Kayla's Graduation and other Ramblings

The Pre-K Class of 2008 has graduated from La Petite of Cleveland, TN. Our grand daughter, Kayla was one of the 20 or so graduates and goes off the "big" school next year.

They even get a diploma and wear the cap and gown. What will be left for high school?

Of course, she is the one waving to the crowd!

Before the ceremony, we took the girls to the park. This is Brooklyn going down the slide. She wore herself out running back to the steps to go again.

This is a deer outside Debbie's friend's home who lives near Ellijay. The deer would run off when I went out the door but did not go too far. This is just a sample of the wildlife in her subdivision.

Was out riding bicycles on Friday after doing the graduation thing on Thursday and bringing the grand dog home to doggy sit while Kyle and the family went to the beach. Nice field of sunflowers on Highway 52 between Quillian's Corner and Lula.


Rode again Saturday morning and finished up by going through a canopied street at the edge of Gillsville. Who says Tallahassee, FL is the only place with canopy covered streets?

Finally, why I like my yellow jacket trap from Lowe's. It has been a bad yellow jacket season so far with the little rascals all over my front and back yard. Have not spotted the nest but with the helo of raw chicken, I have attraced several hundred into the trap. This is not to cast any dispersion on those who may support a certain college team of the same name. I bet some schools wished they knew how to trap those Yellow Jackets!

There are 107 yellow jackets in this pile plus one red wasp who failed to mind his own business.

Watermelon Shortage Imminent - Viagra Sales Down

For those of us who love watermelon, I am predicting a watermelon shortage that will make the supply problems with gasoline look like a minor issue. After you read the link, I am sure you will agree. This is a major crisis.

I am predicting that the price of watermelons will be somewhere in the $20 to $40 each range within a year. I am also predicting that the major pharmaceutical companies will take over corporate watermelon farms as a way to further drive up the price and limit availability which means that within 2 to 3 years, a good watermelon may well cost you as much as $100. I do not think that you will be able to have generic watermelons developed. Will Medicare pay for the watermelons? Will they be covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield?

The commodities markets are seeing an increase in the buying and selling of watermelon futures which means the market is now being cornered by speculators which is much like what has happened in oil futures, soybean futures, etc. I am calling for a congressional investigation into watermelon speculation!!

It is time to start growing watermelons in undeveloped areas of the country. At least, a watermelon is somewhat environmentally correct and provides food to animals if just a few are left unharvested.

I fear that a black market will develop in watermelons. Before you know it, it will be illegal to sell watermelons without a prescription. This will lead to the creation of Watermelon Awareness and Resistance programs (WAR). You will have to pry my watermelon from my cold dead fingers one older American has been quoted as saying.

I am already hearing that elder adult retirement communities are seeing a large increase in the disposal of watermelon rinds which is causing a juicy problem for the collectors of refuse or for the sewage treatment system for those with disposalls. This is also leading to the using up of landfills much quicker than anticipated by the local governments which means a large tax increase will be needed to develop more landfill capacity.

I will keep you posted on this growing problem as more information becomes available.

John's New Bike

John Carroll, a recent transplant from Alabama via Baton Rouge, got his new bike yesterday. It is a Zurich Madone (subject to correction). We rode from Chestatee Middle School for a quick 16 miles. Then, it was off to a Mexican meal up by Kroger where John got the pleasure of meeting Debbie, my bride of 33 years.

John is shameless. He left me on the hills but then, everyone leaves me on the hills. Well, maybe not everybody but I have not met them yet.

We broke up the ride by going into Bolding Mill Park just off Cool Springs Road. Well, there ain't much activity at the park and the Corp of Engineers has closed the campground there. As you can see by the next couple of pictures, the oysters and mussels on the Appalachicola River must be continuing to live well since the water is so low up here in the headwaters area on Lake Lanier.

Just a question that no one has yet answered - what did the folks along the Apalachicola do before the dams were built? Obviously, the oysters did not all die off and the mussels did not either since they are still there. If the dams were not here, there would be no water to release and the rivers would be mostly running dry.

