Day 41: Waycross-St.Simon's Island 67 mi./Pacific-Atlantic 2,500 mi.

Victory! What an exuberant feeling when we were given a police escort from Brunswick across the causeway to St.Simon's Island. This last day of riding was going to be a celebration. We still did not get a tailwind but at least the ride was very flat but the air was very humid and I actually had some drops of sweat fall on my frame, most remarkable because the weather has been so mild most of the trip.
This has been a marvelous adventure. I appreciate all who have followed my blog and especially those who have contributed to Centre Volunteers In Medicine in support of my ride. I will be back in the office on Monday trying to meet the medical needs of the working poor of Centre Co. Personally this has been a physical challenge but also a great time of fellowship with others facing their own physical and spiritual challenges. Especially memorable are Larry biking with Parkinsons, Beau biking despite a fractured wrist and bronchitis and 84 y.o. Bob Kizer who just completed his 5th cross-country bicycle trip. He was surprised to be joined by his grandson Billie who biked with him today. I had met Billie 6 yrs.ago when he biked cross-country with his then, 78 y.o. grandfather. Little did I know I would encounter them 6 years later. Such is the inspiration of Wandering Wheels.

Day 40: Sylvester-Waycross 96 mi.(+5)

The last big challenge. We can't remember the last day we had a tailwind. Today was not going to be one. We can't complain about the weather. This being my 4th cross country bicycling trip, I've never had only one day of rain. And these southern, eastern days have had moderate temperatures and fairly low humidity. But compared to this day's riding 3 years ago my speed was almost 2 1/2 mph slower. We still had very shallow rolling terrain that, never-the-less, still required over 1,200' of climbing, but most of that was early and the terrain became flatter. But a headwind made itself known before noon and still posed an impediment. But I am gratefull it is near the end. It was 96 miles to our motel, so many decided to ride an additional distance to make the day's ride a 'century'(e.g. 100 mi.). This one was not a 'gift' as the one in Texas when I did 28.3 mph. But it was the 2nd to last day and the last big challenge so we are all optimistic about the last 'push' to the Atlantic Ocean tomorrow with almost certain sunny weather.

Day 39: Edison-Sylvester 60 mi.

Today was a delightful ride despite continued SE winds but the temp was barely 80F by the time I arrived in Sylvester at 12:15 pm. We started the ride going through some lovely rural country side with more sweet smelling huneysuckle except when passing a hog farm. There were cypress trees draped in Spanish moss reflected in a swamp. We had our last urban gauntlet of stoplights and five-lane traffic through malls and fast-food outlets in Albany but it wasn't so bad. The goal was to get to Calhoun's Produce market store where their strawberries are in peak season at mile 54 and sample their fresh home-made soft-serve strawberry ice cream and strawberry slushy. Sylvester has a beautiful library with lots of computers so it was a pleasure to blog with high speed and a full sized keyboard.
I haven't mentioned how Beau, our fractured wrist rider, or Larry, riding with and for Parkinson's, have been doing. The answer is simply fine. Each had found their pace and are looking forward to fininshing the trip soon. Larry continues as our resident minstrel, performing special Wandering Wheels lyrics to the tune of 'Georgia on my Mind' last evening at Edison United Methodist church during a time of sharing and after a filling fish-fry dinner. 2 days ago Janech, our mechanic (and wife and co-leader with hubby Bob Davenport) and Jill of all trades, removed Beau's cast using a Dremel rotary saw while I held a metal spatula underneath to protect her skin. Beau is biking the last few days with a short removable splint.
Tomorrow is a 93 mi. route but we are hoping for a lighter headwind. And then one last day after that.

Day 38: Abbeville-Edison, GA 37 mi.

This felt like a Sunday morning. We had a short ride into Georgia. Breakfast wasn't scheduled until after 9:00 am. We had Belgium waffles with plenty of syrup. The terrain was still deep rollers and though we rode 1/2 the distance we ascended 1/2 the elevation as yesterday. Fortunately, halfway, the 'rollers' became less and we were begining to see the end of continual climbing. Unfortunately, there was a headwind. But it was not discouraging and helped to cool us off. Tonight we are staying in a Methodist Church which has hosted Wheels for at least 12 yrs. One year they had scheduled a revival meeting that day and the local Baptist Church agreed to host Wheels. But the congregation was so upset that they appeared at the Baptist Church instead of the revival and begged Wheels to come back. Tonight we are having the church's traditional fish fry. All of the men of the church are firing up their propane deep friers and we will have a feast of all things deep fried includind deep fried bacon (!?)Again, the hospitallity of these small towns and churches continues to impress me. At the local convenience store the manager knew all about our trip. He lives next to the church and I invited him to join our feast, but he is a Hindu and a vegetarian but an enthusiastic celebrator of this small town's Wheel's event. Only 3 more days of biking and 220 mi. To go.

Day 37: Luverne-Abbeville 72 mi.

Though there were only 72 mi.of biking it would still be a challenging day. There were headwinds again, but today they asserted themselves sooner and more aggressively. The terrain was one of progressively bigger 'rollers' that seemed to have bigger climbs. Overall we ascended almost 3,000' for the day the 4th largest for the trip. I still managed to roll in by 12:30 pm.so had a leisurely afternoon. We are in a motel so had indoor showers and the other amenities that go with that. Only 4 more days of biking.

Day 36: Camden-Luverne 71 mi.

I didn't blog yesterday. It was esentually 'a day off' as we only biked 42 mi. This was the consequence of having split up a long day into 2. Even today was a bit shorter. But the humidity and temp is rising so we got an early start with breakfast at 6:30 and we were on the road at 7:30 am. A headwind picked up at 11:00 am but it served more to cool us than to be a discouraging factor. We continue to ride through verdently green country and a notable ingredient yesterday, but especially today, was the sweet smell of huneysuckle. At mi. 20 we went through the surprisingly delightful small community of Pine Apple. It had some lovely old homes that were in their historic district. So far we have lucked out with the weather. Though the humidity has increased and the bank thermometer declared it was 90F it has not yet been a drippingly sweaty ride. Only 5 more days of biking.

Day 34: Meridian-Linden, AL 63 mi.

Today was going to be a relatively easy ride. Temperatures are warming up as one would expect in the south in mid-spring, actually welcome, considering how cool it has felt. 3 years ago this leg was over 90 mi.and I added a few to make it 100 just for the fun of it. But the staff took pity on us and broke up the distance into shorter segments so today was only 63 mi. The weather was quite pleasant and as we hit the AL border at mi.20 the road conditions improved greatly. Many stopped at the Jefferson Country Store before noon for a break and we arrived in Linden shortly after noon but had to lounge around until we were allowed to enter the church after 2:00 pm. I am grateful it is finally warm but the humidity is still moderate. Only 7 more days of biking and tomorrow is also a short day.