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Wild flowers and pine trees
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We may have stayed in Alabama overnight, but Georgia was only a few miles away! The final state we will cross as we close in on Tybee Island and the Atlantic Ocean! We will 'lose' an hour today as well when we leave Central Daylight Time and go to Eastern Daylight Time. Of course on the PacTour, time changes don't happen until we arrive in the destination parking lot, so we'll worry about that when we get there!
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3.2 miles into the ride!
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We roll out of the motel and of course my Garmin locks up. I am pretty sure we are on the right course and we soft pedal through Eufaula while it reboots. Presto, it fires back up as we lead a small group out of town and to the Chattahooche River/Lake Eufaula. I was a bit surprised that the state line was on the Alabama bank of the river.
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On the causeway crossing the river/lake
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No worries, we all stopped and took the requisite photos and pressed on into Georgia! We settled into a reasonable warm up pace as we climbed out of the river basin, hopped a ridge, and then had 10 miles of relatively flat farm land riding.
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First SAG at Providence Canyon State Park
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The road tilted up for the second named climb of the day that would lead us to the first SAG at the Providence Canyon State park. Not to sound like an Arizona Grand Canyon snob, but the canyon was little more than a red clay ditch (from the photos other riders took, yours truly was more interested in loading up and heading out!)
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Read the BBQ sign: Our Butts Smell Good
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Courthouse in Lumpkin GA
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First city after the stop is Lumpkin. It had an interesting BBQ joint, too bad it was so early! The town was set up with a traditional town square and was nice to ride through.
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More pine trees and farms
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Our group for most of the day; Jeff and Wes
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Red Truck SAG at Weston GA
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The Caravan, reloading with V-8 juice
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We rolled into the second SAG at 54 miles and went right to the cooler. They were out of V-8 Juice at the first Caravan SAG, and I really needed the V-8 fix. Jeff and I had been splitting 12 oz cans at each stop. We both grabbed full cans and tossed them down. Soothing to the stomach and loaded with sodium, it has become a staple for us at the SAGs. We loaded the bottles and filled our pockets with crunchy sugar (cookies, candy, etc) and were on our way.
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Great pavement for most of the day!
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Pecan Groves were plentiful on the ride
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We were rolling through one of many Pecan Groves when a white pickup truck coming from the other direction slowed down and the driver rolled down his window and leans out. I'm thinking here it comes, he is going to complain about us being on his road.
I was totally wrong; he yells out, "Hey are y'all on the ride across Georgia?" I reply; "No we are riding across the US!" He slams has hand on the outside of his door and yells out; " HAIL-YYEES!
That plus the hunger in our stomachs was all the motivation we needed to dial up the pace and get to lunch.
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| Lunch! |
There is chicken under the rice, beans, guacamole, tomatoes, salsa, and cheese. It may not be much to look at, but it was a great meal. The SAG was set up in a city park, and we enjoyed lunch on picnic tables in the shade!
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Cool houses in Americus GA
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We still have 35 miles to go, so we are about to push out but my front tire is flat. I make a quick change and we are back on the road in 10 minutes. Later I would determine the valve had failed, glad it happened in the parking lot!
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Add soybeans to the crop list
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We stop for a natural break outside of town in a farmer's field and catch this photo of soybeans, that stretch nearly to the horizon!
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Luis joins the party
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We encounter some headwinds as we make our way to the last SAG just as we catch Luis. He joins our group as we pull together for about 10 miles through open and breezy fields. Nice to have friends in windy conditions!
We hit the SAG and reload quickly. After savoring another full V-8, we are back on the road for the last 13 miles to Cordele.
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Lake Blackshear
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Lake Blackshear is only a few miles out of Cordele, and we were moving at a brisk pace headed toward the barn, so I squeezed off a shot on the fly as we put our heads down to put this one in the books. Just under 9 hours, 116 miles, and 4,475 feet of climbing.
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Getting closer!
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Tomorrow is another long one, 126 miles, so better get some sleep! With the time change, we start 30 minutes later, see you in the parking lot at 7:30!
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