Double Century

I'm sitting in the Davis Double Century HQ room, aka the Games Room at Vets Memorial, listening to the radio guys talk to the sags out on the course and watching the real-time map projected on the wall that shows where our last rider is. It's been a blisteringly hot day—at one point I checked the Web and the temp in Davis showed 106 degrees—and many more riders than usual are folding and needing to be sagged back to Davis. But many more continued to ride, despite the scorching temperature, which is made even more brutal from the heat reflecting off the asphalt. Riding in these conditions is exactly like riding in a Brobdinagian pizza oven.

I've been here since 4 a.m. after being here last night until around 10. I'm registration coordinator again this year, meaning I'm in charge of making sure those who registered get processed properly and that I get late-entry people into the system. It's fun but exhausting, especially at this point (10:15pm) when I've been up for so long and know that there is still much to do before I can go home and go to bed. There's all the rest stop food that's been brought back here to deal with, cleanup in general, plus waiting for the last riders to come in, which sometimes isn't until nearly 1 a.m. So, I'm tired, and getting tireder, and will be tireder still. But I'm glad to be here. Really. And the riders are so appreciative it's humbling. So I'll be here next year, if they'll let me.