Wednesday, July 5th 2000
Cordele, GA to Milledgeville, GA; 103 miles, 2,200’ climbing
by Arend-Jan Koning
A true PAC Tour style breakfast in the parking lot is served between 6.30 and 7.00 am, so that everyone is well fed and hydrated before we set of for Milledgeville, 103 miles down the road. A nice cloud cover during the first three hours make for perfect riding conditions, since the sun seem to be our greatest enemy. It will be hot anyway, but with or without the sun makes a noticeable difference.
The scenery has changed to more farming land and less forests but still with the same amount of climbing, i.e. lack of it. That’s gonna change today.
For the first sag stop, Jim Hlavka found a nice tree in the small town of Hawkinsville to get us some shade, the second sag stop is slightly less interesting near the flyover over the I-16, but is a very welcome sight when the water bottles on the bike are practically empty. Fresh replenishment and some food makes us ready for another for the short haul to the lunchstop.
Before we reach that, circumstances are starting to work against us. The sun has come out, temperatures are getting close to 100 F, the climbs are getting more pronounced and the wind seems to turn into a headwind. At least the scenery is improving…..
After another excellent lunch along the road, the real rollers start to play tricks on us. In the heat these big rollers are pretty hard work, but since the scenery is beautiful, mainly consisting of forests, we try to be positive. The legs might be telling another story.
The steepest climb has been reserved till the very last; the drive leading up to the hotel is way steeper than anything we encountered so far, adding insult to injury.
The cooler with the soda is the most popular after arrival at the hotel, making sure dehydration is fenced off. The hotel rooms are the best so far.
One large group goes to Appleby’s to have dinner and have a good time, while our junior Stephen has his second birthday in a row, with many more to follow.