October 5, 2020
What is the proper etiquette for when to eat my dinner sandwich?
I’m sitting at the picnic table at my campsite after today’s ride. My tent’s ground cloth is drying out after last night’s dew. My tent is drying out as well as my rain fly. I am eyeing my sandwich and chips voraciously as I debate at 3:15 in the afternoon whether it’s early enough to eat lunch or if I should wait a little bit longer. But enough about that let’s talk about what my day was like.
After packing up my tent as the sun came up, the sun didn’t really rise it became light but the fog still blanketed the valley. Undaunted, I turn my lights on my bike to flashing mode and I headed out onto Pine logging road: very quiet; very peaceful.
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Before I made it to waffle house, I had to run the 2 mile one lane construction gauntlet I was about seven or eight cars in line. The flag person dipped his sign to SLOW and we proceeded through the construction zone; a semi truck full of pine logs was behind me for about 3/4 of a mile. I could hear the engine racing as my pedals turned as fast as they could. But with a 30 X 11 drive train I could crank them no faster than about 21 or 22 miles an hour. Did I survive? The fact I’m posting this journal proves that I did.
One thing I do notice - this ride definitely goes through the Bible belt. Many times I’ll be riding on a quiet country road in the middle of nowhere and there on the side of the road is a church - could be Baptist; could be Methodist. They’re usually small and come equipped with a graveyard (similar to the place I camped last night). I wonder how can they survive in this time especially in rural area with a very small congregation (based on the size of their parking lots) and I see more and more emphasis and direction towards these mega- churches. I imagine they will die out as the older congregation “moves on” but I could be wrong.
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I stopped at a waffle house for a waffle bacon and some coffee, then rode off into historic Adairsville. Along the route to Adairsville, there were historic markers which I stopped and read about the Civil War history in the region. When I was young my dad try to show me all of this history as we traveled, but I was more interested in putting Lego sets together. Don’t get me wrong, I still love a good Lego set construction only now I enjoy history as well.
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12 more miles of highways and byways and I arrive in Rome, Georgia. I link up with the heritage Trail‘s bike path on the way into the city and it takes me along the river. I passed by the chieftains museum and under several of the bridges connecting the city. I then make my way up to the clock tower which is, of course, on one of the hills around the city. This means shifting into the lowest gear and grinding out the climb three blocks to the top of the hill. Was it worth it? Could be…
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I grab a turkey deli sandwich and a bag of chips from the Publix supermarket on my way out of town. No sooner am I crossing the bridge then I spot a large cemetery hill at my 1 o’clock. Sure, it’s a hill, and yes, I’m going to climb it. The climb is brutal and my legs feel dead, but then what else would you expect in a graveyard?
I arrived at the campsite around 230. I pulled out my tent in the wet gear set them off to dry and then said I would wait until 3 o’clock to start eating. Well I did a few more camp chores, stalled a bit, took my shower and cleaned up, and then it was 4 o’clock before I dug into my burrito and sandwich and potato chips. So I guess that’s the proper time to eat dinner.
Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 118 miles (190 km)
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