Today was the BRAG layover day, the second day in the same town. They started including it in the schedule in 2001, in this very town, and I love it. Because we stay overnight twice, it means that riders can opt to do any number of loop rides, 45 miles, 56 miles, or 101 miles. They can also do an out-and-back of any number of miles they choose, or they can take the day off from riding and relax. This is a great spot for the layover day, because there is a movie theater nearby, a shopping mall right across the street, and a number of restaurants in walking or cycling distance. It's one less day that riders have to take down a tent, pack their clothes, put their luggage on the trucks, ride to a new town, retrieve their luggage, put up a tent, and look for somewhere shady to rest for a while.
Rozmo and I toyed with the idea of riding the century, which was actually 101 miles. We did that ride here in 2005, and temperatures approached 100 that year too. Our "lunch" stop was at the 77-mile mark, and all the food was gone. Hell, the lunch PEOPLE were packing up when we got there. Toward the end of that ride, we stopped in any store that looked like it had air conditioning. Needless to say, our riding time was not pretty. We had to break through the dinner line when we got back to get our precious bandannas (the reward for riding a bicycle 100 miles). It didn't take us long to change our minds about riding the century this year. Not only is the heat intense, but the REGULAR route tomorrow is 73 miles. That's a-plenty.
We got back fairly early (before 11:30 AM) and then rode our bikes to Applebee's for lunch. It was only .32 miles away, so we tooled through the shopping mall a few times too. Yes, I intend to count that 1.75 mile trip in my cycling statistics for the year. Tonight we had an early dinner at a Chinese food buffet (the only time I allow myself that luxury is on a bike ride), and then we went to DQ for a blizzard (ditto). We're waiting for the annual BRAG talent show to start at 7:00 PM, but I'll have to wake Rozmo up to go to that.
Another hot one tomorrow.
I finally took some pictures of our little RV community. I'll post them tomorrow, or maybe I'll wait until I get home and have a little more time.
I also have a map for the ride to lunch and back. And I'm just silly enough to post it.
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