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Lon's Description: This part of the tour seems
to go fast. Everyone is smelling the finish
and riding strong. When we arrive in Charleston
the landscape we just crossed is still a blur.
Remember to take pictures, write a diary and talk
to the local people along the way.
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This is the last day of the tour, and even though we are all ready for the tour to be over, we also realize that the adventure is coming to an end.
The route today is from Orangeburg to Charleston, SC, with the end of the tour at a beach resort community called Folly Beach just south of Charleston. It is a very flat ride today, since we are in the Low Country area of South Carolina. For the most part we are on lightly traveled country roads, many of which have canopies formed by the large cypress (?) trees common to this area. Today is more of a social ride, and we are all moving along at a moderate pace. After lunch, we stopped to help John Ashby whose rear wheel had a broken spoke and a damaged hub - he was able to continue until the support vehicle came along with a loaner wheel to get him to the destination. We had our last sag stop about 5 miles from the destination to allow all the riders to regroup so that we could all ride in together. We were all wearing the event jersey, and rode in together at a sedate pace to the Holiday Inn at Folly Beach. At the finish, we all went down on the beach for photos and a chance to unwind from 25 days of continuous cycling. After all this, it's hard to believe that the ride is over. The last event of the PAC Tour is the banquet, during which we were entertained by Susan while we were all given commemorative plaques containing our tour photos. At this time, the large tour map that Lon Haldeman created was signed by all the riders and auctioned off. John Ashby was the winning purchaser (see photo), and bought the map for $450.00, the proceeds of which will be donated to a charity of John's choice. This tour has been a major event in our lives, and certainly a unique experience that we are fortunate enough to have participated in. |
| Estimated Distance: | 105 Miles |
| Actual Distance: | 107.6 Miles |
| Cumulative Actual Distance: |
3,095 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: | 350 Feet |
| Actual Feet of Climbing: |
300 Feet |
| Cumulative Feet of Climbing: | 101,500 Feet |
| Elevation of Destination: | 250 Feet |
| Average Speed on the Bike: |
17.8 MPH |
| Maximum Speed on the Bike: |
28.0 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: 0:03 Time between 130-150: 1:24 Time below 130: 6:07 |
| 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 10 Wendy's Frosties in Greenwood, South Carolina |
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PAC Tour invades Folly Beach, South Carolina.
This photo taken by Chuck's son, Alex, on the top floor of the final PAC Tour Hotel. Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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Steve and Jamison, both injured on the trip, were in charge of
leading us into the finish line. This was very cool and very
inspirational for us.
We all wore our PAC Tour Jerseys for this final leg. Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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It was a great feeling.
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Some of us were heading right for our families!!
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It was such a great feeling to see our families at the finish line!!
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If you look closely, you can see Lon running behind the PAC Tour Peloton. Lon was
out tripping the lights so we could easily get to the beach!!
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Most of us carried our bikes right down the stairs to the beach.
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Pure joy
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It was so great to see our goal: the Atlantic Ocean!!
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"Give me one moment in time When I'm more than I thought I could be When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away And the answers are all up to me. Give me one moment in time When I'm racing with destiny ... Then in that one moment in time I will be ... I will be free" Whitney Houston, 1988 Olympics Checkout a larger version of this photo |
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There are more photos here. |
| Highlights: |
One more OUTSTANDING day of cycling!!
Susan cooked a great batch of French Toast for breakfast. It's a real challenge to cook enough French Toast quickly for over 50 hungry cyclists ... and she did a great job at it. We had very nice weather for our final leg of the journey. It was foggy for awhile in the morning ... but it quickly burned off. A couple of weeks ago, there were some major storms near Charleston ... so we were very fortunate indeed. As we rode through Bradville, lots of folks waved at us and the homes looked real nice. Susan explained that today they have "ran out of roads" as we rolled right into the Atlantic Ocean!! It was "More than a Feeling" to arrive at the Atlantic Ocean and carry the bike right into the water. There were some days in Kansas and Missouri when we weren't sure we were ever going to make it ... and it was a joyous time to arrive there for sure!! "There's no thrill in easy sailing when the skies are blue, There's no joy in merely doing things which any one can do. But there is some satisfaction that is mighty sweet to take, When you reach a destination that you thought you'd never make." Spirella |
| Memorable Scenery: |
Beautiful tree lined country roads The fog looked surreal above the tree lined roads Nice brick homes Mobile homes Crickets, swamps, and mosquitoes |
| Mechanical Problems: |
Carol Clark had her 12th flat tire ... and Team BMB was on the
spot to swap it out in record time.
At mile 75, John Ashby's Mavic Classic Pro Rear Wheel broke a drive side spoke and a piece of the rear hub broke off with the spoke!! John did win the Flat Tire competition with 13 flats. In addition, he had 3 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. Flat Tire Summary: John Ashby: 13 Carol Clark: 12 Ken Bartholic: 5 Chuck Bramwell: 4 Cheryl McMurray: 0 |
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Biomechanical (Engine) Problems: |
Cheryl's tendon was ready for some much needed time off |
| What Worked: | Everything |
| What Didn't Work: | Nothing to report |
| Quote of the Day: |
"What's the largest room in the world? Answer: The Room for Improvement" Sign in front of Baptist Church |
| Chuck's Song of the Day: |
"Give me one moment in time When I'm more than I thought I could be When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away And the answers are all up to me. Give me one moment in time When I'm racing with destiny ... Then in that one moment in time I will be ... I will be free" Whitney Houston, 1988 Olympics |
