Weekend With Limited Riding

Did not make much progress on the goal to hit 2007 miles in 2007 this last weekend but am over 1600 miles. Debbie was invited to participate in a Kid's 1st Health Fair. It was outdoors and was a bit cool when we set up the display at 7:30 AM. That also meant I was out of bed well before my normal time on Saturday. We had quite a few visitors to our booth and all our children's toys that we took in for the free lead test came up negative. So, I guess I can continue to chew on the wooden blocks, etc.

While she worked the booth, I took the Giant OCR to have new tires and tubes put on. Got the Maxxis Detonator touring tire and my design is on the bottom left. Hey, it matches the color of the bicycle really well and I am now a color coordinated rider. Red jersey, black shorts, red tire treads. What more is there.Went riding on Sunday and got to mile 14 when there was an awful sound - front tube blew out. One of the hazards of putting on new tires until they seat. Tube worked out under the bead and you know the drill. Wheel off the bike, tire off the rim, tube pulled out, check for glass or something else in the tire, tire back on, tube back in, pump like crazy with the little biddie pump to get enough pressure in the tire to keep going. I rode 4 miles back to the start and called it a day since I did not have another spare tube with me. Now have 3 spares.

This is a picture of a cactus plant in Georgia near the start of my ride on Sunday afternoon! This is a cactus! The picture below is a Texas Cactus out west of Austin, Texas and looks like it needed a little help from Georgia to get to be a big boy. Texas shot is from 2003 when I was visiting Liberty Mutual offices in central Texas. We were on our way to Fredericksburg for a tour of a local German restaurant and a bit of Shiner Bock. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Sunday Ride October 21, 2007

Easy Ride Day - Windy Though It May Have Been

The cows were not bothered by the wind and I did not see a single one tipped over as I looked across the field toward Mt. Yonah in White County, GA. The rock faces have been used by those folks who hook ropes around their bodies and throw themselves off cliffs. You will not catch me doing that.



The cliff at Shoal Creek along GA Hwy 52 near Clermont. Quite a drop off to the valley below. The creek is a bit low on water so the waterfalls were not as exciting as they might be after several inches of rain. This view is looking south. Just a few miles from here, a farmer killed a 13 foot rattlesnake a few years ago. The man's grand daughter usually went to the chicken house to feed the chickens but had a medical appointment that day. He went to feed them and found the rattlesnake coiled up by the bags of chicken feed. A picture was published in the local paper and the snake went from the ground, up around the guys neck, and back to the ground. I have yet to see a rattlesnake on any of my bicycle rides which is just fine with me. We did have a copperhead coiled up by the front door a few weeks ago. He got away - coward would not stay and fight.



This has nothing to do with bike riding but is a view of our recently remodeled house on the outside. Cultured stone on the lower front, simulated vinyl cedar shakes on the top front, and Hardee Plank on the rest of the house. Also, new high efficiency double pane windows. Power bill has gone down significantly and fully expect my usage of natural gas to decline also. Extra money means more goodies for the bicycle so there is a remote connection to remodeling and bicycling.

Ramblings on Spring Break 2007 Trip with Son Wes

Wes on drums at STAX on Beale Street, Memphis, TN on St. Patty's Day 2007

You have to look really close behind the guitarists in front - he really is there!

Can we say this was his "professional" debut?

A view of Crater of Diamonds State Park

Not much found in the way of diamonds - about 1 per day total for everyone visiting. The odds are not too good for you if you are one of 600 or so people digging and sifting dirt and there is only 1 diamond to be found the whole day. We left there and went quartz mining. Much more productive.

Wes with a large quartz crystal from Coleman's Quartz Mine north of Hot Springs, AR. We returned home with a couple of hundred pounds of crystals and clusters. May go again in 2008.
http://www.colemanquartz.com/

Wes taking a break on the beach at 2500 feet above sea level in OK. OK, the beach is several hundred million years old and used to be on the bottom of what was the Gulf of Mexico. The pattern you see is wave ripples on the sand bar.

