Wheels In The Atlantic

Vidalia to Savannah GA. 106 miles 900' climbing. Temp at load 56f. We have been on a routine for weeks. Today is the last day and we are breaking the routine almost at the start. Of course there is breakfast in the motel. At load things start to change. Our bags have been limited to 35 pounds for the duration. Today with all my spares and tools and a large Endurox in my bag it is 50 pounds. The Endurox comes from Eric and Kirstin M along with an invite to Hawaii. The load will be by going to the hotel or being picked up at the beach. Sign in is still the same. Every one still must be accounted for. The early loaders have left. We are not supposed to load today until 6:50 every one is out and pumping tires and last minute checks with Jim well before. So at 7:00 we are released to ride. It looks like we will immediately fall into the usual groups. Exiting the parking lot James says nice and steady boys. Minutes later James, Pat and Eric K are disappearing down the road. Frank, Tom, Conrad and I are going to keep a much more reasonable 20 mph. We are really enjoying the ride going at a speed that even in a single file pace line we can still all talk. Except Conrad whose hearing is worse than mine. One day some one put a cow bell on his seat bag. This drove us crazy while on the chip seal, Conrad didn't even hear it. We get to the first SAG the fast boys are already gone. We have a timetable to meet today as we will go to Ft Pulaski before Tybee Island and ride to the beach as a group. Everyone is well ahead of schedule. Today the winds are light. We are hitting a lot of small towns. We roll up on some slower riders and encourage them to get in with us. Eric M says we to fast and I tell him we are going easy and I'm sure he and Dr Scott can keep up. The original four are keeping the pace. The others are sitting in the back. I pull off one time and Eric says I want to take a pull. Then all of us are taking a turn. On the last day some are still finding out what they are capable of. We are still early and stop with about 8 of us to eat again. We all assemble at the entrance to the fort. James has used his British accent to charm free admission to the fort for Pat, Eric and himself. Now of course we are there and they are sightseeing. We gather for a picture. The staff each have 5 or 6 of our cameras to take our personal photos. As we roll down to the beach for one last time Will and Sandra go the wrong way and this time take me with them. The beach at last. We are all down at the water and the celebration begins. This is a fun time and yet there is a moment for Darrell. Mike takes one of the black ribbons we have had on the bikes and puts it in the water. Sandra has been given the honor of pouring the bottle of Pacific Ocean water into the Atlantic. The ride is over but we are not quite finished. We still have to ride back to the vans for transport to either a bike shop or to the hotel. The hotel is in the heart of old Savannah on Bay St. It is where all the history of this very old port city can be found. Again there is not enough time to explore. By the time I pack the bike and shower it is almost time for the banquet. The staff all get up to talk to us and we then all get to make a statement. Paul has written "A Typical Day On The Tour". It takes as long to read as it did to ride. Everyone got barbed. I got mine for writing in my time on the sign in sheet. I am honored. I played What A Wonderful World. My statement was about how our ride mirrored life but was compressed into our time frame. We raised nearly a $1000 for bikes for kids for Darrell's bike club. In the next few weeks I have the state time trial and I am doing The Assault On Mount Mitchell. So to my fans you can check back. Plus I think I need to wait a few days to write an afterward to the ride. Those of you who wrote comments I must say they really lifted me up. Everyday I would check for comments before I would write the new blog. I must say a special THANK YOU to Amy for all her support and encouragement.