Easter Bunny Ride - March 22, 2008

The morning started out a bit cool but by ride time at 11:15 or so, the temp had warmed up and it was quite pleasant. The start and end point was the Hulsey's farm out in the Murrayville area where our church, St. Paul UMC, was doing their annual Easter Egg Hunt in the afternoon.

The entire ride was pleasant temperature wise but I will say that when the cold front went through, this became what may be the hardest ride I have ever had. Going face first into at least 20 mph headwinds for approximately 10 to 15 miles of the ride just about killed me. I'll take either 3 Gap ride without the wind. I did make the 30 miles in time to do my assisgned duties of taking pictures at the egg hunt so all's well that ends well.

The scene below is just before getting to the end of the ride. Turkey, deer, balck bear, and I don't know what all. See end of post for a place with real animals.

Having Kayla and Brooklynn at the hunt was special. Here they are with Grandee aka Debbie, my bride of almost 33 years. Kayla is in the back.

Of course, no egg hunt is complete without a picture with the Easter Bunny. Here I am with Flopsy.

http://www.allsportgps.com/Data/ActivityDisplay.aspx?tripId=139384

On some of the rides, I pass by the Chestatee Wildlife Refuge. Does make your head turn when you are riding along and see a big tiger through the woods. Thank goodness it is in a cage. There are also zebras and other exotic animals. What is even more interesting is that someone has put a planned subdivision right next door to the refuge. How would you like to wake up in the middle of the night listening to a lion or tiger roar?
http://www.chestateewildlife.com/

Hall County Tornado March 20, 1998 - 10 Years Later - Clermont Memorial Service and Memorial Bicycle Ride

March 20, 1998 - 6:30 AM - A day we in Hall County will not soon forget. We were living in Price Place about a mile from where the tornado touched down at Lanier Elementary School. We heard one clap of thunder and a few minutes later, the power failed. My initial thought was that someone had hit a power pole. As if to confirm that, a few minutes later, we heard a siren headed north. Then, we heard a multitude of sirens and we tuned a portable radio to WDUN AM 550 to learn that a tornado had struck Lanier Elementary and moved northeast through northern Hall County.

The news got worse as we started hearing about Lanier Elementary and North Hall High School being hit and homes being destroyed near there. Then, we started hearing about the deaths. A tornado is something you never expect to happen to you or those you know - it is always somewhere else.

Today, March 20, 2008, 10 years have passed and the weather is beautiful with no clouds in the sky. Just a few days ago, we were once again reminded that we are not immune to tornados with the area staying under a tornado watch or warning most of the day on Saturday.

Clermont held a memorial service today to remember those whose lives were lost and to help us remember that life moves on and that we will someday, see our loved ones again. One of the ministers told us that the Bible mentions tornados 29 times and in the Bible, they are called whirl winds.

After the service ended, I rode my bicycle on a route that retraced the path of the tornado and took pictures of what it looks like now. 10 years ago, the devastation was hard to describe. After the memorial service pictures and videos, I will start at Lanier Elementary where the twister touched down and follow the path showing what it looks like today.

The memorial in memory of those who lost their lives in the tornado. This is located in downtown Clermont at the city park.

Hall County Fire Deparment Color Guard presents the colors. Notice the polished fire axes instead of rifles.

Video of Amazing Grace played on bagpipes. Sorry about the sound quality - wind was blowing about 15 miles per hour so the mic picks up some of that as background noise.

21 Gun Salute

White balloons were released by surviving family members after Sheriff Steve Cronic read the names of the victims.

Lanier Elementary near Murrayville was where the tornado touched down. The gym was destroyed and one person lost their life when the delivery truck he was driving was thrown into the building. Our 3 children had gone there and were now at the middle or high school.

The tornado then struck just over the hill from the school on Newton Drive. Several homes were damaged or destroyed.

North Hall Middle School took a near miss. The tornado's path was behind the school and messed up the cross country running area as well as did some damage to the football practice field. The one thing I remember most was that it was soccer season and the soccer goals on the practice field were destroyed. Parts of one, complete with net still attached, was found about 1/4 mile away on the other side of the high school.

North Hall High School took the next hit. This is looking at the path of the tornado as it approached the school. The school caretaker lived in a mobile home in what is now a green lot that you can see directly in the center of the picture. He and

After leaving the high school, the twister proceeded to cross Mt. Vernon Highway and caused heavy damage in the Young Road area. The high school is in the background and if memory serves me, there were homes in this view in 1998 before the storm.

From Young Road, the twister took to the woods and did some damage on Brit Whitmire Road. A home at this location near Quillians Corner on Odum Smallwood Road was destroyed. The pond in the background belongs to Charlie Lathem and his house took a glancing hit.

The storm crossed Bethel Road at this location just down the hill from the intersetion with Highway 52. Homes were damaged in this area.

A mobile home was located on the bank on the back left of the pond located on Clermont Highway which connects Highway 52 and downtown Clermont. It was totally destroyed and someone was killed.

The twister left Hall County in this area at Double M Farms just a few hundred yards from the intersection of Highway 129 and Highway 254. Several homes were damaged or destroyed in this area. The storm continued into White County and dissipated.

Bicycle Riding Around Lula

Did a Sunday and Monday ride from Lula and followed that up on Tuesday with a ride from Clermont. The photos below are of the old wooden railroad overpass and a train going by. Not a whole lot to report except it is much more fun to go downhill on Yonah Homer Road that it would be uphill. It is also much better to come from Gillsville to Lula when the wind is not blowing 15 mph from the north. The Clermont ride was windy and cool with a starting temp about 49 F and 58 or so when I finished 32 miles later.