Hopewell, Texas Cemetery on FM 21 at Hopewell

Hopewell was a thriving communmity at one time and as you can see from the next picture, had a school. There was also a grocery store and church when I was living with my Aunt and Uncle. I remember going to the old school to listen to my cousin Hose play the fiddle in a country western group. Lots of the Kyser family is buried in the Hopewell Cemetery and my grandfather and grandmother Loveless are both buried there.

Would say that Hopewell School was the victim of school consolidation based on the sign. It closed the year I began school in the first grade. No, they did not have kindergarten back then. We had outdoor play and bicycle riding lessons before we started school. In school, we also had something known as recess in the morning, after lunch, and in the afternoon. Don't remember too many ADD/ADHD kids and there darn sure were not any plethora of drugs to cure the active boys and girls. We just played until we got tired and then rested and played some more or did chores when we got home.

Ah, for the good old days before drugs for everything!

General Musings

Double Rainbow on the Blairsville side of Neel's Gap

The Granddaughter Duo


This gives new meaning to "Iron Horse"

Even bigger news today!

It rained in Gainesville (maybe 1/2 inch at my rain gauge) so the drought is not broken. Big excitement about the level of Lake Lanier and how all of north Georgia is going to have to shut down. I have seen it lower but there were a few million less people dependent upon it at that time about 20 years ago.

Should have been in San Angelo, TX when the new lake was built back in the 60's. It did not rain enough to fill it up for a few years and we used to ride around on the "lake bottom" while consuming our favorite beverage. The lake bottom burned one time and made national news. There was a proposal at one time to pipe water from the Mississippi River to west Texas. See next paragraph.

From an April 1984 meeting: West Texas Historical Association President J. Conrad Dunagan said two speakers traced the history of the depletion of water resources and steps taken to conserve water. The speakers talked about plans in the 1960s and 1970s to import water from the Mississippi River. The plan was narrowly voted down by Texas voters. The speakers also pointed out that no one has a satisfactory answer to the problem, Dunagan said.

Maybe we can do that for Georgia - I think New Orleans would help build the pipeline.

Photos From My Excursions

Well, it is not everyday you see an Oreo Cow while riding bicycles or a POS Blazer for that matter if you are Cousin Paul. This Oreo Cow was over in the Charlotte, NC area. BRAG Spring Tuneup has a route in Madison, GA that goes by an Oreo Cow farm. I have not been on that ride so this was a first for me. Check out this link to see a big collection of the Belted Galloway breed on a ranch in Chapel Hill, Texas (where else would a Texas boy lost in Georgia send you). Be sure to have your speakers on for an old country western song that goes with the web site. http://hometown.aol.com/twoblueapache/page1.html

While we are on cows, this big Texas style Longhorn is lost in Clermont, GA next door to where I park to ride. Or, is that Park and Ride? There are several of them but this was the best picture. He seemed friendly but there was an electric fence about 3 feet inside the main fence and he would not get close enough to get a nose rub. My Uncle Homer, aka Knot, owned a rodeo in east Texas when I was much younger. He had some Brahma Bulls that were sort of mean. I can remember going to the rodeo but he closed it down when I was probably 6 or 7. He continued to raise riding stock for some time after that. You can still see the outline of the rodeo arena on Google Earth if you find Texas FM 21 and a hard left turn between Blodget and Macon. The outline is just north of the left turn showing as an oval tree line.

I rode yesterday and today logging in about 85 miles. The wind was in the 10 to 20 mile per hour range on both days which made some of the riding a bit tough, at least for an Old Phodge like me. The picture is a scenic view in north Hall County looking north toward the mountains. Rough life here in northeast Georgia - I may retire and move further north in a year or two. This is the link to the 50 miles ride I did on Saturday. http://www.allsportgps.com/Data/ActivityDisplay.aspx?tripId=112171

From a bicycle ride in the mountains. It is amazing how much you can see at 12 miles per hours with no steel cocoon around you.

A view of Lake Winfield Scott near Suches, GA. You can park here and hike up an approach trail to the Appalachian Trail. Maine is only about 2000 miles further north if you choose to do a long trip.

