Safe Return Doubtful

I’m in a day off here in Missoula. Not a bad day to take as it is smokier than usual. You can actually smell it in the air today. It’s the end of the second stage of the tour, the first being over the passes of the Cascades, and this last one being up the Clark Fork river and across the Idaho panhandle. Not really celebrating but with the climbing, my inevitable lack of appropriate preparation and the smoke, progress has been good. Missoula has tremendous eating and drinking opportunities. The Flathead Lake Brewery last night (and again tonight), the Oxford for a great breakfast and atmosphere, and Market Deli for lunch.

There’s three other cyclists here, but it’s actually quite a small hostel and full with other folk. Two of the cyclists have had enough and are returning to San Francisco on a rearranged flight tonight a week early, a combination of the smoke and heat. The other guy is from the Midlands and is a bit hard work, he knows everything about every route, and yet has also just packed it in. He says he has lost interest in cycling. Unfortunate in the middle of week 2 of 4 of a long tour. I rather suspect he is a teacher, so am keeping my distance..

This place is the ‘Mecca’ for long distance cyclists. They administer the routes across the US and have now been in existence for 40 years. To visit, was one of my main reasons for coming to Missoula. I was given a guided tour. It’s a hugely impressive operation for 40 employees. They sell maps of their routes and run about 150 supported tours a year. If you haven’t heard of them have a look at their website, and the PDF map of their routes.
https://www.adventurecycling.org

As many will know it would have been Nigel’s 48th birthday today, so the word ‘celebration’ isn’t really appropriate, though over the years we had a number of them. Nick, Nigel and I are all August birthdays. Those of you who are educationalists will have heard of the Relative Age Effect. This is the theory that people born in the last month(s) of the academic year are at a disadvantage in life, particularly in contact sport. There is considerable evidence in science in several studies. The science though points out that it is competitive sport at the ages of under 11 and the ‘selection process’ that is the cause. At the age of, for example 9, physical size is very relevant, a contemporary may be 13 months older, 12% of life so far. Coaches pick children then in the top side, and those not selected often go and do something else. I may have bored you for a while, but my point is that Nick, Nigel and I have always therefore been at a disadvantage in sport….

August birthdays mean summer, and when we were young that was how they were celebrated. Nigel’s ideal and most common celebration was sport in Arrowe Park with his school friends. One memorable year though we went to Chester Zoo, the family, plus a few of his friends. He was 4 years old. The rate at the zoo was free for 3 and under, and when asked how old he was, my mother said 3. Honest Nick spouted up from below the counter,
“No mum, he’s 4”, and the game was up. The long line of people chortled at my mother’s embarrassment. There were 4 pairs of listening ears though, and despite our educational disadvantage of August birthdays, we have taken her words as an example for life, always try and get the cheapest price. Thanks to my mum for her good memory here…

It’s a difficult day for friends and family to cope with, but I am sure many of you reading this will do something very fitting and raise a glass of whatever to Nigel.