A Comprehensive Exam

Smiles before tackling the Pennsylvania hills

While some hill grades were steep, there were no really long, steep climbs, and there were plenty of energizing downhills and places where momentum from the previous downhill plus a few pedal strokes could carry one over the next rise. In fact, if it had been only hills, the day might even have been fun. But it was not, at least for most riders, because of four additional factors: heavy truck and car traffic; poor road surfaces on some stretches; the 106-mile length of the day's route; and, last but not least, thunderstorms with heavy rains, thunder, and lightning. The bad weather, in turn, led to poor visibility and potentially dangerous conditions, such as longer braking distances, or the chances of slipping or skidding on slick surfaces, or a too-close encounter with one of scores of fully loaded coal trucks that barreled down the hills.

It was a tribute to riders' skills enhanced in the past weeks, that no serious mishaps occurred. Perhaps it was luck. A few riders missed dan henry road markings and added some"bonus miles" as they accidentally went off-course; a few took minor spills. That was about it.

Rain . . . Finally

The one factor that riders had had the least experience with, at least on this Big Ride, was the rain. Until today and yesterday practically no rain had hit riders on the road. While some faster riders managed to avoid the rainstorms that hit in the afternoon, most were caught in drenching downpours that defeated attempts to keep dry. Raincoats and booties - even of the Gore-Tex variety - were soaked by rain on the outside and perspiration and condensation did the job on the inside. At least it was warm rain. But it was accompanied by thunder, some of it directly overhead, and numerous lightning bolts in all directions.

Don Spencer rolls along
in the morning fog

Riders could be seen, heads down, shoulders hunched, pedaling determinedly, or huddled under roof awnings, hoping for the storm to ease. More than the usual number of riders sagged, riding a van in; others said"no way" and continued on toward the finish line. The one saving grace for the day was that riders stayed in dorm rooms at Indiana University of Pennsylvania instead of having to pitch tents in the rain.

Like most such experiences, today's rotten conditions will become grist for tomorrow's story mill, and the misery of grinding up the debris-strewn shoulder of a hill in the pouring rain as giant dump trucks rumble by will become something to joke about. It's also possible, perhaps to those with a more optimistic bent, to see such an experience as something to be savored, a reminder that life is short and that it needs to be lived to the fullest.

Bill and Katie Baker

If there are two riders on the ride to whom that optimistic thought would most likely occur, it would probably be Bill and Katie Baker of Barrington, Rhode Island. The fun-loving brother and sister are infectiously enthusiastic about life, and they have good reason to be. Both star athletes in high school and college (soccer, basketball, baseball, and softball), they came by their enthusiasm for sports from their father (and their determination and stubbornness from their mother, they said).

Brother and sister Bill and Katie
exchange a morning hug

Today, at age 71, their dynamic father is just a shell of a man wracked by emphysema and dulled by Alzheimer's."It's difficult to watch, but we can't do anything," said Katie. "He struggles to breathe. We wish we didn't have to see it, but we do." The pair have dedicated their ride to him.

Although 14 years apart, Katie and Bill are remarkably close. They usually ride together, tent next to each other — and drink beer together with others. They said they've always been close, but their bond was strengthened when they helped their mother take care of their father before he was put in a nursing home. "We sacrificed an awful lot," said Bill, a flight attendant with United Airlines for the past 18 years.

The experience, however, interested them more in helping others. "We want to get out there and try to do something for other people," added Katie, who works as a mail carrier in the town of Warren, Rhode Island. They've done the AIDS bike ride from Boston to New York, for example. "She talked me into it, same as she talked me into doing this," Bill joked. "Yeah, I said, 'It'll be fun,'" Katie laughed. "You know, I fly across the country all the time," Bill continued, "and even from the air, when you look down at states like Montana and Wyoming, there's a lot of empty space and I'm thinking to myself, 'I'm going to bicycle across that? What, am I crazy?!" But bike they did, together, and it has been fun. The Wheaties Sports Bar in DeSmet, South Dakota, will never be the same. "We were singing and dancing for hours," said Katie. "It was mayhem."

Paul LeBlond and Mark Ewert keep a smile even while loading tables

Less than two years after her last operation, she's bicycling across America, her brother at her side. "Life can be short; we know that," said Bill. "We're having a good time and we've met some great people." "And it's something we've always wanted to do," said Katie. The pair did their turn pulling the Chain of Hope, with the names of lung disease victims, and then pulled it again when they heard there was an opening. "Our father's name is in it," said Bill. "He would appreciate it."

By Clem Work, riding reporter.

For more information about today's ride, check out the GORP Big Ride Log.