We Don't Love Chip Seal

Tuscaloosa to Prattville AL. Temp low 50's at load. 118 miles and 6000' of climbing Breakfast at the motel. After putting two slices of toaster french toast through the toaster twice and have it come out just like it went in. I ate it the way it was, almost warm. Then it was on to cereal. I'm trying to remember the last time I bought honey nut Cheereos. Yeah now I remember, never. We load at 6:45 am. The cue sheet is once again looking like a navigational nightmare. It is 3 1/2 columns of instructions. Plus we find out that a new road has been put in so just follow the painted arrows in the road put down last night. I lead the way out motel lot and stay at the front of the group until almost 13 miles, to the bottom of the first column of instructions. At 15 miles we turn and the next turn is in 0.3 miles. All of a sudden I realize we have been going to long and haven't turned. So I say something about going to far and we all u-turn and march back up the hill and turn the right way. Our next road segment is fairly long for today any way. There is a nice downhill with a few hard cranks I open a gap. Next thing I am sailing down the road by myself. I start passing the slower riders who have left early. I catch Steve on the recumbent bike at the top of a climb. Near the bottom of the next downhill he comes around me. As we start up again I have to go around him for the second time. Next I pass Barbara and I know that there should be no other riders in front of me. The SAG is setup at 42 miles. I pull in and sign the sheet and the one for lunch. I tell Karen what I'm doing and she says OK then we won't worry about you. See you at the motel. At about 57 miles there is a small grocery I stop and get enough supplies to last me all the way in. Now we have been having chip seal road off and on. Chip seal is made by laying down tar and putting crushed rock on top of it. It is bone jarring to ride on. As I leave the small store I turn on to a county road. Very soon I am into where they are resurfacing the chip seal with new chip seal. Not only is it rough it feels unstable. Luckily there is less than six miles of this. Most of the ride is in second growth pine forrest. The area is dotted with homes. Every once in a while a dog will chase me. I usually try to discourage this with a sharp no. At one house two little terrier cross types come after me. I let them chase me as they are not getting to close. I want to see how far they will go before turning back. The answer is not very far. Comming through old downtown Prattville I see a restaurant I would like to try. Usually this wouldn't be possible but members of Mike's cycling club are comming to ferry us around. I arrive at the motel at 1:50 pm. When I sign in I put the time down. Later some one will change this to 4:50 pm. Oh well. Next I go to McD for some eats and a shake. Then into the motel office for some popcorn. Some riders come in and it's back to McD for another shake. By the time the luggage arrives there are plenty of riders in and the unloading only takes a few minutes. John from the bike club takes two to do laundry and four to dinner. Another member bringing in four more. The food is quite good and a welcome change from fast food and chain restaurant food. Every body is now in countdown mode. Four riding days left.