Today's ride was great. But first, about the rest of yesterday. After our 46 mile ride, we rested up a bit and then hit the Chehaw Park zoo - with an expert, GTR friend Dr. Lisa MacElderry, a USDA inspector of public animal facilities, whose knowledge made the tour even more interesting. We saw two cheeta, lemurs, bongos, an armadillo in the wild, a black bear, Colobus monkeys, a zebra, and several other exotic species.
Then we walked to the history center for dinner and GTR awards. A thoroughly pleasant evening - the weather, the meal, the friends. My new riding shoes were popular with the crowd at GTR. Many other stokers were interested in my product review.
Up early Sunday morning for the last ride, a fun but always sad experience, because I always hate to see GTR end. Another beautiful day and unusually fast pace for us. That's one of the joys of GTR, getting to ride with other tandems, better, stronger, more experienced riders, and talking all the way.
We pulled out at noon, straight up, and got home about 6:30. Interstate highway driving is so boring for Alan. Can hardly believe we rode over 100 miles in the last few days. Can hardly wait for next year's GTR!!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Day Two - GTR 2008
Yes, we wore the same jersey today - about 72 teams in the 10th anniversary commemorative jersey.
Alan at right, just before our 42 mile ride. Very cool and pleasant day. Was it the shoes?
Alan at right, just before our 42 mile ride. Very cool and pleasant day. Was it the shoes?
Friday, May 16, 2008
Day One - GTR 2008
The 10th Anniversary edition of the Georgia Tandem Rally is off to a soggy start. Alan and I took all day Thursday to drive from Spartanburg to Albany for this event, one of my favorites. We stopped and shopped at numerous retail establishments; I scored a new pair of cycling shoes - KEEN sandals. Will probably post a pic of my feet in them as soon as I can figure out how.
I took some pics on our ride this morning that I wanted to post, but I thought I could just slip the tiny disk from the camera into the laptop somewhere and transfer. Apparently not. I can't find a slot the right size.
We rolled into Albany about 8:30 last night, grabbed some quick Mexican food downtown, and hit the sack around 11. It is AWESOME to be on vacation. I slept GREAT last night (for a change). Got our 35 mile ride in this morning and somehow missed the rain. So fun to be at our 4th GTR in a row. We are starting to make friends, renew acquaintences from year to year and continue to meet interesting folk.
Dinner with "Debt Free" friends who counseled and inspired us at GTR 2 years ago. Then the GTR social - at the Flint RiverQuarium, 2 blocks up from our hotel.
It's great to be on vacation. Oh, I already said that. It's great to be riding our bike on vacation!
I am also JAZZED right now about a few other things. In two weeks is the spring version of the Farm Tour I enjoyed so much last fall. Just my thing. And my mom got her passport yesterday, so it appears we are headed to Germany in late June to visit Emily.
Plus NewSpring is exciting. The Greenville campus should open in a few weeks. Alan and I are considering volunteer leadership positions there. I'll be making coffee, of course, and probably managing and recruiting others to serve in that area. Our Spartanburg homegroup has become a regular part of our week and it is fun to have new friends, get to know them and do things together.
Alan is in a good position at work right now, being recognized for his expertise and leadership, and possibly promoted. Work for me is pretty good too, not unreasonably stressful. Maybe I'm just on a vacation-high. Something has been keeping me too busy to post for the last 2 months.
I took some pics on our ride this morning that I wanted to post, but I thought I could just slip the tiny disk from the camera into the laptop somewhere and transfer. Apparently not. I can't find a slot the right size.
We rolled into Albany about 8:30 last night, grabbed some quick Mexican food downtown, and hit the sack around 11. It is AWESOME to be on vacation. I slept GREAT last night (for a change). Got our 35 mile ride in this morning and somehow missed the rain. So fun to be at our 4th GTR in a row. We are starting to make friends, renew acquaintences from year to year and continue to meet interesting folk.
Dinner with "Debt Free" friends who counseled and inspired us at GTR 2 years ago. Then the GTR social - at the Flint RiverQuarium, 2 blocks up from our hotel.
It's great to be on vacation. Oh, I already said that. It's great to be riding our bike on vacation!
I am also JAZZED right now about a few other things. In two weeks is the spring version of the Farm Tour I enjoyed so much last fall. Just my thing. And my mom got her passport yesterday, so it appears we are headed to Germany in late June to visit Emily.
Plus NewSpring is exciting. The Greenville campus should open in a few weeks. Alan and I are considering volunteer leadership positions there. I'll be making coffee, of course, and probably managing and recruiting others to serve in that area. Our Spartanburg homegroup has become a regular part of our week and it is fun to have new friends, get to know them and do things together.
Alan is in a good position at work right now, being recognized for his expertise and leadership, and possibly promoted. Work for me is pretty good too, not unreasonably stressful. Maybe I'm just on a vacation-high. Something has been keeping me too busy to post for the last 2 months.
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