Today’s Highlights:
Today I stayed close to home and focused on hill climbing. I conveniently live at the bottom of a butte, so I can immediately started climbing. I cycled to the highest street on the Butte, then did five intervals on the west side entrance hill. Check out the elevation chart.
Statistics:
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Today’s Highlights:
I was in Jackson Hole for my 63rd birthday and had a brilliant idea to cycle 63 mile to celebrate the occasion. It seemed like a good idea at the time. However, maybe from here on I should use a different algorithm, like subtract my age from 100 and attempt to ride that far. The ride was fun from about 40 miles, so that algorithm would have worked fine this year. The last 20+ miles was a lot of work. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the scenery and was glad I finish.
Statistics:
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Today’s Highlights:
We left Brunswick at sunrise via a very depressed part of town. There was a surprisingly abrupt transition from the depress neighborhood to one with nice homes and landscapes yards. After seven miles, we reached Rt 17 again and cycled over the Sidney Lanier Bridge to cross Turtle River. The bridge was the scenic highlight of the day. I met Brenda and Kirt on the bridge and rode with them for 25 miles to the one rest stop of the day. It was really nice to have their company, and we took turns drafting each other. It made the time and miles go by fast.
I left the rest stop alone, expecting to met up with other riders, but unfortunately I cycled the next 35 miles alone. Route 17 is flat, long and straight, and it was pretty boring after a while. I tried talking to myself, but that was even more boring. The best scenic areas were the many wetlands we past when crossing over streams and coastal inlets.
We reached a very blue bridge that crossed the St Marys River at mile 50 to leave Georgia and enter Florida. Reaching Florida was a nice milestone, and it was a relief to know there were only 24 more miles to finish the ride and the tour. Barry, Rene and Alan caught up to me several miles from the end, and I rode with them to the hotel.
I cycle 1600 miles in 21 days, plus 4 rest days. I spent 103 hours on my bike, and burned over 36300 calories. The first day was very tough, the next nine were a challenge, and after that it got progressively easier and downright boring the last two day. I only had a couple pains to work through along the way. I finished feeling strong and relaxed. Best of all, I got to ride and spend time with very nice people and made new friends.
This evening, we will all have dinner together for the last time. I will be catching a train later tonight to go to Maryland where Sue and I will vacation with our son and his wife for one week. Maybe I will even take a bike ride with them.
Statistics:
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Time: 9/7/2016, 4:16:46 |
Duration: 04:59:07 |
Ascent/Descent:  3442 ft  3331 ft | Distance: 74.03 M |
Today’s Highlights:
Our 81-mile ride from Savannah to Brunswick started at 7:30 this morning with beautiful weather. We were on busy city streets for several miles at each end of the route. About seventy miles of the route was on Rt 17, which varied from a four lane divided highway to a two lane main road. It was flat and comfortably smooth, and we made good time. There was a lot of traffic, but nearly all the drivers gave us plenty of room when they could. I almost had a run-in with a logging truck that pulled out in front of me, but I had just enough space to stop. I cycled pretty hard for the first 36 miles, averaging 18 mph, then took it down a notch to finish the entire ride with a 17.4 mph average. I arrived at the hotel at 1:00.
Although it is easier overall to cycle on the flats, the drawback compared to a hilly ride is that you use the same muscles for the entire ride, and there is no relief. With hills, there are slight variations in which leg muscles you use, and you get a little recovery on each descent. These flat rides are like riding in a gym, with resistance, for five hours straight. Imagine that. It can get monotonous too when the scenery doesn’t change much. So at this point in the ride, we are just trying to get to Florida. We are all in fine shape, and it feels good to just power through an 80-mile ride with relative ease. Even finishing in 95-degree heat does not feel bad anymore.
Statistics:
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Time: 9/6/2016, 4:25:46 |
Duration: 05:33:11 |
Ascent/Descent: 4285 ft 4234 ft | Distance: 81.34 M |
