actride send-off

risking being late to work this morning, i went to see the actride bikers off on their first day of a 4 day, 300 mile ride. when i went last year, the send-off ceremony was such a whorl of emotions that i found the presence of non-riding friends to be a very stabilizing source of support. i hope i provided a bit of the same for my one friend who is riding this year and my one friend who is crew/staff this year. i brought stickers and kleenex. my rider friend had already gotten a bee sting and scraped her leg on her gears (or something like that). she said the medical tent looked at her kind of funny when she went in to get something for the bee sting. i wish all of this year’s riders well on their journey! may you bike the whole way and not get caught in a thunderstorm. may you find cornfields whenever you need them. may you not sit in wild parsnip. may you have plenty of sunscreen and butt balm. may you always have access to your favorite flavor of powerade. may you have a safe and unmolested ride.