September 21 Crossing America

Reidsville, GA – West of Savannah a distance of 50 miles.
Distance traveled through today 5,426 miles, rode 4,649 on my bike.

I was excited for this day to begin as I’d be riding with Jack to Savannah where I’ll be spending the next two days resting and visiting with him and Connie.  Promptly at 8:30
Jack arrived with friend Matt who agreed to serve as our SAG driver to today.  I wasn’t quite as punctual as I got absorbed in writing in this journal and failed to keep tabs on the
time.  While Jack and Matt loaded my bike onto Jack’s car I hurriedly packed my  panniers.   We then went to a local café to enjoy a hearty breakfast before setting out on the 55 miles to Savannah.  Connie phoned Matt to let him know we were going to have rain very soon but it would be mostly over by about 10 AM.  Sure enough it began raining shortly after her call.  About 10:30 the rain let up and we drove a couple miles east of Reidsville to begin our ride.  Upon unloading Spirit I discovered my rear brake was dragging again and had a panic attack not being able to figure out why.  Finally Jack  looked at Spirit and suggested I check to see if the wheel was fully seated into the rear trailing arm, it wasn’t.  Wonder how many miles I rode yesterday with the brake dragging?  I’m such a dunce with mechanics but if you have been reading this
journal you already know that.

Jack is riding a recumbent bicycle which I have found to be quite comfortable with its laid back upright position.  Just the ride for someone with a bad back such as Jack has.  The downside to a recumbent bike is the lack of being able to climb hills.  Here in eastern Georgia it is primarily flat and an excellent choice of a ride for him.   Jack took the lead and asked what speed I liked to cruise.  Replied to him I’d probably be able to maintain 14-15 mph since I wasn’t carrying my gear today.  Forgot to mention above another plus to
riding a recumbent bike is that they are able to cruise at a much higher speed than regular bikes.  Sure enough we were cruising between 16-21 mph, guess Jack didn’t have a computer on his bike or it wasn’t calibrated correctly.  For the next 20 miles, I had all I could do to stay up with the brisk pace Jack had set for us.  Fortunately the last 5 or 6
miles we ran into a few hills which allowed me to easily keep up with Jack as he was struggling to make it up the hills.

We stopped in Claxton, Georgia “The Fruitcake Capital of the World”.  I told Jack I love fruitcake as well as does Sharon our longtime friend and fellow employee of Frank’s Center, Inc. of nearly 20 years.  This time of year she and I get to enjoy eating fruitcakes as no one else in her or my family like this wonderful cake.  Jack asked if I’d like to stop at the fruitcake factory which I quickly said yes.  While at the factory we learned this time of year they work around the clock baking 85,000 one pound fruitcakes daily.  Best yet, this is my favorite brand of fruitcake.  I purchased 6 lbs. of fruitcake, that ought to get us through the Holiday feasting on this favorite treat, to send home for Sharon and me to enjoy when I finally get back to Missouri.  Hope Ms. Vickie doesn’t get too upset with my putting the purchase on the credit card sheallowed me to bring with for emergency use only.  Hey, being able to buy one of the best commercial baked fruitcakes, in my opinion, was an emergency need.

Upon leaving the Claxton fruitcake factory Jack told me he was going to ride in the car in order to take film footage of me riding for a U-Tube video he plans to do of my journey as he intends to make me a celebrity.  OK, slightly embarrassing but having such a video will be fun to have for a memento of my journey.  What I quickly learned was the next 10 miles
of 17 to Pembroke is a series of hills.   One hill was steep enough I had to go down into the granny gears, the easiest to turn the pedal gears, to climb.   Thank you Jack, you gave me something to snicker about while enduring my not so favorite riding task of climbing hills.

Arriving in Pembroke Jack waved me down on the main street through town as he and Matt had found a local café for us to lunch.  Matt, who has been one of the most tentative
SAG drivers ever has been staying within a mile or two of us , further surprised me as he had asked a local hardware store owner to allow me to leave my bike in her store while we lunched.  Hard to believe the gal agreed to it.  Then again she is another of many folks who have made my adventure much more than I had ever expected.  Her store was full of  various hardware paraphernalia.  Walking around her store was like taking a stroll down memory lane of what such stores were like back in the 1940s and 50s.  Certainly brought back fond memories of that long ago era.

After yet another huge meal we were ready to ride again, this time Jack would accompany me once again.  At this time I’d like to give special thanks to Matt as he paid for both our breakfast and now lunch.  Matt, if you want to SAG from here to Richmond I’d be  delighted.  I can have wishful thoughts, thank you Matt you are spoiling me with your kindness just as Suzy did on the West coast.  Setting out from Pembroke on Hwy. 280 we
encountered the most motorist traffic so far experienced in Georgia on a two lane road with no shoulder.  That said all but one driver was considerate and gave us plenty of room when they passed.  Even the one driver who wasn’t so nice gave us plenty of room but laid on his horn all the while he was passing.  My best guess is this driver felt like we were intruding on his road and wanted us to get off it?  Who knows for sure what the idiot was
thinking.  It was a relief to exit onto highway 204 where the traffic was minimal and we could enjoy the last few miles ride of this day.  Jack rode strong and we were able to cover the remaining 14 miles in well under an hour.  Jack said the traffic from this point to their home on Skidaway Island would be congested with rush hour traffic and it made sense to load the bikes onto his bike rack and skip riding our bikes the final few miles to his home.  Thank you Jack I appreciate not being stressed out.

Skidaway Island in Jack’s words is “Paradise” which I fully agree.  Fantastic homes have been blended in with the natural beauty of the area.  Yards and streets throughout the village are lined with mature Live Oaks, Pines, and Palmetto shrubs.  Immediately one not
only can see but you feel the tranquil beauty of this peaceful village existing in harmony with nature.  Connie and Jack you do live in a little piece of Paradise.

Topping off this wonderful day with good friends Connie prepared us a “Low Country Boil” dinner of shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn on cob slowly boiled in a delicious herb seasoning served family style.  Matt and his bride Dot joined us for this delightful dinner.  As we all sat around the dinner table with full tummies we ended the evening reliving this day’s fun and activities everyone is involved in.  It didn’t take much arm twisting to  convince me to stay two days compared to one.  Thank  you Jack and Connie for inviting me into your beautiful home and pampering me with your kindness and generosity I feel like I’m in Paradise.

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