Return of..............................RUMBLE STRIPS!!!!!

Day 24
From Savannah GA
To Brunswick GA
Mileage estimated 78
Mileage actual 80
Top speed 25.5mph
Riding time 5 hrs 20 mins

Yes, they're back! Rumble strips! Every cyclists worst nightmare. "What are they?" you ask. Well, they are grooves cut out of the surface of the road on the shoulder where cyclists are expected to ride. The grooves are done by machine and they take about 2" of tarmac out at the deepest point. The purpose of them I think, is to remind sleeping car drivers that they should wake up as they are straying off the carriageway; the effect is to give cyclists a real wake up call if they are unlucky enough to ride over them. The wake up call starts at the wrists, quickly spreading to the elbows, shoulders and back then the nether regions; they are like riding on corrugated iron and are even more uncomfortable than the average American road surface. They are accompanied by numerous expletives and are loved by us all.

Today the RSs jumped us as we were not expecting them, We had been getting along smoothly from leaving Savannah and even had a dedicated bike lane at the side the main road that we were on, then 'BANG! RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!' and screams of 'Rumble Strips!' and from then on it was avoidance tactics.

We were all sad to leave Savannah. It's been interesting that for a bike ride some of the best days have been when we were not on our bikes, because the Rest Day locations and hotel situations have been perfect. The hotel did have its own character, though and this was a man who was in charge of the breakfast buffet and had been schooled in the Basil Fawlty school of hotel etiquette. People trying to make their own waffles had the man standing looking over their shoulder saying, 'Push for waffle mix. Fill cup - not too much. Tip over plates. Close lid. Turn grill plate. Now wait for the alarm' in a very robotic voice. When Johnnie went to remove his cooked waffle, he used the tongs next to the machine. He shouldn't have done. They were for the hard boiled eggs that were there and Johnnie was told in no uncertain terms that he should not use the tongs and that he had now "spread contamination from the eggs to the waffles and the other way, too." Suitably chastised, Johnnie sat down to eat his waffle and we all watched as the robot took the contaminated tongs and.....................put them back next to the eggs! They weren't all that contaminated, then, were they?

We loaded the van before breakfast then left after we had eaten and were on the road just as the traffic was starting to build up. The first few miles were again the reverse of our inward route and we had to be careful as there was a lot of traffic, a lot of turns and a lot of railroad tracks to cross. The day was very humid ("up there") at about 100% and perspiration was streaming just standing still. We negotiated the difficulties for about ten miles then got onto Route 17 South which is to be our riding home for the next couple of days, until we finish in Jacksonville. Johnnie had led us out of town but once we got onto the main road, I found myself at the front and leading what looked like quite a pace line. Sure enough, when I checked there were 9 other riders behind me. I led out at about 17 - 18 mph and whilst the road surface was a lot, lot better than it had been for days, there was a headwind that didn't help. I kept looking in my mirror for the next rider from the line to come up and take over, but they were remarkably backward at coming forward, and I ended up at the head of the pack for about 10 miles. At that point Anne, who had followed my wheel for all that time, took over and she led to the first SAG stop at the 30 mile mark. When we got there, we were both told we had done a 'Great Job' or 'Great Lead' or 'Great Draft' depending on who spoke to us with one of the women saying, 'I don't think I could have done that.' Feeling quite pleased that our expended energy had given the others a comparatively easy ride, I soon became a little bit miffed when they all had a quick SAG then rode off without my usual group of four! Anne and I have decided that we are going to issue cards saying, "IOU one draft of 10 miles at 17mph" at route rap tonight and see what the reaction is. Needless to say, both Anne and I had done more than our fair share of the dirty work without payback and were more tired at the end of the day.

After the SAG we stopped at what is claimed to be the smallest church in America. There are a couple of pictures below that show the inside and outside of it and it certainly is 'up there' amongst the smallest I have ever seen. There was seating inside for 14 but they could all have reached the altar and conducted the service.

















The towns of Richmond Hall, Riceboro, Midway and Eulonia all passed by and we got to our final SAG of the day, just 14 miles from the end of the ride, at a town called Darien. I had never heard of it, but the stop was at the 'Welcome Centre' and at these there are usually some historical markers. I won't try and explain what Derian was famous for because this marker does it better than I could:-



It was noticeable that the river here did not seem to be the deepest or widest of those that we crossed in pretty rapid succession, but the success of the town as a port must have been built on something that it had.

Fourteen miles into the wind became a bit of a test but we were soon in the hotel and seeking the air conditioned coolness of our rooms to refresh us after another good day's riding.

We have one more day to go. Just over 70 miles then the East coast will have been conquered and we will have ridden from the Northern-most State to the Southern-most State.

Tomorrow I will tell you about the last day and bore you with some statistics! The locals love 'em!