aid Station #8 was in dire need of extra water!
Nr. 2 recipient goes to none other than the Sheriff's Deputy directing traffic at the intersection of Hwy 90 and Adako Road (Aid Station # 4). He held up traffic proceeding north on Hwy 90 if he saw even a single biker coming over the hill a block's distance away! It is understood that a contender for this #2 Award may well go to the law enforcement officer in charge at the summit of Grandfather Mountain who, from all reports, seemed to be operating in his own little world - totally oblivious of other equally important volunteer groups present...including our own!
The Nr. 3 recipient(s) of this award goes to those sag (support) teams that insisted on driving their cars/trucks/vans/motorcycles directly behind or alongside their buddy's (or their own!) biker entrant which caused much vehicular congestion and even a danger to the other bikers! At least one sag vehicle, clearly marked as a Bicycle Shop from South Carolina, was repeatedly attempted to be flagged down by bikers needing maintenance...not knowing the driver was just following his entrant in the bike ride!
And lastly (but there are probably others!), Nr. 4 recipient goes to none other than the Park Ranger Enforcement rulemakers that declared that bikers,
while on the Parkway
, ride
single-file
(no passing allowed??). Go figure...
Bridge-To-Bridge
Bike Ride
The Sixteenth Riding
November 14, 2004
Continued from page 1...
Many less bike riders actually rode the course this year. Before the bike ride was rescheduled from the normal September date, over 800 entrants had applied. Due to rescheduling (close proximity of Hurricane Ivan and the possibility of high winds and/or flooding conditions), many entrants were probably not able to fit the new November date into their schedules...as many, if not most, were from out-of-state. As a result, only about 350 actually rode the 75-mile course. (Being shortened, the "Century" Ride status & credit was lost this year).
The day dawned perfectly clear, but with a definite bite to the air, in spite of the 65 degree temps later in the day. Tom, KA4HKK, stayed overnight in a tent and sleeping bag the night before the ride and he reported the 17 degree temperatures in the Meadows didn't daunt him...until he had to periodically extract himself from his sleeping bag to change out his propane bottle on his Heater Buddy!
Communications-wise, the ride came about almost without a flaw. Net Control, KF4WOD, manned by Tom, KA4HKK, and Rick, N4WYK, and all aid station operators (including sweeps, the summit, and bike transport) performed in a professional and effcient manner and the Lenoir Amateur Radio Club has once-again proven the value of Ham Radio with its pool of trained operators who volunteer their equipment, time, money, and skills to the community.
JOB WELL DONE GUYS AND GALS
!!
For photos at The Meadows, click on biker photo above!
Incidentally, Jim & Ruby (N4EUX/KA4CLI) stopped at each aid station along the Bike Ride route and took GPS coordinate readings. These readings will be made available by email attachment for those interested.
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