The oppressive heat gripping the Southwest has forced Norwich cyclist Dave Burnett’s team to withdraw from the grueling Race Across America, which started Saturday in Oceanside, Calif., and will conclude in Annapolis, Md.

In an email to The Day Monday, Burnett said his four-man team, with an average age of over 75, had to drop out Sunday.

“With daytime temperatures ranging up to 123 degrees I ended up in the (emergency department) yesterday seriously dehydrated,” Burnett wrote. “Other riders on our team were suffering, but I was the most seriously debilitated.”

He said it was “tough” to be the one to cause the team to drop out of the race.

Burnett was part of a four-man team that set the record in the 70+ average age category in 2012 in the Race Across America. In that race, he also ended up in the hospital in Arizona on IV electrolytes but was able to recover and rejoin the team.

He said before the race his 2021 team had hoped to set the record for the 75+ age category.