Jeannie's Cafe Loop Ride - Gillsville, GA

Could have titled this ride "Against the Wind"

Downtown Gillsville, GA - 9 AM Saturday morning. All activity is at the end of the buildings in the little white building that was the post office when I moved here in 1979 and served as a bank before that. The old vault door is still there. More about Jeannie's Cafe at the end.

Someone's old home place on Curtis Segars Road. House is behind the tree and almost overgrown.

Part of that long winding highway, where I'm bound, I don't know. And that was the truth at this point. I altered my route on one of the Wonder Where This Road Comes Out routines. Actually came out somewhere that I recognized unlike last Thursday's ride.

The one lane bridge on Dixon Road. There is enough room for a car and a bicycle if the bicycle is stopped over on the far side of the bridge.

Chicken Condo Development just up the road from the one lane bridge.

Jeannie's Cafe in downtown Gillsville, GA. Open 6 AM to 8 PM during the week and untill 2 PM on Saturday. Good victuals (vittles, grub for you cowboys). Definitely get your money's worth and more. Lunch conversation revolved around gardens and crops in the area. We are taking bets on one gentleman's tomato trees which have only reached about 3 feet tall at this point. No one is betting that it will grow to be a tree as shown in the advertisements.

A parting shot. Sorry for my GA Tech friends but the bottom sentiment was just too much to pass up, what being a Florida State Seminole and all. Also reminded me of my renewal process at work.

Bernie Got A New Bicycle

Well, things have improved for Bernie with the recent arrival of his new Trek 2100. I think he would tell you that it sure beats riding a mountain bike on the roads. We did a 23 mile ride after lunch last Saturday (after the morning storms and threats of storms had passed). Rode from Murrayville and took it easy although there were a couple of steeeeep hills in the route.

A scenic view of the long road ahead or was it behind? The weather cleared up as we rode and turned out to be a great afternoon!

I rode again on Monday and Wednesday evening after work. The picture below is another view of Waukau Mountain from the intersection of Ransom Free and Kenimer. Nice driveway! Ended up with a nice ride almost into Murrayville if you don't count the portion I had to ride on Highway 60 due to a wrong turn. I know, how could Phil, who rides this area all the time, make a wrong turn. I blame it on Old Timers Disease. For those who remember the Pony Lake Road hill, I did it again while wondering where the heck the hill came from since I thought I was back on Old Dahlonega. Finished with 32 plus miles today and 79 so far this week.

BRAG 2008 - In The Heat of the Night or Day

We left Saturday about noon for Oxford and Emory College which was the site of the start of BRAG 2008. Temperature was warm but expected to get warmer. Did not get a picture of me at the start but the one below is from Macon as we started toward Dublin.
Here is the link to all the pictures I took.
http://picasaweb.google.com/TeamGetClean/BRAG2008FromShakeleeMan

Picture below shows typical sleeping accommodations in gyms along the way. We were lucky in that we only slept in a gym one night and in class rooms or hallways on other nights. Note to self: do not sleep in the hallway outside the cafeteria. The staff starts work about 3:30 AM to get ready for the first riders to eat about 5:30. If you have never woken up to the sound of trash cans being moved or tables being rolled around, you just ain't had fun waking up.

This dog was voted cutest dog in Covington during the Saturday night concert and car show. The sun glasses were just the touch needed.

This is the courthouse in Covington. I kept expecting to see the General Lee whiz around the square or for someone in the Heat of the Night to show up. We rode by it on Sunday morning on the way from Oxford to Griffin.

