Ken’s Transcontinental Cycling Tour

   Today’s 111 mile, 4,454 foot route from….oops, now where were we this morning?….oh, yeah, from Greenville to Eufala puts us on the Alabama/Georgia line and will launch us into our final state of Georgia tomorrow morning!  It was very hot and humid and the rollers got bigger today, all resulting in a long day in the saddle.  We found a neat antique shop just outside of Clio, Alabama and used the opportunity to find a gift for Kathy which I carried on my back and bike 10 miles to the lunch stop and then mailed a package from the Clio post office.  Now that I’ve carried two items on my back, the watermelon for Andrew’s birthday and today’s secret gift, some people are suggesting that if the veterinary ophthalmology thing doesn’t work out, I should consider a career as a bike messenger in New York City.

   A few words about the way our riding works with directions and road surface comments.  First, I have to admit that the two factors I was most concerned about prior to the trip were 1. weather and 2. following a cue sheet.  Well, the weather has been perfect the whole trip except for a couple of short rainy hours.  As for the cue sheet, Chris T, ultracyclist from Newport, RI made me realize that there are less than about 10 turns a day- in fact, it has been very easy to follow the laminated daily sheets, especially when riding in a group.  Also, the PAC Tour crew has been great about arrowing the route when there are a few turns in/out of towns.  Most of the time we follow long miles on a given road and as long as we see the sun in front of us until noontime, we know we’re headed in the right direction.  If all else fails, the local churches have words of wisdom for us to follow as you see pictured below.  Now for road surfaces, we’ve had hundreds of miles on what’s commonly called ‘chip seal’ or ‘chip and seal’ which is a rough stony surface.  It’s not so noticeable for a few miles at home but the butt sure knows the difference between that type of road and smooth roads!  Well, that’s it for tonight as it’s been a long, hot day…

   Left: One of about 5 antique ’sheds’ in a cluster.  Right: Kathy’s gift on my back and bubble wrap taped to the bottom of the top tube; on my way to the post office 10 miles down the road.

  Gene (California- recumbent rider; chiropractor) taking a stance inside the antique shop.

  Change in pavement with smoother road on left side and ‘chip seal’ on the right.  Our butts like smooth at this point of the trip!

     ”Lost”? No PAC Tour arrows? Just follow some of the church signs…