I'm giving her all she's got, Captain!

April 13, 2022

Georgia bike day

I was itching to do some kind of bike ride today, but it wasn't going to be on the tandem since Don still had a sore foot. He said it was better, but we still needed to do a grocery run this morning so felt he wanted to rest after that walk.

There was a Walmart not far away from the park, so we headed there to replenish our bare pantry/frig. By the time we got back and groceries put away, it was lunch time. So I ate a quick bite while Don put pedals on my bike.

This is a pretty large park with several roads that ring the mountain so I figured I could get in some decent mileage. But I didn't take into account all of the climbing! Whoooo eeee - this part of Georgia is HILLY!!!!!

It was up, down, repeat with very little flat in between. Just when I thought I'd made it to a level spot, it would go up again. I used my granny gear several times as I huffed and puffed up to the top of each hill. _{Luckily traffic was light with a 25 mph speed limit, so I didn't impede anyone as I slowly worked my way to the summits.}

I'd started out with a light jacket on as it was a little overcast, but soon took it off. The sun did peek out at times, warming the day up into the 70's. So it was a nice day for a ride, but sheesh - a little more flat would have been nice!

This is a historic area and I also stopped several times to view each one. Many were located at lake level which meant downhill to the site and a steep uphill back to the road.

I did have to walk a couple of these, and on one I was wobbling so much that my knee hit my bars and I fell over. How embarrassing! That hasn't happened for years! Luckily there wasn't anyone around to see me. After righting my bike, I found the only outcome was a scrapped ankle bone and a broken piece on my Mp3 player.

I trudged up the last part of the hill and got back on the bike to finish my ride.

A few more miles took me back to the campground. I'd only managed to do 10 miles, but believe me, that was MORE than enough for this girl! I hadn't done such a difficult ride for many years, if ever.

Collapsing in my camp chair with some ice water felt great. I couldn't manage much more as my energy was shot! I told Don that there was no way we were doing a tandem ride on these roads. We'd be walking more than riding! I might not even do another ride on my own, but we'll see how I feel in a couple of days.

But it was entertaining as we'd bought a slinky while at Walmart to put on our bird feeder pole. I'd read that it was a cheap DIY fix to keep squirrels out of your bird seed. The ornery critters jump up onto the pole, hit the slinky and bounce back down. So funny and works great!!

This carillon was originally exhibited at the 1964 World's Fair. It has 732 bells and was made for the Coca Cola company who donated to the park. There are daily concerts that we hope to attend.

The Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial carving on the side of Stone Mountain was started in 1915 and completed in 1972. It is the world's largest bas relief sculpture. It pictures Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis on horseback. The carving covers 3 acres and is 90 ft. tall by 190 ft. wide. It had 3 different carvers working on the project with the first being Gutzon Borglum who went on to create Mt. Rushmore.

The historic 19th century Stone Mountain Inn is still in use as a hotel.

The Stone Mountain grist mill was built in 1869 and originally located in Ellijay, GA. It was moved to the park in 1965.

The Washington W. King covered bridge was built in 1892 to cross the North Oconee River in Athens, GA. It was built by an African American named Washington King whose father was one of the most famous bridge builders of his time. The bridge was moved to Stone Mountain in 1969.

Stone Mountain Lake is a good sized one.

It was definately a scenic, pretty ride today with lots of historic sites to visit. But those hills were killer!

Today's ride: 10 miles (16 km)
Total: 928 miles (1,493 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	2

Scott AndersonYou should take a video of those squirrels on a slinky!
Reply to this comment
2 years ago

marilyn swettIt's hard to do that, but we'll try. It happens so quickly all you can see sometimes is the slinky bouncing. And not all of the squirrels do it.
Reply to this comment
2 years ago