For two or three days I exchanged hellos with an English rider I'd see at the controls. We were on a similar timetable. He seemed vaguely familiar, but I could not figure out why. Finally, on Day 5 of the ride, we were in the cafeteria together and I introduced myself. And his name? Ian. Then it clicked. "Ian? By chance, did we ride on PBP07 together?" He smiled and suddenly made the same connection. "We may have," he said. No wonder he looked familiar. On PBP07, I'd left Mortagne-au-Perche at 2:30 a.m., having been mistakenly awakened after only 15 minutes of sleep by the control volunteers. Out in one of darkest sections of the course, I was falling asleep on the bike. I needed someone to talk to, and as I rode along I finally heard someone say something in English. I asked if I could ride with him, just to have a bit of conversation to keep the mind occupied. He said sure, so we rode together to Dreux. Of course, it was Ian. I never suspected we'd connect again, since there must be a million cyclists named Ian in England. It's a small world after all. That is his pix at the top of the page. Ian, great connecting and riding with you once again.
Speaking of connections, a shout-out to Gabriele and Carina (sp?), two German riders we had dinner with before the event, and who we saw numerous times along the way. They looked like they were having a great time, and the ride marked Carina's longest ride ever. A big congratulations.
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