More Fun In The Sun

Tomorrow morning will find me in an unusual place at an unusual time. The big featured race of the week starts at 6 am and I, in a weak moment, volunteered to be a ... volunteer. As a retired person, 6:00 am is a milepost that passes in the night, unless someone next door revs their engine.

Since the participants don't have access to the Internet at their campground, I'm going to whisper some inside info about tomorrow. First, a big bunch of professional and some amateur mountain bike riders will chase each other around the park for a while, then head into downtown Bayview, where around 8:30 am you will see bikers with determined looks on their faces, as they speed through town.

I have been informed that the participants have or will be informed that they are on their own and will not have traffic blocked off, like they have enjoyed this last week.That means that theoretically, they will yield to automobile traffic. That and a belief in the tooth fairy, will get you in trouble. consider these guys and gals are extremely competitive. To them, a car coming at them is no challenge, only another racer closing from the rear. In other words, while on the way to the annual pancake breakfast at the Captain's Wheel, be watchful and yield the right of way to these great athletes.

All contestants will be forced to stop at Ralph's Internet Cafe, to pick up maps and such before trekking on up to Evans Landing, where rumor has it, they will be met by a barge with kayaks on board. It is hard for me to imagine this, because some of these bikes are worth in the neighborhood of five figures, why they would trust Charley Kramer to deliver them back to the starting point, but hey, anything is possible. Those of you that have computers, might want to check into Bayview Bob's web site, where the navy cameras constantly scan the area you can expect the kayaks to come charging by.

Personally, I thought I'd seen everything, until these contestants. Apparently, a well trained human can surpass what most of us would consider impossible. If you are out on the lake tomorrow, figure on seeing the kayaks coming south past the navy barges around noon, on their way to the finish line which is supposedly in Idlewilde Bay. Bayview Bob's site is at:http://www.bayview-idaho.com/