After lunch I nearly came a cropper when the 4 riders immediately in front of me all came down. Fortunately, my superior bike handling skills ( or was it because I was so far back off the pace?) enabled me to avoid coming down.
The rest of the early afternoon session, some 28 miles, was spent chatting to Dee, an Ohio State Trooper. She works as a Highway officer. We had a good couple of hours chatting about life the world and the law.
At the afternoon break, a ceremony was held to mark the loss this year of an officer from the Delaware Riper Police Authority. A moving occasion and a reminder of why we are riding.
The afternoon break preceded what was described as a terrible climb up a bridge over the Delaware River. It was about 1.5 miles uphill, but was a doddle. I never even had to use my granny ring, never mind the granny gear on it. The rest of the ride into Wilmington was relatively uneventful and relatively painless. i was surprised how good my legs felt at the end of the 90 miles. I could have carried on a lot further, which is good as tomorrow is longer - somewhere between 93 and 103 miles long.
I must just pay tribute to these boys.
They are our motorcycle escort team. 24 of them came over from Oakland California, (Yes, real life CHIPS) in memory of their 4 colleagues murdered this year. They have joined the other escort riders and closed all the roads for us, kept us safe and worked outstandingly to make the ride so pleasurable. Great work guys, you are much appreciated by us all.
One final thing for tonight. I know from chatting to others this week that some people reading this have photos that would complement those I've taken. Can those of you who offered me pictures email to me via this site - thanks
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