SAINT MARYS, GEORGIA
Today I rode with Craig Babst and Paul Lemle. Alex Wright was our driver so I was hoping for good things from him.
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| L-R: Craig, Barry, Paul, Alex |
In our dedication circle I dedicated the day to Abigail “Happy Abby” Bolenbaugh, a soon to be six year old who recently celebrated her five year Cancerversary.
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| Meg Shipman inking my legs |
Too early to get ready to ride, we jumped in the Suburban and headed to Richmond Hill, Georgia, to ride our portion of today’s route. Forgetfulness would plague me today. We were in a parking lot with a CVS and just ready to roll out. Then I remembered I didn’t have on my heart rate monitor. Except that I was wearing it.
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| Barry, somewhere in Georgia |
No longer using cue sheets we simply followed our instructions to ride on US 17. I don’t like 17 in Virginia, I didn’t like it in South Carolina, and I didn’t like it in Georgia.
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| Alex Wright |
The morning was quite pleasant with temperatures near 70. Expected to reach the low 80s I was an hour into the ride when I remembered that I had forgotten to apply Chamois Butt’r.
US 17 is a four lane road but in this section it wasn’t heavily traveled. Craig, Paul, and I had been riding in a pace lane, loosely, and Alex was following blocking one lane of traffic for us. With no traffic behind I told the guys to keep pedaling and I’d catch up. I dropped back to the “team car” and told Alex I had forgotten to use Chamois Butt’r.
Rolling on US 17, he reached for the tube. I extended my hand. He squeezed. Nothing came out. “Uh, Alex” I said, “You need to first remove the foil from under the cap.”
Alex removed the cap, then the foil, and replaced the cap. Reaching out the window he squeezed a sliver of Butt’r on my finger. I looked at him. “Dude, I need a dollop. A dollop” Alex then squeezed out a blob of the stuff on my fingers. I thanked him and rode ahead.
Now what? I was rolling down the highway about 50 meters behind Craig and Paul with a dollop of Chamois Butt’r in my hand. This would be harder than I expected. But I got out of the saddle and was able to apply it to the chamois and keep rolling.
Catching Craig and Paul they asked where I went. “Chamois Butt’r,” I said.
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| Barry, Paul, Craig |
Alex had looked at the route and found a longer but safer alternative. Thankfully. Our first turn was at Mile 25 near South Newport. We first passed The World’s Smallest Church* and then I asked the group to stop. We did and offered up The World’s Biggest Prayer for Meg Shipman’s friend, Kristen.
Once we were off US 17 we could ride more freely. Out in the country I was shocked to see a runner approaching us. It was that remote. But I reached for a Key to Keys card and rode over to his side of the road. I held the card for him to reach and made a perfect hand off. This was that start of something big.
We had business cards about the ride and we were challenged to hand them out. And I took it to a new level. It was easy for me because I believed in the mission. On this day I saw a woman on the side of the road and I stopped and handed her a card and told her what we were doing. And so I would all the way to Key West.
We had a nice ride in to Darien, Georgia, riding on moss covered streets, passing beautiful houses and mileage signs including one to Key West.
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| Almost Equidistant between Key West and Upyours WV (There is no Upyours, WV) |
Hoping aboard our magic transporter we were taken to Saint Marys, Georgia, which was my first day arriving well before dinner. Saint Marys is a quaint town located on the Cumberland Island National Seashore. It begged of exploration by bike, of which I had time, but I found the one washing machine next door in a small store. I opted to wash clothes instead. I’m sure my teammates were thankful.
The evening dinner was Brunswick Stew presented by a local cycling club. One of the riders warned us to eat towards the picnic area or else the “noseeums” would eat us up. Tiny gnats, biting midges, impossible to see but you could sure feel them. The evening was beautiful but one didn’t want to spend time outside.
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| Vince presenting a new Gnome to Patti Jackson |
I was very pleased that my cousins, whom I had only met online before, Brad and Mindy Lawmaster, drove in from Jacksonville to meet me. I was touched and honored.
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| L-R with the Lawmaster Family Hannah, Sam, Mindy, Emma, Brad, Jack, Barry |
Next door in a bar the owner made it Karaoke night. It was a throw down of talent between Vince Schiano and Rob Keleher. Everyone else sang for fun but these two sang for keeps. I was explaining to one of the patrons and pointing out each person and why they had no reason to smile or laugh. Everyone’s lives had been changed by cancer but here we were, one group, laughing like we may not have laughed in years.
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*There are a number of small churches in the U.S. that claim the title of Smallest Church in the World,
*There are a number of small churches in the U.S. that claim the title of Smallest Church in the World,
