Welcome to “Fantasy Island,” with a side of “Survivor.”

A couple fantasies should get voted off the island after tonight’s Democratic “debate.”

I steeled myself for the ordeal yesterday by riding the New Mexico Touring Society’s Frost Road Loop, which was something of a spin down Memory Lane. It includes a few bits from the old state road championships circuit, where in 1991 Your Humble Narrator took second in the Masters 35 race after a late crash took out all of the serious contenders save for Laurence Malone (yes, that Laurence Malone).

Yesterday I finished first, Laurence Malone being elsewhere, along with everyone else. I’m still waiting for my gold medal, bouquet, and podium ceremony, though.

My take on the Frost Road Loop was a 40-mile round trip from El Rancho Pendejo, with a couple thousand feet of vertical gain, and it made for a nice change of pace from my usual rides, though NM 14 is under construction through much of Cedar Crest, the Old Route 66 shoulder was slathered in debris and gravel past Zuzax and Tijeras, and the wind — de wind, boss, de wind! — was much in evidence on the homebound leg because I got the traditional late start.

I think we had a little pollen-and-smoke action going on, too, because the snotlocker and eyeballs were grumbling a bit afterward. Not as much as they will be tonight, though. This “debate” is liable to be hard on the nose, eyes and ears.