Gulf coast

We spent the morning sitting in our cheap room waiting for the rain to clear.  When it got close we headed to cj's where we got some great stuffed French toast.  The weather got very nice and we saw some great sites. We made it to the starting point for the hash.  It was an a to b trail and luckily some one had a bike rack so we could get them to the on-in and because of his knees they took Charlie to the end of trail so he wouldn't have to do it.  The trail was full of shiggy and swamps that I never would have gone threw otherwise.  They had crawdads for afters and were caming for the night.  Because we plan on getting up early Meredith and Al invited us over, so we didn't have to stay up. There we met Amy and relaxed the night away. 
Thanks Andy and Mark for trying to find us places to stay.  I hope I get to hash with that group again. 
We did about 31 miles today and trail was around 4.

Winging it

After riding into Pensacola and getting some food we started to figure out what we were gonna do for tonight.  I got a hold of the local Hash House of Harriers (look it up - good time) and they worked on finding a spot.  To kill some time we went to McGuire's Irish pub.  When we left we both hit the head and accidentally when in the ladies room because the sign said men with and arrow pointing that way.  I should have took a pic sorry. 
After killing some more time at the pier and searching the local area we ended up at a budget hotel (none of the hashers were are in town tonight.
Tomorrow we will be joining the gulf shore HHH for trail (Charlie won't be doing trail) and camping.  And the following day we will again be winging it. 

Train race / day at the beach

We made it down to Debbie and Ray's after 76 miles running beside trains all day.  Nothing really exciting or of note occurred on the ride other then the fact that it was another hot day and some of Charlie's stuff fell off his bike right as we were getting in (thanks to a kid yelling at us we were able to retrieve it).  Debbie made us a really good supper and convinced us to spend the day and go to the beach with them. 
We went to Henderson state park beach and the sand and water was just amazing.  Apparently when it is less windy the water is even better. 
I have yet to figure out the next few days and we may end up winging it.

Controlled burn

77 miles of scorching sun brought us in and out of Alabama and to Falling Water state park in Florida.  We got a good start this morning but were soon derailed by a train, that was hooking up to more cars, blocking the only route for us to get into Alabama (we didn't time it but it must have been 45 minutes).  Shortly after that I got a nose bleed ( allergy induced).  The rest of the day was hot miles until we got to the park.  The ranger ( from Ohio) after saying we were from Pa said Amish I see.  Then he told us how he just got done doing a burn and some of it was still smuldering.  He also warned us it was spring break and if we head south to the beach we won't be able to stay on our bikes....
Off to Crestview tomorrow to meet Debbie and Ray. 

Park hopping

After saying good bye to our new friends this morning we headed for Kolomoki Mounds State historic park(not far from where Mollie is from). 
We did really well getting going, only taking an hour to cook, eat, and pack up, so we hit the rode before 9 and the morning was beautiful.  By lunch time we had done 50 miles and tried stopping at a rodeside stand that advertised a ton of stuff but had almost none of it, so we had to ride 10 more miles to town.  We got to the park at 5 and have been relaxing since.  Today we totaled 88 miles. 
I have no service here so this may be put up tomorrow and tomorrow we will be winging it seeing as our next place to stay is over 120 miles away. 

The day of rest

We rode into Cordele this morning to get some supplies and the map I left at Denny's (turns out they threw it out so space phone it is). Then we checked out the park, found/fixed the 5 holes in my sleeping pad, totaled our miles(444 this week) and money, and relaxed.  All the other people around us had left but one new group came in.  As we were discussing dinner a boy came over and said his mom wondered if we would join them for dinner.  We proceeded to meet Mollie and her kids.  We spent most of the rest of the evening with them including smorz which I quickly went and got after dinner.  I hope they enjoy the rest of their spring break.  We did around 28 miles today after all our messing around.

Century 1 (fish worm)

Through rain, wind, and hills we made our first 100 mile day!
The day started on a really good note, after Mac took us for breakfast, we went to the post office and miraculously Charlie's card was there.  We then set off and quickly had 20 miles in, but after a few more it started to rain, we continued to ride Shortly it turned into a downpour and we ducked under a carport where a man and his pickup were asking if it was ok to come in as we roled up.  It was his prebuilt/contracting shop and he had to help a customer before we got his name or a picture.  The rain slowed so we continued and it continued for the next 5 or more miles.  Eventually the sky's cleared and we were greeted  with heavy winds and rolling hills much bigger then anything we had seen thus far.  For quite awhile we had our doubts but continued to push.  We eventually made it to Cordele and the Denny's Mac told us about were we stoped for supper.  The next 10 miles to Georgia Veterans state park were really enjoyable, nice roads, no wind, and riding into the sunset. 
This kind of day is one of the reasons why I wanted to do this trip and it feels great. 

Rain rain go away.

