Almost an aborted Pedal for the Path ride today. The weather forecast was for mostly cloudy skies all day. WRONG!!! As we climbed up onto the New Bedford Hurricane Barrier Bike Path, at mile 3, the clouds gave way to brilliant hazy sunshine, and the temperature started to climb. 54 miles to go, and I don’t have any sunscreen on…great! But things get better! (sarcasm) I sense at mile 33 that my brother-in-law is not doing well as we climb the first hill of the day. We make it to the second ice cream stop, and I can tell he’s overheating a bit. We rest for a while, and then take off again. We ride about a mile and a half, and I can tell he’s not going to make it. He wants to try, but I insist on him going to my sister’s house, where my other sister, his wife, is waiting for his call, to come pick him up at the place we started. But guess what, he left his wallet and his phone in my car, instead of bringing it with him. And you can already guess what I’m about to type next…I don’t have my cell phone with me either. I tell him to tuck in close behind me, and I lead him 5 miles off course, into the wind, to get him to my sister’s place. I tell him that there is no way he’s going to continue this ride, and have him either stroke out or have a heart attack, and I have to listen to my sister guilt me for the rest of my life. He acquiesces and we head the 8 miles to my sister’s house, at around 11mph. He’s one lucky son of a bitch, because as we’re riding, I’m mapping out, in my mind, every flat road I can think of, that’s also shaded. I get him back, and tell my sister to get him into my other sister’s pool ASAP, to bring him back to the land of the living. He tells me to call him when I get back to the starting point, so he can grab his stuff. I take off again, and now I’m saying to myself, “Great, when I get back, I’m going to have to wait at least 35 minutes for them to get there.” After riding 100 kilometers in 85° plus temps, I’m not too happy at this proposition. So I zoom out my Garmin map field, and I quickly route out an intercepting course to get to the last stop of the day, where I was entitled to a free Doughnut, and from what I can see, should be when the bulk of the riders should be getting there. I swear, I have to be the second best dead reckoning navigator in the history of mankind, just behind William Clark of Lewis & Clark fame, because I did get there, albeit with a few shortcuts, right smack dab in the middle of the pack. I park my bike and tell the volunteer that my brother-in-law has dropped out, and I show her his number, which I grabbed before I left my sister’s house. As I’m walking in, I decide that all this trouble is worth a reward, so I show the girl behind the counter, his number, and she hands me a beautiful Apple Doughnut, that should have been his. Hence the title of today’s calamitous adventure…I…EAT…YOUR…DOUGHNUT!!! 🍩😋