My Ride Summary - Riding Days 20 to 24

Aloha!   We are now in Vidalia, Georgia, home of the sweet onion.   Here’s a quick summary of the past five days. 

The first two days were primarily spent in Alabama, and were grueling because of numerous steep rollers, combined with headwinds, chip-seal roads (basically small rocks rolled onto a base layer of asphalt), and dogs and dogs and more dogs.  On the second day we rode through the famous city of Tuskegee, AL.  

The next day we left Alabama and entered Georgia, our final state.  The climbing was light, there weren’t many dogs, but there were plenty of chip-seal roads.  It is difficult ride over these roads due to their rough surface which causes an increase of rolling resistance.  In addition, the surface causes an increase in vibrations – sometimes I thought my bike was going to come apart at the joints (sometimes I thought my body was going to come apart at the joints!).

Our second and third days in Georgia were relatively easy due to lower than average distances (98 miles and 100 miles, respectively), low winds, very little climbing, not much chip-seal, and very few dogs.  The scenery ranged from forests to recently harvested farmland.   We rode through Ft. Benning, a large military base, as well a large Mennonite farming community.   The weather was terrific.

Tomorrow will be our final day – we will ride 104 miles to the Atlantic Ocean.  Our wheel-dipping ceremony will take place at Tybee Island, just east of Savannah, GA.  My brother Mark, one of the cofounders of the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation, will meet me there.  I’m excited!

2778 miles down, 104 miles to go!

MAHALO FOR YOUR DONATIONS TO THE SPASTIC PARAPLEGIA FOUNDATION!  ALSO, MAHALO FOR YOUR KIND AND ENCOURAGING COMMENTS!