On the fourth day of a 50 miler, the group was interrupted by a boy loudly complaining about intense pain in his stomach. The adult leader, assuming appendicitis, frantically hiked to the nearest ranger station and arranged for a helicopter evacuation. When the boy finally arrived at the hospital emergency room, a quick examination by doctors revealed the problem and the Scoutmaster was dead wrong in his diagnosis.
To the left and in front is a panoramic view of the ocean and the beautiful Marin Headlands. To the right, a few feet from our handlebars, cars and trucks whiz by at 50 miles per hour. The wind is very strong, occasionally pushing boys out of their riding lanes into oncoming bike traffic, prompting faster riders coming from the other direction to swerve quickly and curse loudly. Along the way riders can sometimes look straight down through the mesh plates in the pathway and see the waves 220 feet below them. If you are terrified of heights, closing your eyes helps, but it doesn’t improve your chances of surviving.
