Mood:  chillin'

The high point of my short-lived (one year) racing career as a USCF-licensed Category 4 bicycle racer was undoubtedly the "Tour de Hogeye". This was a 50-mile road race sponsored by the long-defunct Razorback Racing Team on the twisty, hilly roads in the vicinity of scenic Hogeye, Arkansas (just south of Fayetteville).  The hilly course favored climbers - but unfortunately at that point in my cycling career I hadn't yet acquired my supposedly "legendary" reputation for being able to effortlessly drop the entire peleton on the first major climb.

Flashback to race day on September 25, 1977.  I was still riding my "too big" Raleigh Professional Mk IV (thanks, Clay!) and struggling to stay with the back of the pack.  Turns out I was eventually dropped, but doggedly pressed on with the intent of finishing the race regardless.  Imagine my utter shock when I crossed the finish line over two-and-a-half hours later to a round of wild applause and a THIRD PLACE ribbon!  Seems the peleton ignored the course markers and took a wrong turn . . .

The moral?  Speed alone ain't much good if you can't READ (course markers, that is)!