Day 25, May 15, 2014

Made it to Vidalia a little wet (100 miles).   We woke up to wet roads and overcast skis, but it wasn't raining, as originally forecast.  About 4 miles after our first rest stop (40 miles) we hit the first rain of the trip.  Fortunately, we encountered only rain and no thunderstorms.  As we passed through the town of Eastman, Ga. we encountered downed trees and power lines from the previous night's storms.  The going was a little disconcerting, between the rain and poor visibility, storm damage littering the road and the moderately traveled two lane highway.  Ultimately we rode in rain more than an hour, but less than 2 hours, so 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 hours were rain free; much better than forecasted.  Only two hours of rain in 26 days of spring riding is darn lucky (I'm counting tomorrow's ride as rain free, as the forecast is mid 70s with a nice wind at our back blowing us to the Atlantic).  Although the "late loaders" made it to the hotel, without incident, one of the slower riders was asked by a policeman in a town to get off the road.  The rider admits he was riding in a downpour.  Another slower rider rode through a puddle only to discover the puddle was a pothole, causing him to crash and get skinned up. Ultimately, everybody arrived at the hotel in one piece.  One more 104 mile ride.  The Kiwis are antagonizing Jere into a final sprint to the ocean, no doubt Jere will take the bait.  With the flat terrain, tail wind and the horses smelling the barn, I'm afraid the pace will be faster than I'll want to go, but I'll hang on for as long as I can; there is no need to leave anything in the tank, because I won't have to ride Sat., or anytime soon.
  I won't be writing a blog after Fri's ride, but will write an epilog to the trip sometime next week, stay tuned.
   Thanks for following us on our journey.

Day 24, May 14, 2014

Today's ride left Columbus, Ga. on a beautiful warm morning, riding a winding, paved river trail along the Chattahoochee River and curving eastward onto the Ft. Benning Army Base.  We rode through the base and eastward toward I-75.  Our lunch stop was in Montezuma, Ga.  Fortunately, Jere was on to the Aztec's tricks and avoided getting sick.  The closer we got to I-75 the terrain started leveling out and we left the pine forests and lumber industry for flat fields.  We passed a lot of pecan groves heading into Perry, Ga.  Tomorrow we head to Vidalia, Ga., known for their sweet onions (due to the low sulphur content in the soil).  Today was a quick 95 miles; we kept moving in order to get to the hotel before the forecasted afternoon thunderstorms, which we easily avoided.  Tomorrow our luck runs out with rain.  The forecast is rain and thunderstorms all day, the only good news is we may have a tailwind.  Mike, the tour leader told us at our nightly briefing that once we're out on the road, essentially "every man for himself".   They can't be everywhere to rescue riders from thunderstorms and he's not crawling on top of the van to load bikes in thunderstorms.  He instructed us not to be shy and don't be afraid to knock on doors and ask to sit under a porch or carport.  Jere spent some time working on our bikes this evening, putting our fenders back on the bikes.  It appears, he and I will be the only two riders with fenders, which will only keep our backsides dry a little longer than the rest.  Depending on Thursday's morning forecast, Mike may have us on standby and not leave at our normal 7-8 departure.  Ultimately, we'll have to leave so we can ride the 102 miles before sundown.  For the "fast loaders", it'll take us at least 6-7 hours, depending on the wind direction.  Dave, Jere, and I continue to spend time riding and dining with the Kiwis.  Its interesting to hear their perspective  of America, especially our lack of cusine.  From their perspective, Americans eat nothing but fried, fast food.  The other day we got a burger and milk shake at Sonic.  As we're sitting there eating, Nick looked at the line of cars pulled up to the menu boards and came to the realization that Sonic is nothing more than a "feed lot" for people.  Unfortunately, he's right.
  Depending on how tomorrow goes, I may or may not be in the mood to blog when I get into Vidalia.      Jere and I are anticipating the worse (like the ride into Dalhart, Tx), but hoping for the best.