Another Day, Another State...Our Last

This morning we got a treat, we were able to sleep in because we didn't leave until 9:00 a.m. That meant the sun had already risen and we began our ride drenched in warm sunshine as well as warm temperatures...notice I'm not wearing my jacket!

The road out of town was pretty smooth, but no shoulders and we had those nasty headwinds on and off all day today. I can deal with these as long as we didn't have any rain, which I'm happy to say we DID NOT!

As we cycled on to our SAG stop at mile 30, a big black truck passed our pace line and just as he was passing me he punched the gas peddle and out came a huge cloud of black smoke from his exhaust pipes. It was so dark that I couldn't see the riders peddling in front of me. People like that give drivers a bad name. We also shared the road with a lot of trucks carrying logs, which made me wonder, where are they going and what will the logs be used for? When I'm on my bike for 61 miles, I'll often ask myself these strange type of questions to pass the time.

We also crossed one more state line today, our last of this trip. We're now officially in Florida. We're also days from finishing our Eastern Seaboard cycling trip. It seems just like yesterday we were starting our ride in the rain in south Portland, where have the days gone.

When we reached our hotel in Fernandina Beach, we cycling just 0.1 miles further to have lunch at the local Dairy Queen. They make the best grill cheese sandwiches.

Following lunch we rode another block to the beach and had our picture taken with the "Liberty". This sculpture is dedicated to all citizens of Nassau County who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States. " We also took a picture down on the boardwalk of the "Pedigrees", who have been riding together for a lot of the East Coast trip. Remember if you're not the lead dog, the scenery never changes, so 2 on and roll back.

Our Rest Day Is Over, Now Its Back To Cycling

After a fun rest day in Savannah, GA. we left this morning for Brunswick, GA. We thought that we might have a partly cloudy morning, but it was worse it was foggy when we set off. Then about three miles from the hotel we were stopped dead in our "tracks" by a train. We were waiting on the train to move for about 20 minutes. It had a couple of false starts moving one way then the other but finally it moved and we were on our way.
The ride today was 82 miles and to be honest, probably the worst route for seeing any sights. Nothing really exciting to see or take pictures of during the first 44 miles. The only thing that interrupted the ride was stopping at a gas station to use the facilities, no Green Door for me today as I noticed that the smooched snakes were back. I saw two today. This is the first snakes I've seen since Virginia, no snake sightings in North or South Carolina.

Then ofter the SAG at mile 44, we stopped to take pictures of the smallest Church in America. We stayed long enough to take a couple of pictures because once again, we ran into very hungry mosquitoes!!
Our ride took us about 5 hours and 18 minutes not to bad for being held up by the train. The roads were pretty good, not too rough and traffic was pretty light too. We never really had much sun, but at least it didn't rain despite the threatening clouds.
So another day closer to our destination and the excitement of accomplishing my goal to cycle down the Eastern Seaboard.

Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates....

I'm in Savannah, GA and it's a rest day. So what do we do on a rest day??? Of course we.... or should I say "What do I do"..... let's see, we begin with breakfast, then take Jan's bike to the local bike shop where they were no help at all....but I digress, then a Trolley Tour around the city, lunch along the river at The River Grill where we sat by a window so we could over look the river, (sorry no Dolphins swam by today), then back to the room to do laundry, big surprise..NOT and my Blog. Before I knew it the day is almost over.

So here is a picture of one of the beautiful tree line streets with Spanish moss hanging from just about every branch. We pass by Johnny Mercer's house..anyone remember him? He wrote one of my favorite songs, "Moon River". We also saw where they shot the scene from "Forrest Gump" where Forrest sat with his box of chocolates on the bench and spoke with anyone that sat down next to him. Then we drove by the house that was used in the movie "The Garden of Good and Evil" which we all know is a true story....a bit strange, but none the less a true story that happened right here in Savannah!

All in all a very good rest day and what's even more exciting is that the rain stopped at noon and we actually saw the sun start to shine. A very good sign for us and getting back on our bikes to ride tomorrow.

Life really is like a box of chocolates, you just never know what you're going to get!

I'm riding in the rain again! Yep, after our beautiful days of cycling in the warm temperatures and sunshine, it was raining again. All the lights on my bike were on and blinking so I got to bring up the rear as we filed out of Beaufort, SC.
I was told this was going to be such a beautiful ride today but because of the rain, my eyes were on the road, the bridges we crossed and on my cue sheet. To the Mom who was out in the rain with her young son in the stroller on the bridge on South Business 21, you might have wanted to stay home today. Way to much rain and heavy winds. As it was, we had to use the sidewalk on the bridge because there were no shoulders on the road across the bridge. Meeting you at the top of the bridge was a bit hairy! What was even hairier was cycling down the other side!!!! Controlled descent with gusty winds, not ideal.
Our final destination for today is Savannah, GA, and another state line crossed, but sorry no state line sign picture because my camera doesn't do "under water" photography! The good news for today is that tomorrow is a rest day!
Hopefully it won't be raining tomorrow so I can explore what Savannah has to offer.

