PowerCycle

Perfect day today.  No wind and mostly sunny all day.  Rode entirely through rural areas and barely saw a single person.  Very little traffic until I jumped onto US23 but even then people were great about moving over for me.  I do my best to stay as far as I can to the side of the road but when you are climbing a hill on a 145 lb bike at 4.5 mph you are going to sway a little.  Later in the day I started hearing some weird rubbing noise that only happened when I was pedaling.  I’ll check tomorrow morning and see if I have to tighten something up.

Also had to use Halt! on a couple of the 5 dogs that chased me today.  The jury is out on it though.  I think my problem is they were too far away (10 feet).  I hate to wait until they are chewing on me though.  The last time 3 of them were chasing me at once and I could only see one of them. The others were taking up flanking  positions behind me and on my left.  One of them was hit for sure but it kept coming.  I think I’ll try the Dog Dazzer II tomorrow and see if it does any better.  I need to find a more accessible place for it though.  The handlebar mount for the Halt! fell off but I just left it since the German Shephard I tried to use it on was sitting there waiting.  While I’m ranting about dogs–holy crap farm people!  Can’t you keep your gate closed if you are sporting Pit Bulls and a mutant-sized German Shepherd?  Even little dogs are a menace.  Yesterday I had one chasing me but I stared him down and it backed off.  Then I looked up to see that I was in the middle of the lane with a big yellow school bus heading right for me.

The Happy Acres CG was a great experience.  Only $10 too.  I’ll forget some names (and from now on I’m writing them down!) but there was Anita who is RV’ing by herself around the US, Ed who brought me over some coffee in the morning and Dan who is getting away from the weather up in West Virginia.  Dan also hooked me up with a couple Twinkies and a banana when I was leaving which was nice.  The touring cards I thought would be pointless have come in handy (they have my name, email and website on them).

Stopped in Odum and grabbed some lunch at a buffet place.  It was a nice enough place but there were a few times when it got totally quiet even though there were a dozen people there.  Food was good though.  All you can eat places are OK by me.   Something kind of sad happened though.  This old lady was in there eating by herself and was still there when I left.  Well 10 minutes later I’m riding up the road and can see that it’s her in a car behind me.  But instead of passing me she just trailed behind me for at least 30 seconds.  I was about to stop and let her pass when she went by and kept going.  A little bit later I climb a hill and could see her standing next to a grave marker in a cemetery.  I’m really glad I didn’t say or do anything when she was behind me earlier.

I have to stop drinking so much Coke too.  Coke and Snickers–my new favorite gas station snack.  Oh and cookies too.  Picked up 1/2 a box for $.69.  How could I say no?  I have a bunch of trail mix stuff I’ll have to dig out for tomorrow.

So here I am hanging out at Godonia-Altamaha State Park in Reidsville, GA listening to Metallica on my camp entertainment center (quietly–I don’t want to be one of those people).  They have internet access back at the gate so I’ll upload everything in the morning.  $16 to camp for the night.  Awesome showers constructed by Georgia State prisoners I’m told.  Very few people here, even RV’ers.  Saw a guy in a tent but I think he’s just a weekend warrior.  Is it even the weekend?  It’s hard to remember what day it is.  There are some Canadian geese here too and I might go grab one for dinner if they don’t keep it down.

I finally heard from someone that those NFL guys that got lost right when I left didn’t make it, or at least 1 of them didn’t?  Crazy.  It’s been tough getting over my news addition.  And not being able to check my email every 10 minutes.  I’m waiting for the day that the Chinese invade us and I’m the last to know about it.  Then I’ll have to go all Red Dawn on their ass (yes, on my bike).

Statesboro, GA tomorrow and I think I might motel it.  Need to find the leak in my air mattress and my back is a little beat up from basically sleeping on the ground all last night and again tonight unless I decide to blow it back up at 4am.

Mood: Excellent
Wind Direction: Calm
Wind Strength: Light
Weather:  Sunny/Mild
Total Ascent: 472ft
Max Elevation: 275 ft
Distance:  44.67 miles
Average Speed: 12 mph
Max Speed: 29.2 mph