Larry's log:
Again, it was a little cooler this morning, about 75. And the humidity was in the 40% range, so it was quite comfortable. I had thought we were pretty much done with climbing, but not quite yet, as it turned out. The first 33 miles to the first rest stop contained some longer rollers, which totalled out to about 1500 feet.
We rode along Georgia 51 for a good part of the morning. There was nothing particularly memorable about it. We did past a State Forestry Watch Tower at about Mile 27, so maybe we were in a forestry area. I noticed a few logging trucks today, even into South Carolina. I had also noticed some loggers the last two days; not many, maybe four or five a day.
At Mile 39, we entered Homer, GA, which proclaims itself as Home of the World's Largest Easter Egg Hunt. Okay....
Since we're in the Southeast, there are still a lot of tall trees around. They don't come right up to the road's edge, like they have on past days, but they're present. One other thing that's present is kudzu vine. This was imported from Japan to control erosion. I guess it has done that, but in the process it has totally engulfed various groups of trees. You go by these trees and they just look like stout mounds covered with this vine. Someone told me that there is an insect in the Orient that eats this vine. We imported the vine, but not the insect. It can be quite the site.
At about Mile 51, we crossed I-85. Wow, we've come all the way from I-5 to I-85 in about 22 days. And gasoline prices have come down in the process. In Oregon they were up to $1.59 a gallon for regular. At this I-85 interchange, it was 0.99 a gallon, the cheapest I've seen on this trip. No, scratch that, we did pass another convenience store later on today that was advertising 97 cents.
At Mile 72, we passed through Bowersville. This town is for sale! The "downtown" consists of about four abandoned buildings, all of which had For Sale signs on them. Roughly eight miles later, we were in Hartwell, a little more like a city. I got my third flat of the trip there. As I was changing it, a local resident with about five of his teeth left asked me where I was going, etc., so I gave him the standard explanation. He was kind enough to give me directions to the SC border, not knowing that I already had a route card showing them. So, I thanked him, finished changing the flat, and pressed on to lunch.
Lunch was in a park by Lake Hartwell, which is formed by damming the Savannah River. One rider actually went in for a lengthy swim. She is an accomplished swimmer, and mentioned several days ago that she had once made USA Today, for a 16 mile swim she did in Alabama. Yes, we are a nutty bunch!
Four miles after lunch was the Savannah River crossing, and the South Carolina border. At last, our final state to cross! Time for pictures! It was somewhat of a relief to think we had actually made it this far. The three of us are pretty much in the mode now of "let's just get to the beach already." I wasn't feeling particularly perky today. The other thing I noticed is that besides our bikes crossing the river, an MCI fiber optic route also crosses here. I snapped a photo of the marker.
There were arrows along the road for the next ten miles or so indicating a change from the route card. We had been scheduled to travel along a state highway for this portion, but our leader discovered a couple of back roads that brought us out to the same place. The rolling fields and farms along this road were much more interesting than the state highway scenery would have been. Most of the scenery today has been what I would call typical rural South, ie. everything from wood houses, to double wides to larger ones; almost all on pasture acreage. You don't see a lot of farms. Most of the pastures appear to be used to produce hay, if they're used for anything.
At about Mile 110, we passed through Due West. This is home to Erskine College, a Presbyterian seminary. The college is pretty much the town. There was a sign at the edge of town stating that there is a seminary building dating back to 1790, which is in the National Register of Historic Places.
As I noted before, I had been feeling pretty sluggish most of the day. In fact, every time we hit a rolling hill, I asked myself if this could be the last one on the trip, as I know we're entering the coastal plain. I have ridden this stretch before on the 1995 Southern tour, but didn't really recall much of it today. Temperatures were comparatively moderate today, in the upper 80s, so that wasn't a problem. Anyway, something changed here, at about Mile 120, and I seemed to fly the last 15 miles into town. I think what contributed were the rest stop about ten miles earlier (although earlier rest stops hadn't seemed to have the same effect), the wind changing from the day's predominant head and cross wind to a tailwind, and a gradual descent to the coastal plain.
We're in the same motel that we stayed at during the 1995 Southern Tour. I remember eating at the Wendy's next door during that tour at their Super Bar (salad, pasta and Mexican--all you can eat) for one of the best dinner deals on the trip. Guess what! They still have it! So, we ate their again tonight. I don't think they remembered me from four years back.
I also realized today that I set a new personal record. I have now ridden 25 consecutive days (24 on the tour, plus the short trip to the beach the day before the start). My old record was 24 days on the 1995 Southern Tour (the tour's 23 days, plus the day before). I also realized that that just six days ago, I had set another record for myself by completing 18 consecutive triple digit mileage days. On Day 18, we were entering Illinois from Missouri. And here we are in South Carolina over 800 miles later! Wow! These thoughts helped get me through the day.
-- Larry Schwartz
Wow! I actually had goose bumps on my arms from coasting downhill during the first few miles of the ride. But then the climbing started and they went away quickly. My left knee is still quite sore and is braced. And the painkillers have been a godsend these past few days.
The first 33 miles to the first rest stop included 1500 feet of climbing. Beautiful scenery, especially with the sun rising. The scenery continued to be quite similar to the previous day with plenty of trees along the road. And we did have a layer of cloud cover in the morning, which was quite enjoyable.
The second part of the ride to rest stop 2 was more of rolling hills. More climbing again. But tolerable to my knee. The dogs were out in full force and I really had to use my voice to keep them away.
Lunch stop at the Hartwell Dam was very nice. The water looked very nice but I was not tempted to swim. My swimming will be in the Atlantic in 2 days.
We crossed the Savannah river into South Carolina and took the usual photos at the state line. The scenery changed only slightly to include a mix of both deciduous and coniferous trees. And we did have more rolling hills. The final rest stop was next to some dumpsters but this time there were no locals searching them for treasures, like we had seen in Tennessee. However, Henry the 3 year old, did pull down his pants and stand by the large tree!!!
The rest of the ride to Greenwood was much of the same scenery and more rolling hills and a head wind. I was quite sore when I finished and had massage number 3 of the trip. Boy did that feel good. Dinner at Wendy's was good and so was dessert at TCBY.
Early bedtime since we are both very very tired. Tomorrow will be an easy day of 121 miles and only 2200 feet of climbing.
Judith Jolly (and Daniel Schaaf)