On many occasions throughout these six months, I have talked about my bicycle rides around post. I have two basic routes I like to ride. One is about eight miles, and requires some off-roading and a few hills, but has some spectacular views. The other is referred to (by me, anyway) as “the big loop” and takes the rider fourteen miles completely around the airport. That one is my favorite. I rode it a couple of days ago, and CPT Baker took his camera so that we could get some pictures.

First, the biker gang:

Left to right, you see me, CPT Daphne Sims (the other doctor in our clinic), and 1LT Samuel Coleman, our clinic administrator. I kept the wide angle here, so that you can get a sense of the terrain. The crayola boxes in Iraq have exactly three colors: dirt-brown, asphalt-grey, and sky-blue.

An even wider angle. That speck in the middle is me and my red bike. I am coming around the back of one of the strange “pyramid” structures which are some sort of bunker. These are peppered throughout the base, and form a sort of connect-the-dots around the outer loop. I have climbed on these, ridden around them, sat on them, and have yet to find a door or other entrance.

About four miles into the loop is a graveyard for Iraqi planes. I am not allowed to take pictures of much of this, and can’t climb in or on them, as there are some reports of UXO (UneXploded Ordnance) in some of them, so sorry, dad, no cockpit pictures. That bike next to the sign is the one I’ve been riding for the past few months, courtesy of SGT Hert. The yellow bands around the bike and my waist are reflective and mandatory. Dig those cool wraparound shades.

We see a lot of these mini dust-storms as we ride, and occasionally ride right through them. Once, riding with CPT Hall on our way home from dinner, a big orange one threatened to hit us, so we raced the sucker down the road, only to get caught just as we turned into our cans. These eruptions and the more organized dust devils which we encounter are usually random acts of nature, but sometimes are man-made (i.e., a Humvee racing across the flatlands). That barbed-wire fence is one of many which separates us from the bad guys.

On this very hot day (115 F), we took a break in the little shade we could find, on the side of one of the pyramid-shaped bunkers. On the left, sucking on his CamelBak Hydration System (c) is SGT Villarreal. I’m next, then CPT Sims, and finally 1LT Coleman. CPT Baker is holding the camera.

Sitting on top of the pyramid are the three amigos: myself with CPT Baker, and 1LT Coleman, the two guys who, more than anyone else, kept me sane during this deployment. CPT Joshua Baker is our Optometrist, and my next-door neighbor back in Can City. The pose here is kind of dorky, and the careful observer will note that we were all trying not to touch too much bare flesh to the very hot clay surface of the bunker.

And off we go, into the wild brown yonder. Note the thin green backpack-like thingies. Those are the CamelBaks—pouches with a plastic, removable bladder which can carry three liters of water. Crucial on a hot day, especially in combat, where soldiers will be wearing 50 pounds of protective gear in the 100-plus degree heat. I will get to keep one of these after my deployment (sweet!) and would have bought one if that weren’t the case.

These rides will take us between 45 minutes and 1 hour fifteen minutes depending upon our pace. Of the “killer Bs” that I will remember from Iraq (bikes, breakfasts, barbecues), I think the bike rides will be my fondest and most enduring memory.