Another adult leader volunteered (i.e. we drafted him) to ride with us on the Accura L.A. Bike Tour over the L.A. Marathon course. He rode one 10-mile ride last week and that was about all the cycling he has done over the last 10 years. He wrote some friends after the event and agreed to share this with us:

"I had so much fun with this ride I may go on a 50 miler next month with a friend.

We (some boys from the troop & some leaders) went camping about 27 miles away from the Marathon/ bike tour on Saturday. The boys worked on some cooking skills and some knot practice.

We all crawled into our respective tents around 8:30 in preparation of the next days' events. Some time before 10:30 it rained hard enough to wake me but only for a moment. I was then not awakened until 4:00am EARLY...

Those who were going for the bike ride loaded up and we proceeded to the 'Track'. The bike tour began promptly at 5:50am and we arrived at 6:15. But we were not late by any way shape or form! There were over 15,000 riders participating, many of whom arrived after we did. The roads were crowded with riders of ALL ages. I am sure you have all seen stop and go traffic on your local highways. Well L.A. has that going 24 hours a day in most places and this bike tour was no exception.

The riding was tremendous! We were cruising through the middle of Los Angeles! All the streets were closed to all cars & trucks! We were flying through intersections with their flashing red lights and riding on the left side of the road! The WORLD WAS OURS!

I turned a corner onto Rodeo Drive and found myself at the top of a small hill and I could see the road ahead of me clearly filled from curb to curb with cyclists and helmets. I thought a silly thought to myself... HAH! L.A. Traffic NEVER CEASES! Even when the roads belong to the cyclists!

The boys all kept close to one another and everyone finished in about 2 1/2 hours. Everyone was tired and ready for some well deserved rest so we hopped into our cars and returned to camp to stow our gear and get ready for the trip home. I think every boy in every car slept the 27 miles back to camp.

Here I am at home with only one sore spot. Thats the one I was sitting on!

Gotta go get ready for the next ride!

Scott "

Scott didn't mention the T-shirts, pins, goody bags and the great-looking medalians we received after completing the event. Some pictures: