Ocean to Ocean - Journey Complete!

Day 27
Friday, October 9, 2015
Meter, GA to Tybee Island GA (Atlantic Ocean)
87 miles
1,000 feet of climbing

We made it!  It was a fantastic ride today - great weather, calm winds, and great riding company!  What a fitting way to end an amazing journey!

Elevation profile of today's ride - a flat and fast ride to the coast!

We all gathered at the Tybee Island  (at mile 83) for photos and to regroup for the final four mile ride to the Ocean as a group. In this photo is Cynthia, Tom N. and me.

Art & me - completing our third bike ride across the U.S.

Me, Art & Lynn (the New York contingent)

Art, me and Robert K. (whom I deemed "my little brother")

Art and Tommy D - cruising to the Atlantic

Art, his Moots and the Atlantic Ocean

Me & my great bike

Art

Couples that bike together . . .

Its all about the bike

Me, Cynthia & Cov

The red line of progress - that's a lot of pedaling!

The map - signed by all riders and crew.  Jonathan won the auction for the map, and then gave it as gift to Gerry - the eldest rider in our group.  All proceeds from the auction go to Lon's charitable projects in Peru and Africa.

Atlantic Ocean on My Mind

Day 26
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Perry, GA to Metter, GA
115 miles
3,300 feet of climbing

"Georgia, Georgia

The whole day through

Just an old sweet song

Keeps Georgia on my mind"

           - Ray Charles

Georgia has been on my mind since I started this journey 26 days ago, and now that I'm here, I can hardly believe this journey is almost at an end.  Today was the penultimate day of our tour, and it was a superb day on the bike.  Like yesterday, we had fantastic weather, great roads to ride on and beautiful scenery.  We had some heavy traffic to contend with for about seven miles as we rode through the town of Dublin, Georgia, which is a bigger town on our route, but other than that, it was a fairly peaceful and scenic day.  We did have a fair amount of climbing on today's route, but the terrain is certainly becoming less hilly as we get closer to the coast.  We've not been successful at rectifying the clicking sound my bicycle has been making the past few days, and it is slowly driving me mad.  Click, click, click - all day long.  We now believe it's a worn right pedal, so we switched it out to see if that helps.  I hope it does, because I would really like to maintain my sanity as I finish this ride.  We had dinner tonight with Jonathan (from Australia) and Tim (from Minnesota), and we had fun reminiscing about past rides, sharing bear encounter stories, and general bicycle talkery.  Time to rest up for tomorrow's ride to the Atlantic Ocean!

Elevation profile of today's ride (getting "Metter" by the day!)

Me and my good friend and distinguished colleague, Jim Salvie

Waiting to load gear bags - everybody is eager to start today's ride.

Cynthia  . . rockin' the recumbent

Our group heading out of town this morning.

Peace and serenity on the road (except for the annoying clicking noise my bike is making)

Smiling anyway because, hey - at least I get to ride my bike today!

Cotton fields . . .  for the fabric of our lives.

A familiar scene at the end of each day's ride - bicycles parked at McDonald

's for an end-of-ride shake

Welcome to Georgia, Y'all!

Day 25
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Eufaula, AL to Perry, GA
120 miles
4,700 feet of climbing

Today, at mile four of our route, we crossed into Georgia - the ninth and last state of our transcontinental bicycle ride.  That means in just two more days, we'll actually run out of road and splash right into the Atlantic Ocean!  I've always wanted to speak with a southern accent, so now I can do it without feeling out-of-place (as long as there's no one around who knows I don't really have a southern accent).  It was yet another amazing day on the bike.  Our route provided mile after mile of beautiful scenery, great rolling hills (some big, some small), and quiet country roads.   We rode through Providence Canyon State Park this morning, which was absolutely breathtaking.  Our bike wheels rolled through the small towns of Richland, Preston, Friendship, and Ellaville.  We had lunch in Andersonville, where we were provided the opportunity to visit the Andersonville National Historic Site - a memorial to all American prisoners of war throughout the nation's history.  After lunch, we rode through many farm fields and pecan groves.  We changed to the eastern time zone when we crossed the state line into Georgia, so when we arrived in Perry, we moved our watches forward one hour.  Tonight, PAC Tour hosted an ice cream social for us, which is always a fun way to end the day.  I love getting together with the other riders from our group and hear about their experiences of the day.  Right now, it's time for some shut eye!

Elevation profile of today's ride (y'all)

Me crossing the state line into Georgia

Crossing the Chattahoochee River (a.k.a. Lake Eufaula)

Sights from the road

Art riding in Providence Canyon State Park

Brian of Terre Haute, Indiana

Beautiful tree-lined roads

        

Veronica displaying her wound from her crash today (thankfully, she is otherwise unscathed).  Dave is at left, smiling, as usual.

Me and Tommy D.

Only two more days - the Atlantic awaits!

It's All About the Legs

Day 24
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Greenville, AL to Eufaula, AL
110 miles
4,900 feet of climbing

Today our route took us through some of the prettiest areas of Alabama we've seen so far.  We had some very big rolling hills at the beginning of today's route for which my legs were not quite ready.  On a typical day on this tour, I've found it takes a good 20 to 25 miles for my legs to "wake up" to the point they do not "complain" (i.e., hurt me) when I make them work hard.  This basically means I take it easy for those initial miles.  But with the big rolling hills right off the bat this morning, there was no time to let my legs wake up, and so they did a lot of complaining.  I had to have a talk with them:

Me:  "Legs, I need you to work . . . now.  We have some big hills we have to get over."
My Legs:  "No.  We're not awake yet.  Check back with us after about 20 miles."
Me:  "But the hills are coming up now. (Ouch!)"
My Legs:  "Too bad. You know the routine.  Be nice to us for 20 miles, and then we'll see about helping you."
Me:  "Um . . . any flexibility on that?
My Legs:  "None."
Me:  "This is going to hurt a lot, isn't it."
My Legs:  "Yes, for at least 20 miles."

And so that's how it went.  After some initial suffering, my legs did finally stop hurting and start working, and I enjoyed a beautiful ride through southern Alabama.  The weather was picture perfect - sunny and in the mid 70s.  When we finished the ride, my great husband (and traveling bike mechanic) worked on my bike, which has developed a strange clicking noise over the past few days.  Most of our group had dinner at a nice and conveniently-located Mexican Restaurant just a couple of steps from our hotel.  Our waitress did not speak any English, which made for an interesting dining experience.  Nevertheless, she did a great job (with the help of another waitress who translated for us), and the food was excellent.  In all, it was another great day on and off the bike!

Elevation profile of today's ride

Big rollers in the distance

Alabama cows saying, "Good morning."

The sign says, "With God, all things are possible."  Sometimes you get the perfect message at the perfect time.

. . . like when there are more big hills coming up!

Lake Eufaula

 

Outpacing the Dogs of Alabama

Day 23
Monday, October 5, 2015
Livingston, AL to Greenville, AL
127 miles
4,203 feet of climbing

Today was another fun-filled, fantabulous day of riding in Alabama.  The day started out cool (about 60 degrees) and cloudy, but definitely warmer than yesterday.  I was able to shed my arm warmers and vest by our first rest stop at mile 28, and the temp never got too hot or too cold.  At one point, after lunch, we got spritzed on by a few dark clouds, but it didn't last long.  Our route consisted of more of that fun southern rolling terrain.  The winds were favorable, so we were really able to cruise over the rollers at a decent pace, which I appreciated greatly, as this was one of our longer-mileage days.  Just before lunch, at mile 68, we crossed over the Alabama River, and then had lunch at a beautiful state part right on the river.  The crew prepared spaghetti and meatballs for us, which was a real favorite of our group.  We encountered progressively bigger climbs after lunch, as well as more dogs that bark and chase.  Alabama dogs, I've noticed, are a little slower on the attack meter - while they bark just as loudly as dogs from other states we've been in, they just don't put a whole lot of effort into the running part of the chase.  The whole encounter is over in an instant.  I guess it's just a slower pace here in Alabama.  Speaking of a slower pace, it's only 7 p.m., and I am ready to fall asleep.  A good nights rest is critical to feeling strong for the next day's ride.  A chocolate milkshake after dinner doesn't hurt either!

Elevation profile of today's ride

The roads of Alabama - the ones we rode today were quiet country roads, like this one.

Looking awesome at the second rest stop today - Robert K, Brian, Art, Alan and Tim

The Alabama River

The bridge over the Alabama River (taken from our lunch stop in the park)

Only four more days to go!

 

A Cold Day in . . . Hello, Alabama!

Day 22
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Kosciusko, MS to Livingston, AL
115 miles
5,262 feet of climbing

Autumn has definitely arrived in the south!  When we rode out of Kosciusko this morning, the temperature was a chilly 52 degrees, and didn't rise much higher than 60 degrees for our entire ride.  There was a slight breeze, but the fact that the cloud cover kept the sun from warming things up was the main reason for the all-day chill.  Most everybody wore jackets, arm warmers and leg warmers to stay warm.  Fortunately, we had a good amount of climbing on our route, which helped me stay warm while I was riding.  But as soon as I stopped - for a rest stop or lunch - it wasn't long before I was chilled again.  So, I kept my stops as brief as possible today - just long enough to grab a couple of Oreos and get back on the road.  It was another fun-filled day of rollers mainly through quiet country back roads.  Passed numerous churches and, it being Sunday, numerous church-goers.  At mile 102, we crossed into the eighth state (of nine) of this tour - Alabama!  There was no "Welcome to Alabama" sign (probably because we were on a small country back road), but there was a demarcation in the pavement that we decided must be the state line.  In spite of the cold, it was a pleasant ride.  The dogs were super cute again today, and provided a delightful distraction on the ride.  The absolute best dog story of the day, however, goes to Robert K., who, during a conversation about foods we like to eat at rest stops, explained that he sometimes grabs a handful of beef jerky as he leaves a rest stop and sticks it in the leg of his shorts to hold so he can eat it while he rides.  His closing comment was, "Maybe that's why all the dogs are chasing me."  Yep, that would explain it, Robert!

Elevation profile of today's ride - a series of ups and downs

Dennis & Carol bundled up in matching gear this morning (Pat is at right, looking chic in her power yellow jacket)

First rest stop of the day!  Still not warm enough to shed gear.

Art and his Moots crossing the state line into Alabama.

Another day closer to our destination!