Day 16 - Happy to make it to Hartwell!
Updated: Apr 30, 2019
Yesterday was not an easy day. I don't know why. It was only 48 miles. That's short based upon the long rides I've been doing. Maybe I had an expectation of an easier ride. Maybe my recovery meal the night before (steak, salad, and a baked potato) wasn't good for recovery - even though I did have 2 Scratch recovery drinks. Maybe it was the breakfast of grits, bacon, eggs, and cheese. Or maybe it was just a hilly ride after 2 really hard days! I don't know, but I was happy to make it to Hartwell and the Hampton Inn here. Today, I'll be riding up to Joe's place in Seneca to have Serenity in Seneca! I'm looking forward to it.
Severe storms are forecast for tomorrow, so I won't have to worry about getting rained on! I have to say I've been very fortunate with the weather. Every day to date was spectacular. Great weather, maybe a little warm at times, but I'm glad I haven't had to ride in the rain!
A few days ago, I don't know when, but some time in Florida I wondered when I was going to get away from the subtropical and palm trees. Especially the palm trees. I'm pleased to announce I've made it to a decidedly deciduous forest. Lots of scotch pines are around. Interestingly, the palms disappeared almost immediately after I got off the beach in Florida. By the time I got past the GA border the only palms I saw were native scrubs, not all the imported varieties used for landscaping down south. Of other note, southern GA was very swampy with water on both sides of the road - remember the water moc crossing the road? And there were a lot of dirt roads. Central and North GA are much dryer and the roads are paved! Google and Ride with GPS had me going across dirt roads at times, that I avoided even if it meant the ride would be longer. I had no interested in pushing 100 lbs through mud!
So now I'm interested in when I will no longer see the fire ant mounds! Those insidious insects are everywhere! I can see 10 mounds every 100 feet of ride. They have gotten a little fewer as I go north, but they're still everywhere. I understand they've had a negative impact on wildlife. If you've never disturbed a fire ant nest, don't do it! They attack and bite leaving a "fiery" bite with a pustule on your skin that will take weeks to heal. It's very painful. When animals give birth on top of these mounds the fire ants attack and it ends up killing the newborn. They also take over for native ants and species and attack the food of other animals (worms, lizards, etc). Quite a pest and another indication of how invasive species take over. Fire ants, boa's in Florida and the nasty Brazilian Pepper (or Florida Holly) are three of my most hated.
Anyway, I'll be on Lake Keowee later today! I'll have several days off. Time for you to DONATE and help raise money to fight cancer! THANKS!