We left pretty late this morning after getting breakfast at Mrs. Rogers and letting our tents dry out.  We biked down to Reidsville and stoped at the state park where there was a nice little lake.  It said to not feed the gaters but we didn't see any.  After relaxing for an hour we headed to Vidalia when 6 miles out it rained again.  The rain stopped and soon after Mac stopped us and talked to us to discuss our plans for the evening (at this point we were less then 3 miles out and I had told him we were gonna stop at the post office).  Once we got to Mac's we found out how awesome of a guy he is (for example he has a special bike so the he can take a blind friend for rides). 
Tomorrow will be played by ear as we need to get Charlie's package (his credit card he left at Julie's) and we may get a big storm.
Total 38 mi.

One state down!

Well today we made it into Georgia, and got pretty far into it for that matter.  In total we made it 90 miles today; leaving us with a mere 30 to get to the next stop (a cyclist named Mac I contacted through warm showers). 
Today was quite eventful, getting wet multiple times and drenched once.  With the power of the space phone we were able to know when to push through and when to wait so we wouldn't get rained on as much.  We did however get caught in a storm outside of Guyton, Ga but I spotted a pavilion soon after it started where we waited it out, and cooked lunch, and modified my saddle (it was rubbing me the wrong way).  Multiple times it was drizzling but that felt good and we just rode in it. 
Tonight we are camping in the lawn of the united Methodist church in Claxton.  We met Shelby doing some outside work and he hooked us up.  After we got dinner at a place he suggested he came back in his 73' Cutless and we talked for a bit and he gave us the combo to the church so we can use the bathroom. 
Tomorrow the plan is to take an easy day and to carbload.

Day 3

We got a fairly early start around 9 and were feeling good, when midway through the morning Charlie got off the rode and went down.  Luckily nothing serious only a few brush burns from the "00 grit" road.  We stopped for lunch at a little burger joint in Walterboro then got caught in rain and hid out under an apartment stoop.  As it turned out we had gone the wrong way and had to take a connecting road to get back on track.  We figure we wouldn't have had a place to hide had we gone the right way, things happen for a reason.  We rode till about 430 (66 miles) and decided to get a room in a cheap motel as it was only 20 bucks more then a camp site.  We plan to head out early tomorrow and get 80ish miles in. 

Down to Charleston

After searching our route, finding places to stay, and calling home my phone had little to no charge.  This ment no track and no GPS till the sun helped me out, Charlie's basic cadence meter still worked.  We made it 20ish miles then the GPS was back up.  We worked our way down 17 and hit some construction that made the traffic dangerous so with the GPS back we detoured on some side streets and made it down to Mt. Pleasant and went out on the pier under the bridge. There we had lunch and got talking to some Canadian's from Montreal who had flown down and brought their folding bicycles (Charlie liked the bikes).  We then went into Charleston and stoped at a bike shop then headed up to Sam and Julie's house where we are spending the night and they took us out for dinner and gave us a tour of the air base.  On total we did somewhere around 54 miles.

First day

After packing up our gear, we left Myrtle beach and great host(thanks Dianne and Nevin), and rode 70 miles south. 
Already we met some really nice people.  At lunch time we stopped in Georgetown at a little warf and got talking to some, let's call them, 'water hippies' and they let us use the beautiful bathroom in their dilapidated fishing shack (I am not being sarcastic it was nice, they said it was just redone and we should have seen it before).  Later we stopped at a back country convince store and reflilled our bottles were again we talked to some nice people.
We found a good place to camp tonight in Francis Marion (swamp fox) National forest.  Tomorrow we head to a friend of Charlie's outside of Charleston. 
I did put up some pics. 

Training week

After a week of testing things out and riding we are starting to feel pretty good.  If all goes well we will hit the road Monday morning heading toward Charleston.
We left home last Saturday morning after having to mess around to get my bike on the roof rack (stand up racks don't work when the bike has a front rack on).  After an uneventful drive we got to Myrtle beach; we go to park and Jean yells stop right as Charlie's handle bars scrape the ceiling of the parking garage (yep I was driving).  Luckly no serious damage was done.
Sunday we rode 29 miles and after Charlie's quads hurt pretty bad and I realized we never properly adjusted his seat.  So the next couple of days after soaks in the ocean and hot tubs, and more riding his legs feel good again.  Our rides were as follows: 48, 18, rest, 40, 55, and today 24 miles. 
We checked out of our place this morning and said good by to my mom and aunt Jean, but of course before that I went to add air to my rear tire and the presta valve stem got a hole at the base.  We are now staying with Charlie's sister and her husband untill we leave.  While we are here I am going to drill my rims out so I can use regular schrader valves; I am tired of the issues I have had with the small presta ones. 
We have had a very nice stay in this area and have enjoyed the beaches, we both are excited to hot the rode.

I will get a few pictures up on the Picasa site but you need to remind me...

Let's get started

Tomorrow morning we are hitting the road driving down to merytle beach SC where we will spend a week riding and making sure we have everything we need.  My uncle Charlie who is 69 has never been a huge cyclist but has road a lot in the last year.  We have never road together so there may be some learning this coming week.  hopefully we have a good easy week before the true riding begins.  :)