Day 4: Advil and Miracles

December 29, 2011

Did you know that in Canada over the counter Advil comes in 400mg, and not 200mg like here in the U.S.? Well I did not know that. But the rider from Canada had extra and gave me one since I was out.

I needed it too. I left early again, though this time not so much because I needed to keep ahead of everyone but because I knew I was going to feel awful from the get go and I wanted to ride in my own private hell for a while, without disturbance. It was the right move.

About 10 miles down the line I stopped at a quicky mart for a drink and the main group must have passed me, because when I got on my bike I saw Ralph in the distance. I caught him on a bridge where he had stopped and I saw him popping something in his mouth and taking a drink.

"Popping Advil already?" I asked as I rolled up and came to a stop.
"How did you know?" He said.
"I'm on 400mg's. Have you got any more?"

So we rode on together, feeling sorry for ourselves for being old and out of shape. It wasn't long before we ran across a few other riders so we all rode in to the lunch spot together. It was there we took stock of our combined Advil. Carrie had a full stock and passed them out; she must have felt like a pusher.

Now I must say that it all would have been much worse, but that's where the miracle comes in. The stretch of road west of Palm Springs is known for it's monster west winds, which explains the 100's of windmills through the pass. It was that way two years ago when I rode through on The Adventures of the Girl Friday where I almost missed my train because of the wind. You can even see it on some of these pictures.

...and that is the miracle. There was no wind today. In fact we had a slight tail wind! It's a good thing too. We were running out of Advil!

We suffered through the last stretch into Hemet and I took a nap, praying that tomorrow I would feel better, even though I'm a heathen and don't expect my prayer to work.

This is what I'm talking about......windmills!

I rode with Ralph and Carrie and Don (on the tandem) for a stretch before lunch...

....were the rest of the riders trying to tell us something by leaving us these vacuums!? In the end we didn't get swept, we just wished for it.

...that damn dinosaur tried to eat The Trucker! I was Johnny on the spot and saved her though. I wasn't about to lose another one!

Hey, am I in France!? Oh wait, it's a miniature golf course. Never mind.

Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 280 miles (451 km)

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