Georgia
Georgia….Georgianians? Savannians? Georgites? What do we call y’all?
Savannah Georgia….. I still got it on my mind. The reason Savannah is on my mind is because from the arrival we were received by great people. Despite the rainy weather and the clouds it worked out to be a good ride 16. We should call people from Georgia hospitable.
Scot and I settled into the hotel… 16 nights in a row in hotels… I never thought I would live a life like this. People have generously donated rooms, most of the time, knowing full well what this ride is about and other times, not always even realizing how appreciative we are for these rooms.
The hotel in Savannah was different. Joan Farcus was able to donate this room with points she had saved with Hilton. It was good to not have to bring in all our paperwork and know exactly where the hotel was and not have to try 15 different places.
Then after talking to the managers and explaining what we are doing they quickly and generously donated breakfast to us. This helps with my bad eating habit. So knowing we had a morning meal set up we foraged for dinner. As I went upstairs to the room to warm up with a bowl of cereal before I thought about what I would devour for dinner, Scot scored a donated dinner from Jennifer and Debbie at Molly McPherson’s. The salmon salad was awesome!
The breakfast was great but we had to eat quick to get to the ride. The “wake-up call” never rang. We still woke up with time for a good all you can eat breakfast with grits, home fries, bagels and carbs galore. I managed to create a pile of trach on my plate of boxes of cereal, soy milk cartons, fruit leftovers, jelly containers, oatmeal flakes, and egg shells.
So it was off to the ride, as I said to Scot “wow- at least it’s not raining too hard, the clouds opened up and the city proceeded to get 2 inches of rain in an hour or so. Note to self…never talk about weather before a century ride…. The ride was a couple blocks away and we got there with seconds to spare (always watching the clock). Scot later told me at dinner that whenever he does cross country bike rides that it rains 70% of the time…
The ride director Dave Sanderson who is 80 years old was awesome and let me ride for free!!! He lost his wife to cancer a few years ago and has a kind heart for these sorts of events. He honored myself and 2 time cancer survivor, Patrick Booten, at the beginning of the ride. It was such an honor and a privilege to lead out the riders with a police escort. I felt like I had to ride with purpose after standing next to these great guys at the start of the ride. I was inspired. Thanks Dave.
So I took my inspiration and left. With the rain pouring and the tire spray from dozens of bikes and road grime getting blasted up my nose, I pedaled. I pedaled fast. I wanted to get this one done because of the weather, however, I knew I would need to be cautious as I didn’t want to slip on wet roads again and crash (as what happened a couple months ago and 8 stitches later). I met Larry , Jim, and Lenay who I managed to draft with and ride with for a while before getting picked up by a larger group of about 25 people. The 25 or so of us pulled together and stayed tight through the bad weather to average a 20 mile per hour pace on the flat roads of Savannah in a deluge. It turned into a great ride with great people. We even had some boy scouts putting together peanut butter sandwiches and making Gatorade in the rain at rest stations. What troopers….. haha. Get it.. troopers… J
So as we finished the ride all the local riders started to fade off and I was left pulling with Larry towards the end. After 1600 miles it was tough but it felt good to have so much good energy pushing. I truly was touched by the great energy, humor and enthusiasm of the Savannians… Is that what people from Savannah are called?
What a crew-
Just before we pushed on to the next state Scot talked to Judy at Wild Wings Café- She provided us with some good lunch/fuel for the ride South. Judy that smile and the garlic bread were awesome!!! Thanks. The garlic worked out well- the guy behind me today rode a little farther back.
Then it was on to Jacksonville. We had a quick lunch where people were asking questions about the schedule and wanted to find out if they could join other rides. We did get one taker, Jim who will join me in Huntsville. I am looking forward to riding with someone again on ride 18.
Onwards.....
Still pedalling
Gary G