Bridge approach is a 16% grade. Glad it was short.

Here comes the train!

There goes the train. Off to the right is the Lula Railroad Park.

Gainesville, GA Weather Event March 15, 2008

It was quite a weekend here in North Georgia. It started on Friday evening with the tornado hitting downtown Atlanta. I was amazed at the coverage and the discussion about the fact that tornadoes have not hit large cities. Guess everyone forgot about Lubbock, Texas in 1970. If the same twister had hit downtown Atlanta at the hour it did, there would have been much more loss of life and damage. Check the link below for a bit of history on the Lubbock event.
http://lubbockonline.com/lubbock_tornado/stories/20Years/022.shtml

The storms started in Gainesville early Saturday morning and kept on coming and coming and coming until late in the afternoon. The next two pictures are at the intersection of McEven and Dawsonville Highway where a micro burst took down several power poles and left that area in the dark for much of the night while the power company crews worked to replace poles and get everything back to normal.

Pictured below is the size hail that hit my house. This is slightly smaller since I waited until it stopped to go out and pick up the samples. I guess I could have put on my bike helmet and gone out. No real damage here at the house.

The photo below came from www.accessnorthga.com and shows a couple of the stones that fell in the Oakwood area and compares them to a penny. These are the type that fell in the Browns Bridge road automobile dealer row and damaged a lot of the new vehicles on the lots. Look for future hail discount sales - there should be some good deals to be had if you don't mind a ding or three in the finish.

Saturday evening, all the mess had passed over and life was somewhat back to normal unless you wanted to eat at one of the many places in the Dawsonville/McEver stretch including Chilis, Texas Roadhouse, Panera Bread, Atlanta Bread, Outback, and several other places that I don't remember all the names. That was a windfall for the Browns Bridge road restaurant row I am sure. As for me, I had a free meal at Ryan's so we eneded up there. Never turn down a free meal.

March Came In Like a Lion - Wish the Lamb Would Hurry

Early this morning, I woke up several times with the Weather Channel's Desktop severe weather alert sound going off with the loud thunder sound. Well, that brought out the old weatherman in me from back in the 60's when I took 2 college meteorology courses plus served 3 years in the Air Force's Air Weather Service. So, camera in hand, I headed out to record the aftermath of the days events on those of us who bicycle.

My first stop was at Habersham Bicycles and you can review the report from there. The video capability of my digital camera is not too good but you can get the picture so to speak. I was going to set up the camera on the tripod and record from in front of it just like those guys do when the go hurricane chasing or whatever but the tripod kept trying to blow over. Guess I'll have to do like the professionals do and get me a crew. The audio is not great because the wind was blowing so hard into the mini-mike on the camera. Suffice it to say, all bicycle rides from Habersham Bicycles were cancelled today.

Brody, Joe's mechanic, had volunteered to come out and let his hair blow in the wind but I did not want to scare everyone away from shopping with Joe so refused his offer. Hey Brody - just kidding.

After leaving Habersham Bicycles, I decided to make a run up toward Neel's Gap to document the weather in that area. I made it to Turner's Corner and was able to record a bit better since the wind was being blocked by the hills. That report is below.

Ride or Fish - Hard Decision

Did about 25 miles today and passed by good friend, Charlie Lathem's place up in north Hall. He was out fishing so I decided to take a slight detour and pay him a visit. It is a rough life having a nice size pond, pool, lake (depends on where you are from in the US as to what you call it) just a couple of hundred feet from the front door of your home. Want fish for dinner? Step out the front door, fish for 10 minutes or so, clean them, and cook 'em up. Like I said, Rough Life!

Charlie was just pulling in a good size one when I got there and I did not get a picture of it. He threw out the bait about 3 more times and hauled in this nice sized bass. Claims he has caught most of them multiple times and that the big ones are so smart now that they won't take the bait. His daughter has named most of the fish or so he says.

He offered to go get me a pole and I could sit awhile and fish. But, being the dedicated cyclist that I am, I had to move on. Actually, if I had stayed much longer, my legs would have been so stiff that I could not have gotten back on the bike to go again.

Flying Dog Ale - Tire Bite Golden Ale - Official After Ride Drink of Bicyclists

I was introduced to this particular beverage in Nashville during the summer and decided to adopt it as my official after ride beverage if I wanted something of this type. It is definitely a tribute to our primary adversaries on any bicycle ride, the Tire Biting Dog. So, after your ride, hoist one to the memories of the ride and the dogs that did not get you! Next ride, this might be your tire in the picture.

Lula Railroad Rumble Ride

Today turned out to be a beautifule day for a ride in the country south of metropolitan Lula, GA. Temperature was about 50 to start and about 60 when we finished. Visits along the way were to Gillsville and Holly Springs. Pictured below is the one lane bridge on Dixon Road. Richard Scoggins is the rider across the bridge waiting for me to take the picture and get moving.

And, just about the time I was getting ready to move on, a Meow came out of the woods near the bridge and the Cat of the Bridge appeared. It was friendly and I hope was just wandering around from a farm nearby. If not, may whomever threw the cat out, have a 1000 camels dump stuff in their yard.

After finishing the ride, I went to Clermont and happened upon Docskeet and the rest of the riding crew for that group just finishing up. They had done about 25 miles today around the Clermont to Quillian's Corner and Skitt's Mountain area.

No warm Saturday would be complete without my bride of 33 years being out in the yard working. Here she is in all her radiant glory getting the weeds out of the mailbox flower bed. This means that is now time to go buy plants to complete the process of restoring the spring beauty to our yard.