Feelin' the pain in Ft. Payne

The other day we crossed another state border. The states are flying by! We went from Rome, GA to Scottsboro, AL. The weather was beautiful and this day was the hardest and the best day at the same time. In the morning, I rode by myself because the weather was so perfect and I wanted to enjoy the rural scenery at my own pace. I stopped often to take pictures of the Georgia countryside. But I made sure to keep close to a few other riders so I could have someone to take pictures of me at the state line. There was a large group of us that stopped at the Alabama sign. We had enough to try to spell out ALABAMA, but the idea was better than the picture because most cannot tell what we are spelling out. After we were done taking pictures, I continued on with a few of the girls. Shortly after the state line, we hit our first mountain climb! The road was a gradual climb for about a mile and a half. It felt like forever! I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath. Once we made it to the top, lunch was waiting for us. I had worked up quite an appetite and the lunch felt well deserved. one of our leaders told us about a waterfall not too far away. Most of us decided to take the detour to the falls. The falls weren't huge, but the. Swim in the water was well worth the hike. We even jumped off a few rocks! I started on a small jump that was about 7 feet. Some of the guys were having fun jumping off the bigger jumps. I was a little scared to do that, but my friend Kelsey convinced me to jump off the 30 ft cliff. I have never done anything like that before, but I'm glad I did it! After about an hour of playing around at the waterfalls, we headed back on the road. We expected to go downhill, but we kept going up! Once we finally started on the descent, it was lots of fun! There were curves to make it challenging and fun. Later on, we went on lots of back roads that didn't even have names, just numbers. Towards the end of the day, we went up another climb. I rode with a group of 5, but Mike and I wanted to go a little faster, so we left the group. We went on some really rough backroads
, which is why we decided to stop at a gas station to rest with about 15 miles left. The people there were nice, but very concerned about our safety. The next downhill was a gradual 13% grade hill! As we went down it, I hit 46 mph (which I think was speeding on that road...) the end of the downhill opened up to a lake. Mike and I stopped to take some cool pictures before we went the rest of the way. Once we started towards the church, the fast group passed us. They pulled us all the way in. For dinner, we had some great homemade BBQ. Some people are getting sick of +BBQ, bjut I'm loving it! And tons of sweet tea too.

Well I know I'm a few days behind, but I'm really tired after a ten hr build day in the 90 degree heat and 65% humidity. Should get off to bed now. Will try to catch up tomorrow and shoot to do short daily blogs.

When in Rome....update your blog!

We arrived in Rome, Georgia today after an 81 mile ride. Although the ride was long, the route was on some nice country backroads. We finally got off of the highways! Once again, I switched between groups of riders. In the morning, I rode with Kelsey and Craig. Going out of town was a little hilly and busy because we were just outside of Atlanta. We went through lots of construction areas that were really bumpy! After lunch, I rode mostly with Paul and Katie. At the top of one of the hills, we stopped at a little horse farm to takr some pictures. To our surprise, three miniature horses came running up to the side of the fence and came close enough for us to pet them! After taking some pictures, we headed down a beautiful descent. The road slowly went down and we went through a canopy of trees. The ride was very peaceful! Towards the middle of the ride, I found a really cool road. Elizabeth road! My groupmates weren't excited to take the picture because the road was at the bottom of a hill, so they had to stop and lose their momentum. A little later, I rode with Kelsey again to the end. I really liked one part of town where there was a fast, curvy downhill with no cars. I felt like I was back in racing! Once we got to the church in Rome, we were spoiled rotten. Not only did we have another awesome dinner prepared, we also had a bike mechanic, a guy who gave massages, (he is actually
a local fireman who is also a Cat 1 rider and rode with the fast guys today), and chiropractors. I wasn't in dire need of any of these luxuries, so I was one of the last in line for all of them. But I got my bike checked out, got a leg and shoulder massage, and had my back adjusted. I have never had a massage or a chiropractic adjustment, so these were new experiences for me.I am still in awe about how generous some people can be.

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging the last few days. I was doing so well on my blog that I was neglecting my personal journal. Plus, the last few days have been very hot and humid, which has worn me out. Since my last blog entry, we have had six riding days, a day off, and a build day. Most of these days were uneventful days. I enjoyed riding through the capital of SC and crossing our first state border. I was actually the last of our group to cross over the border because I was sweep, which are the people who must stay behind everyone else to make sure everything is okay with all the riders ahead. Another fun thing I found on the road was a milk vending machine at a dairy farm in Newberry. If you inserted $4, you got a jug of fresh milk! Another highlight of my ride days was an on road donation I got. Each day, we havw a donation challenge to get something that would be useful. One day, the challenge was an extension cord because ours had been broken the night before. I was riding on my own that day, so I decided to stop at an ACE hardware store. I walked in and told them about the cause and the manager eas more than happy to help. He said "what do you want? A 25 or 50 foot one?". He ended uo giving me a 50 foot one and I was again shocked by the generosity of strangers. But by far, my favorite part of the last few ride days was my ride between Athens and Norcross. We rode right past my aunt Trish's work, so I was able to surprise her! And later that day, I was able to visit with my uncle, who tracked me down on the route! I had never been where they lived or worked, so it was a fun adventure for me!

Well I will haved to leave the build day and day off for tomorrow because I am quite tired and have a 83 mile day tomorrow. But I will hopefully write about the build within the next couple of days!