Day 004 - Folkston to Jesup - Two Far 2023 - Oranges to Apples

April 19, 2023

Day 004 - Folkston to Jesup

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Today's ride was pleasant, but the first half of the day was aggravating as well (more on that later). Leaving Folkston, I was soon out among pine farms and clear-cut fields. I was beginning to wonder if the scenery would ever change. It eventually did, starting around mile 15 when I passed the field you see below. I had to stop and take a photo just because it was not a pine grove. Shortly thereafter, Jeanna passed by and then, a few minutes later, she called to alert me about some goats that would be on the left. It's nice to have a scout!

A pleasant change from clear-cut fields and pine trees, but I don't know what type of grass it is. Bill? :-)

I soon saw why she called. It was not just some goats; it was a menagerie. All the animals were near the back of the lot when I was riding up, but as soon as I stopped, they all wandered up to the fence to check me out.

This tom had quite the snood and wattle.

And 2 white goats. The 2nd was camera shy.

After checking me out, they all moseyed back to where they had been.

I was just getting ready to leave when I saw this dog running towards me. After Jeanna's incident in 2021, I was on my guard, but as soon as I called out he stopped and turned away. I called out again and he turned around, dropped to the ground, and did a belly crawl right up to me.

Just up the road from the turkeys and goats was this small herd of cows. They too, stopped to stare, but soon went back to the task at hand which was trying to clear the field of any grass. I was surprised at how loud a small herd of grazing cattle could be - no mooing mind you - just noisy chomping.

The curious stares didn't last long as the grass was more inviting.

The highlight of the day was meeting up with our neighbors, Gail and Jerry, for lunch at the Dairy Queen in Nahunta. They were on the way home from visiting their son in North Carolina. This was not the first time we have crossed paths while travelling. We have rendezvoused in FL, NY, and CT as well. They are also the same couple that drove our car from FL to OH to give us a lift home in 2021. We feel so lucky to have friends like them!

Now about that aggravation... I mentioned at the beginning of this journal that making major changes to the bike just before a long journey probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. I was right!!

After the first day out, I've had problems with my handlebars slipping down. Several times yesterday I had to stop to adjust the handlebars. I just couldn't seem to get them tight enough so they wouldn't slip and at the same time I was concerned about over-tightening the clamps and either breaking a clamp or stripping the bolts. Last night I tried shimming the clamps with some duct tape, but today I realized that only made things worse. I was having to stop about every three miles before lunch to readjust things. We I got to the DQ, I decided to try using electrical tape as a shim. About that time, Jerry showed up and offered to lend a hand (and relieve Jeanna). We torqued the bolts as tight as we dared, but as soon as we let go of the handlebars, they dropped down. We stood there discussing various solutions (sandpaper shim, drilling and pinning etc.) when Jerry suggested using grit. We took the handlebars back off and I sprinkled some sand from the parking lot under the clamps (the tape residue held it in place) and retorqued everything. I'm glad to say that that worked, and I had no more problems for the last 30 miles of the ride. THANKS JERRY!

After lunch, the rest of the ride was on US-301 / GA-23. It was uneventful but pleasant.

Little Satilla River, just north of Nahunta.

One final road shot. Traffic was light on 301 so having just a narrow shoulder wasn't a problem.

Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 233 miles (375 km)

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