A parade of Mini-Coopers from the Atlanta Mini Cooper club. They had been up Brasstown Bald and were headed back toward Helen. Cars not much larger than my bicycle

Here's the proof. The rock is about the size of the Mini Cooper. I bet I have more trunk space. I also average about 100 miles per gallon of sports drink, maybe less on a hot day. Cost is about $5 per gallon.

Bike Ride Across the Golden Gate

Several of the following posts will be some of my bicycling history.

August 2006 found us in San Francisco for Shaklee's 50th Anniversary International Convention. After spending 4 days at the convention along with 10,000 other people and having a grand time (entertainment for the Saturday evening gala event was Earth, Wind and Fire), we spent another 4 days touring NAPA, the coast down to Santa Cruz, and San Francisco. The highlight for me was riding a bicycle across the Golden Gate Bridge. We left the Fisherman's Wharf area and rode along the bay to the GGB approach trail, crossed the bridge (that is Debbie and me after we made it across) and coasted most of the way to Sausalito. The bridge is relatively flat so is not difficult to ride across.

An interesting feature of the bridge is weekends finds one side reserved for foot traffic and one side for bicycles. We rode into Sausalito where we enjoyed a lunch at a restaurant on the bay, toured the area a bit but did not get to go to the Muir Woods National Monument which is 100 years old in 2008. http://www.nps.gov/muwo/upload/unigrid-muwo.pdf

We returned via ferry which cruised by Alcatraz Island, home of the famous Alcatraz Triathlon each year (Dig, Dash & Dive). The first person to make it to the mainland is the winner if they survive the swim.

I highly recommend the Blazing Saddles Bike Rental operation near Fisherman's Wharf http://www.blazingsaddles.com/. We rented bikes and joined a guided tour with what I felt were reasonable rates and knowledgeable guides. Following that trip, we went to NAPA Valley with friends Bud and Debbie Garrison to spend the night at their time share (that is a whole nuther story). The next day, we all drove the coastal highway to Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz and returned. The Garrisons dropped us off at our motel in San Francisco and we spent the next few days doing walking tours of the city. More to come.

Why I Choose to Bicycle as a Senior

I started serious bicycling in the fall of 2004. I had lost almost 50 pounds on Shaklee's weight management program and decided I needed some serious exercise. Little did I know how serious exercise becomes when you live in the foothills of the northeast Georgia mountains and ride bicycles. I spent the fall and winter of 2004 training on stationary bikes in a local gym named Uptown Fitness which is owned by a friend. Then, on a warm December day, I decided it was time to take my 40 pound bicycle on a short ride. 9.7 miles later, I began to question my sanity. Well, it got better after that and in March of 2005, I got really serious and started working my way up to 60 to 70 mile rides (still on the 40 pounder).


Eventually, June arrived and I went to Columbus, GA to start my first BRAG - Bicycle Ride Across Georgia. 7 days later, I arrived at Jekyll Island, GA after riding 396 miles. I must admit, I did not ride again for almost 2 months. The picture above is yours truly at the finish in 2005.


Then, along came an offer to purchase a used Giant Cypress (less weight, better gear ratios). I started training for BRAG 2006 on that and knowing that BRAG was going to be a bit hilly, I did a couple of 3 GAP rides. In 2006, we went from Dalton to Augusta which was about 365 miles. At least, on this ride, we came through Gainesville with a layover day. I spent 2 nights in my own bed. I still wanted a better bike and in the fall of 2006, I was able to purchase a Giant OCR2 which only weighs about 20 pounds.


In 2007, BRAG started back in Columbus and we went through Ft. Benning on our first day and ended up in Savannah about 350 miles later. The OCR2 made it much easier. The picture to the right is at the end in Savannah. I continued riding after BRAG and have reached 1500 plus miles as of today. I plan to do 2007 miles in 2007.


I will be keeping you advised of my progress and some of the routes ridden.



3 GAP Ride - Western Side

http://www.allsportgps.com/Data/ActivityDisplay.aspx?tripId=67713

3 GAP Ride - Eastern Side

http://www.allsportgps.com/Data/ActivityDisplay.aspx?tripId=82944