The last big day

On the penultimate day, we rode 118 miles from Perry to Metter, Georgia.

We got off to a good start and I drafted the Turners on their tandem for a mile or two.

Eddy came along so we rode together the rest of the day, with his usual lectures on how I can become a better rider if I just … He is a very nice guy and I have become even more steady and smooth under his tutelage. Too bad I don’t have a better picture of him.

We rode through several smaller towns, some thriving, some not. Montrose has decided to take advantage of several rundown buildings on the main drag.

We went through Dudley and Dublin, some very nice little towns.

I have not seen one of these grocery stores since I was a kid in Anchorage. Didn’t know they still existed.

Eddy has been looking for the following since we entered Oklahoma. The Stars and Bars have been invisible in the South.

Right next door was a very nice barn and horse.

We have been passed by at least a hundred logging trucks, all very polite, safe drivers. We finally got to see the logging operation in passing.

Gerry asked his wife to send him new “shorts” but due to Auto-Correct, he got a new “shirt”. At least it looks nice.

When Jim and I signed up for the PAC Tour we were concerned about how we would do, then heard that there were a lot of retired people so we thought, “Hey, we are can keep up with them.” Any group can be divided using a bell curve, so we compared ourselves to PMC riders and decided that this was going to be a piece of cake.

What we didn’t realize is that PAC riders are the far right end of the bell curve in terms of ability. While the average age is around 57, the fastest guys are the ones with white hair, like Gerry. There are plenty of average riders and I have enjoyed the last four weeks with all of them.

After being on a bike for a month, cars are starting to see a little foreign. Is it me, or is there something odd about this van?

Tomorrow is the last day of the ride. One big change is that I will no longer be eating two breakfasts, snacking constantly through the day on chips and cookies, having two desserts for lunch, and a mid-afternoon McShake.

Please support my ride to raise money for the Pan Mass Challenge and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Chris Spear

P.S. Check out Jim Salvie’s blog