Day six into preparations and a few notes.
First off, much to the team’s chagrin, the last three days here in the DC area have been 102, 108 and 98 degrees respectively. Ugh. Africa hot. It’s not so much as ‘riding’ through the air as it is ‘swimming’ through it. The upside is you don’t have to carry as much water on the bike, you can merely open your mouth to have a drink.
“It’s not the heat so much as the humidity.” Actually it’s both.
On the ride home from work yesterday I was forced off the road by a car and had to ditch into a combination of gravel/concrete sidewalk. Ouch. I have roadrash and a pretty large bruise on the right hand as well as scrapes and bruises down the left side of the body. Not too bad except that the bruise and road rash on the hand makes gripping the handlebars a rather painful and sometimes fruitless proposition. I spoke to team technical guru, Nature and he said that we could possibly take the hand completely off and install a carbon fiber one, but there wasn’t any room in the team budget for that. After much consultation it was finally decided that I should ‘drink 2 or 3 Hop Pocket Ales, walk it off and quit being such a sissy.’ The prognosis is good.
The team is coalescing well especially given all the media attention regarding the ‘Arrosox Scandal’ and team member Andy Funchar (see blog entry “team buKit to Ride in 2005 Tour of Hope”, comments section). You may recall he was busted in a credit card scam whereby he attempted to bilk members of he and buKit’s band fanclub and use the money to provide donations to the team buKit Tour of Hope bid. The team buKit and Arrosox Legions (the band’s fanclub organization) issued a joint statement that read in part:
“Both parties regret any undue stress, be it mental or financial, that Mr. Funchar’s actions may have caused to team buKit supporters or Arrosox Fans. We truly appreciate the support, both moral and financial, of the team and the band’s fans. We hope to put this behind us and focus on moving forward with preparations for the Tour.”
In addition it was stated, “Mr. Funchar will remain active in both the team buKit and Arrosox Legions organizations. We believe that although his actions were misguided, his intentions were of a ‘semi-honorable’ nature. Management of both organizations is in negotiations regarding the best way to discipline Mr. Funchar.”
team buKit director, Lyn Fackenthall said, “We still feel that Andy has alot to contribute to the team. I’ve never cared much for the Arrosox or their music, but we feel that it is important that the team have theme music for marketing purposes.”
That all being said, I, the buKit, would just like to say that I’m glad that Andy has accepted this situation and is working to resolve it. I know he has been struggling with alot of issues lately, chief among them a Becks Beer and Chicken Fajita dependency, as well as blatantly right-leaning idealism. I know Andy’s heart is in the right place and he confided in me that he is sorry about the whole ordeal.”I probably should have sought out a more accepted – or at least – more vague method of fundraising, such as a pyramid scheme, or some sort of televangelism.” He told me.
Amen, brother.
Let the healing begin.
Thanks to everyone for their support and/or donations so far.