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Lon's Description: We start to get into the eastern mountains
as we head toward Tennessee. Now the hills get bigger and
the forests thicker. Our day from Dayton to Dahlonega is
filled with corkscrew climbs and descents. We make our way
into Georgia and through the worst of the mountains. We still
have some long cycling days to reach South Carolina.
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Today we passed from Georgia into South Carolina.
We left Dahlonega in the early morning and rode
through rolling hills to our lunch stop at scenic Hartwell
Lake Park. There were many churches and tiny towns
we passed through. This day's route was considerably
easier than Days 21 and 22, with only 4000 ft of climbing,
but we were all feeling the effects of the two prior days.
We had excellent weather once more, and the terrain was
rolling for most of the day.
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| Estimated Distance: | 137 Miles |
| Actual Distance: | 139.5 Miles |
| Cumulative Actual Distance: |
2,869 Miles This includes the following off course added miles: San Diego - 2.0 Miles when Chuck and Bob Harting missed a turn Winslow - 4.7 Miles when Chuck, Ken, and Les Drake went to the mural painting after the ride Pagosa Springs - 3.1 Miles when Chuck missed Lunch Alamosa - 11.2 Miles when Chuck missed the turn for Lunch |
| Estimated Feet of Climbing: | 4,000 Feet |
| Actual Feet of Climbing: |
4,740 Feet Lon assured us that there would NOT be an additional charge for this additional climbing |
| Cumulative Feet of Climbing: | 98,200 Feet |
| Elevation of Destination: | 830 Feet |
| Average Speed on the Bike: |
17.9 MPH |
| Maximum Speed on the Bike: | 38 MPH |
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Chuck's Heart Rate Data: Max Heart Rate was 196 BPM a few weeks ago before PAC Tour |
Time above 150: 0:38 Time between 130-150: 5:33 Time below 130: 2:04 Chuck saw 167 BPM holding with the Les Drake paceline |
| Dairy Queen Count: |
1 Blythe, CA 2 Twister's Ice Cream in Williams, AZ 3 Dairy Queen in Cortez, Colorado was phenomenal 4 Dairy Queen in Monte Vista, Colorado (PAC Tour Hot Fudge Banana Split: Bananas, 3 Scoops Ice Cream, Hot Fudge on Side: Awesome!!) 5 Dairy Queen in Pratt, Kansas 6 Dairy Queen in Winfield, Kansas - PAC Tour Hot Fudge Banana Split 7 Ice Cream at All You Can Eat Buffet in Cuba, Missouri (Boy, did this restaurant lose money on us!!) 8 Dairy Queen in Farmington, Missouri - Dinner 9 Dairy Queen in Vienna, Illinois - Excellent Chocolate Marshmellow Shake |
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Now that's what I call a pull!!
Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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Hartwell Lake Park was a beautiful location for lunch today.
Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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Lunch is always a very welcome part of the
day's riding. Good food. Good company. Blue sky.
And Don Norvelle is always there with a big grin on his
face to cheer us up!! Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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Our last state border crossing!!
Checkout a larger version of this photo |
| Highlights: |
Another OUTSTANDING day of cycling!!
We were greeted with an awesome sun rise in a Northern Georgia forest this morning. It seemed that every house in Tennessee and Georgia had a porch and every porch had a swing on it. Boy, there sure are a lot of Baptist Churches around here. Crossing into Southern Carolina was a highlight for sure ... our last state border crossing. Pedaling a bike looks so easy. Yet, it's so hard to do well ... Finally today, parts of the ride were effortless. We don't take this for granted ... it has taken a lot of time and hard work to get to this state. It's a very magical thing. |
| Memorable Scenery: |
"One Armed Bandit Road" at Mile 95 Beautiful farms and cow pastures Awesome green forests and valleys 2 Dogs with escape velocity of 23.5 MPH 1 Fast Dog with escape velocity of 26 MPH |
| Mechanical Problems: |
John Ashby appears to lead the Flat
Tire competition with 13 flats. In addition, he
has had 2 rear wheel spoke failures, a cassette
destruction, and a Rear Derailleur explosion.
John has excellent equipment but has concluded
that sometimes the less expensive stuff works
better. |
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Biomechanical (Engine) Problems: |
A tendon on Cheryl's leg started to talk to her. |
| What Worked: |
Ed Boecker ate over $13 of MacDonald's food last night in one
sitting!! Chuck and Ken each had two BIG MacDonald's Sandwiches for dinner and still went to bed hungry an hour later!! Blue skies and warmth of the sun 4 GU's made Chuck's legs crank at full throttle Toes down pedaling does help Hot Foot (Thanks Pat Carter) Bananas ... Bananas ... More Bananas |
| What Didn't Work: |
4,740 Feet of Climbing because we're a little bit
tired ... gee, I don't know why???
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| Quote of the Day: |
"Awwwfoool haaarrrd, ain't it?" Husband and Wife picking up litter from side of road as we climbed up a roller near their home in Antreville. Little did they realize how true this was ... |
| Chuck's Song of the Day: |
"I really miss you When the nights are long And only silence is heard In this world of song But life goes on And forever more, I'll be haunted by your love Standing in the doorway As the sunrise greets the morning Searching for our future We can find our way back home... And forever more, I'll be haunted by your love" The Moody Blues, 1999 "Haunted" on "Strange Times" These guys are sounding so good to me on this PAC Tour!! |
