The Melon, the Flags, and The Long Road

Rick, left, and Eric.

Well, OK, I'm going for some kind of alliteration with the title. I hope it causes different echoes in every reader's mind.

Once again, the Melon turned out to be a transcendant event. Volunteers did come out of the proverbial woodwork; so much so that the riders were very complementary. Many thanks again to those who did double duty!! Another bonus - the Somonauk po-lice didn't have any run-ins with cyclists this year; at least there were no reports/complaints.

We used a unique route marking system - those cute little adhesive flags on the roads. The glue is very sticky, yet the paper flags themselves wear away in about ten days to two weeks. Nice. Next year, now that the route marking crew knows how many flags are in the roll, the markings will be even better.

As some of you may know, NBC member Eric Peterson is... well, a maniac. He's an ultra-distance cyclist, who qualified last year for the Paris-Brest-Paris timed ride.

Particicpants qualify by means of completing rides at distances between 200 and 600 kilometers. There is a group - Great Lakes Randonneurs - which oversees the qualifying rides, and keeps evryone's records straight. The real deal, PBP, is a 1,200 kilometer ride, with a limit of 90 hrs. The clock doesn't stop until the time limit is hit, or the riders' limit is hit. Oh, yeah...it's not a supported ride. The PBP riders, in qualifying and on the actual ride, use touring bikes, loaded with gear and supplies. No outside help. And the clock never stops. No weather breaks; no daylight only mileage.

After Eric knocked off the PBP, he continued to do the long miles/kms. Rick cosaro and Eric were up in Wisconsin, doing a training ride. At 9:30 pm. On a relatively rural road. A woman on her way home from work intersected with Eric's bike; Rick Cosaro kept his cool, grabbed a cell phone, and called in the po-lice. Eric was helicoptered to the University of madion Hospital, where, fortunately, he impressed the staff with his fitness, attitude, and resiliency. Eric was up and about in ten days or so - and riding shortly after that. He did the Melon also.

So, a little commotion for a guy with Reynolds 853 steel in his bones!!