The bugs aren’t bad except for about 45 minutes around dusk. They’re thick enough then that I pull a bandanna over my nose and mouth to keep from ingesting excess protein.

If you ride 12 mph, the mosquitoes aren’t a big deal. They’re better than a wind tunnel, though, for finding the dead air spaces around your body: the back of your thighs, the area around the sides of my Camelbak and so on.

They use you like a bloodbank aerial tanker. They plug in and keep sucking until they are so heavy they drop off to be replaced by the next one.

You DON’T want to have a flat at dusk

http://www.palmbeachbiketours.com/topeak-road-morph-pump-for-dummies/

I used the slinky like a tow cable to keep up with the mountain bikers.

It worked OK until they finally got so far ahead that it slipped off the back of their bikes and sproinged back at me.

How did you ever keep the set of Slinkys from jumping out of your bike bag?

If I had followed Lynne’s lead, I’d have had a much more comfortable (and easier) ride on the unpaved section.

It wouldn’t have taken me that long to pump the tire back up to road pressure.

If I’d known then….

I wasn’t as out of breath as it sounded.

It may have been pretty, but I didn’t have much opportunity to see anything other than the next rock I was trying to dodge.

I enjoy a challenging ride like Ghost Road 27; I don’t enjoy constant jolting.