My Bags Are Packed And I'm On My Way

This morning we started our ride with overcast sky's and cool temperatures. We were hoping for the clouds to break and that the sun would come out. By the time we reached the SAG stop at about 10:30 the sun came out!

We rode 40 miles to get to the SAG so we took out time refueling and since the stop was at a Methodist Church, the Minister and the woman who is in charge of the music came over to talk with us and see were we were going. These ladies were so nice and interested in what we were doing, we just had to get a picture. Doug was actually ready to attend the service but realized his biking attire wasn't quite appropriate!

So on we peddled. We were making great time as the five of us rode in a pace line. Each person rode for 2 miles then went to the back of the line. It's amazing how efficient this can be. I say this because I had another personal best. Our 80 mile ride today took just 4 hours and 46 minutes.

We did stop a couple of times. We stopped to see the ruins of Old Sheldon Prince William's Parish Church. It was built in 1745-55 and was burnt by the British and rebuilt in 1826. Then burnt again in 1865 by the Federal Army. Unfortunately we only stayed long enough to take one picture because within two seconds of arriving we were swarmed by mosquitoes, which I think are the state bird of North and South Carolina!!!

As we cycled on to escape the mosquitoes, we headed towards Beaufort our final destination for the day. For those of you who don't know Beaufort is where The Marine Corps Air Station as well as Paris Island is located. Paris Island is where Don went for Boot Camp when he enlisted in the Marines. Babe this pictures for you. Its the best I could do since I couldn't get on base. This is where it all began for you! I'm so proud to share this with you! Once a Marine, always a Marine

Another Long Day In The Saddle

Another cool morning to begin our ride from Little River, SC to Charleston, SC. As usual I begin my ride wearing my jacket. It will keep me warm as we cycle through the early morning shadows. Notice the palm trees in the background. Yeah, we're not in Maine, New Hampshire or even Vermont baby! We're getting closer to our final destination with each mile, each SAG and each bend in the road!
The start of our ride today took us through Myrtle Beach where we even got to cycle on the Boardwalk because one section of the street was closed off as they set it up for an October Beer Festival. We didn't stop, it was a little early for drinking a beer. At least for some of us!!

We did stop while in Myrtle Beach for a perfect photo opportunity, hence the next picture! Can you blame me for wanting this picture? It is the reason I stay on the shore when I go to the beach! If you've never been to Myrtle Beach, these sharks are all over the town, just waiting to "get ya". But for as much fun as we were having, we had to move on.
At the second SAG, a long line of motorcyclists drove by and came into the parking lot where we were refueling. As we got to talking we found out that these people were out that morning for a charity ride. They were raising money for Breast Cancer. One of our cyclists from XC10 is a Breast Cancer survivor, Jan Lewis. So we thanked them for what they were doing on a cool Saturday morning and for a couple of seconds, I thought that I might trade in my bike for a shiny bike with a motor! Yeah, just for a second and then I was back on my bike for the last 37 miles into Charleston.
It was a great day for our ride, sunny and warm with the wind at our backs...most of the time. So I didn't mind that my bike was self propelled and didn't have a motor. Even if I was on the road for over 6 hours to get to my destination.
After cleaning my bike, doing my wash and getting cleaned up I went into Charleston with Jan, Norm, Bill and Doug. We had a great dinner at A.W. Shucks and then over to listen to Robert, Jan's son play with his Jazz quartet. Robert was excellent!

You Want Me To Ride How Many Miles????

Today was our first Century Plus day of cycling. We left Jacksonville, NC at our normal time and cycled and cycled. The temperature was a little cool, but as I was told, you don't dress for the first couple of miles which is when you start to warm up from cycling, you dress for the day. Our day was going to get into the mid 70s with plenty of sunshine and, drum roll please.....No Rain. Think that's about four or maybe five days without rain. Guess my "no rain danced" worked.

Our first SAG stop was at the Wildlife Access Area off of Shaw Highway and that's were we saw our first sign of "Spanish Moss" hanging from the trees. We knew we were getting closer to South Carolina when we saw that, just not close enough, we still had about 78 miles to go before we crossed the state line into South Carolina.

Before the state line we cycled over another bridge with a steel deck, saw the Cape Fear River, rode towards Myrtle Beach and then on to Ocean Isle Beach and Calibash, where we stopped to have a late lunch. Then finally we saw the state line for South Carolina.

Our total ride today was 111 miles which took 6 hours 30 minutes. This turned out to be a personal best for me. When I trained for my 2010 Cross Country ride, I did a Century ride in 6 hours and 40 minutes. On today's ride my mph were 16.4. That's due to having a tail wind for most of the day and riding with the "Pedigree" Dogs. Thank you so much.