I did not get a lot of pictures on the way to Griffin or in Griffin. Griffin put on a great downtown concert for us featuring The Return. We did go by Noah's Ark, an animal rescue operation and I would like to go back when it is not so hot. We saw 94 on a bank sign about 10 AM on Sunday. It got close to or over 100.
http://www.thereturnonline.com/beatles_press_release.html
There was a nice flowing river on the way to Griffin and a lot of folks took advantage of it to cool off. The picture below shows riders in Lake Tobesofkee on the way from Griffin to Macon. The ride to Macon was nice with a lot of shaded roads along the route. We needed the shade because it was another hot day. I would have made the ride much quicker if I did not spend so much time yaking at the rest stops.

Leaving Macon, we headed toward Dublin. Below is one of the obstacles that we waited for. Someone crashed on the tracks later and did a number on their face and other body parts. This crossing was one of the roughest I have ever been over so am not surprised that someone went down.

What else are rolled hay bales for? This was a family riding together who went out into the field and had a bit of fun on the way to Dublin. The route got a bit flatter after we got past the first 20 miles.

A display of Team Toe. My foot is on the bottom center and matches my riding jersey. There is quite a story behind Team Toe which started on a ride a couple of years ago. It can get quite lengthy but needless to say, we have now recruited over 40 members including a member of the Macon Police Department. One cannot be insecure in their masculinity and be a member of Team Toe.

Sunrise over Dublin as we rolled out Thursday morning. I did not know that one could get up at 5:00 AM and get on the road so early. The route got easier and flater on the way to Hazlehurst.

Coolest morning of the ride as I best remember.

Crossing the Oconee River just east of Dublin or just before East Dublin. We headed south after that toward the city of Mt. Vernon.

Riding into the fog Thursday morning. We had a bit cooler temperature and 2 evenings of rain in the area. I skipped riding on Wednesdy to rest up some.

Crossing Cypress Creek. An intersting thing to me since I grew up in Pittsburg and Mt. Vernon, Texas. The two counties, Camp and Franklin, are seperated by the Cypress Creek. I would be willing to bet that folks from this area moved west to settle that area and brought both the town names and creek names with them. How else can one account for Atlanta, Marietta, Douglasville, Macon, Monticello, etc. in Texas

We made it to Mt. Vernon and an excellent rest stop at the courthouse.

I am not sure what type bird this is but he was hanging around the Cafe Campesino area on Friday morning in Hazlehurst. Would not eat anything but did squawk loudly every few seconds. We think he was too young to fly very far and he would not eat a muffin. Go to comments and you can follow the progress of the bird after I left. I think he must be an Iced Mocca adict like the rest of us that hung out at Cafe Campesino.

The youngest single bicycle rider on BRAG 2008. This is Lauren from Hickory, NC. She was riding a TREK road bike that was just her size. This was on the road from Hazlehurst to Jesup. We hope to see her on the ride for several more years and Maggie better watch out - this could be her replacement.

Near the end at St. Simons atop the first bridge. If you blow this picture up, you can see the Sidney Lanier Bridge in the background. Glad we did not have to do it this year but I did go over it the first BRAG I did in 2005.

365 miles later, I am at the finish on St. Simons Island. YES!

A final parting shot of the baggage truck and baggage setting around waiting to be claimed. Thank goodness for being married to a SAG driver and having my own personal baggage car. It makes life much easier.

The BRAG 2009 tenative route is from Rome to Augusta. Early registration is available. Get yours in now and travel with us on another adventure as up to 2000 slightly insane bicyclists pedal their way across Georgia having a great time and turning several towns greener with all the money we spend along the way.

With apolgies to Bob Dylan

I'm pedalin' down that long, lonesome road, babe
Where I'm bound, I can't tell
But on your left is too good a word, gal
So I'll just say fare thee well
I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind
You could have pedaled better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious climb,
But don't think twice, it's all right

BRAG - HERE WE COME

Finished up BRAG prep yesterday by riding a quick 36 miles after work. Temp was in the 90's. Horse in charge of the harem was out at the fence on Black Road and he posed for a picture and then chased me up the hill as I rode off giving me whinny heck.

Follow my adventures on BRAG here if I can get access to a computer. Otherwise, come back on the 15th or 16th for a complete update.