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Rural Rider Tour

A new tour will begin May 15th, 2009. The blog can be viewed at www.RuralRider.wordpress.com

REMINDER: FOOD AT FIRST

The ride is over, but if you would like to make a donation you still can. If you go to http://www.foodatfirst.com/ and then look about the 6th line down, you will see a bar that you can click on that says "Make a Donation." If you would like to you can make donations that follow along with the miles that I put forth along this trip. Example: 1 penny for every 100 miles=$.62, 1 penny for every 10 miles=$6.15, 1 penny for every mile=$61.50. All donations are welcome and all the help is appreciated to help support the hungry. Thanks for following the ride and I hope that I have inspired more rides out of some or more people to get out and see our beautiful country.
Gump On Wheels

Day 101, November 10th 2007 (Athens,GA)

This was it. The day that I had biked all the way around the country for. The one day that I had been waiting to get get to Georgia for. The big SEC match of Georgia against Auburn. This game had a lot more riding on it then just pulling out a victory for Georgia. If Georgia won this game then it would be the first time that Georgia had been able to beat both Florida and Auburn in the same year since 1982. Before we could make our way to the game we first started indulging in a monster of a breakfast. Everything that you could think of was on the table for the morning. Eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon, and the great southern classic grits. Everything was steaming hot on the table and was delicious. We sat around the table and ate until we couldn't move. We had so much food that when we left the house to go and tailgate I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to eat any food before the game. We had a about an hour to drive to get to Athens, where the University of Georgia was located. As we approached Athens, the traffic was growing heavier and heavier in the area. I had never been to a stadium in the south where the capacity was almost 93,000 people. This was going to be a new experience for me in the area of college football. Seeing Iowa State play football in Iowa was a stadium of 55,000 people and it wasn't always full. Here in Georgia, the stadium was always filled to capacity and everyone, I was told, was very strong towards their team. When we were able to park the car behind a church on campus, I started to see some of the tailgating. We were a good mile away from the stadium and people were parked everywhere and were preparing for the game ahead. Food was being grilled almost everywhere and people were everywhere. It was already something else to me that I hadn't witnessed before. the campus seemed beautiful for the small section that i was able to witness and then before I knew it, we were walking on a road that took us directly beside the stadium. It was very cool how everything was laid out in the area and how the stadium seemed to be in the middle of the campus. Everyone was tailgating around campus, in front of different buildings, and we all had a great day for it. Another thing that seemed amazing about walking around was the color of everyone's shirts. Every game the fans would wear red for the games except for this game. The seniors had told everyone to wear black and so everyone did. Billy had purchased a black Georgia hat and a black Georgia shirt for me to wear to the game, and with these products I was able to fit in with everyone else. We moved away from the stadium about one block before we made it to some of Billy and Amy's friends to tailgate with. They had all sorts of foods to eat and by this time I was actually hungry again. There were chicken strips, little sandwiches, and a lot of other little snacks to tide my stomach over for the course of the next couple of hours. After chatting for a little while, my cousin Matt came over to the tailgate area and joined us before we headed into the game. He was currently attending a college in northern Georgia and was playing baseball. He wasn't but a couple of years younger than I was and he offered some conversation while we were in the tailgate area. Together we continued to shovel more food in our faces before we finally started to walk some food off towards the stadium. It was still a good hour before the game when we arrived in the stadium, but the stadium was not empty. There were people filling up the seats and by the time it was 15 minutes before play time, the stadium was full. No one wanted to miss a second of this game and everyone was fired up. Everyone was wearing black except for one little section in the stadium where the Auburn fans were wearing orange. The Georgia players came out to practice and they were also not wearing black. I think that everyone was a little surprised that the players weren't in black jerseys, but the coach had mentioned that it was going to be difficult to pick up the jerseys. The Georgia Bulldogs had never worn black in the stadium before so it seemed like it was going to be a little difficult to make the senior's dreams of wanting to wear black jerseys come true. As the game came closer to starting the fire was growing all around. The bulldogs were just about to run out of the locker room and anything was possible. Everyone wanted to know if they were going to come out in black, but no one knew what was going to happen. Then they came out of the locker room. Everyone was wearing black and the crowd was going crazy and the game hadn't even started yet. From what I was told afterwards, the black jerseys were a surprise to even the players. When the players went into the locker room they always had a moment for prayer where they would turn off the lights. When they turned the lights on after the prayer, the jerseys were laid out behind the players and everyone in the locker room was going crazy. They had no idea they were going to be wearing black jerseys, but the fact that they had wanted them for so long they were all excited for the game ahead. The coach said that when he walked back into the locker room after chanfing into black, the room had gone up about 15 degrees warmer. The game was on its' way at this point and everyone was waiting to see what would happen. The Bulldogs started by kicking the ball off to Auburn and there was a cheer that i think I'm going to have a tough time forgetting at this point. Goooooooo Dawgs.... Sic em...Woof Woof Woof. The first play that Auburn had was an interception in to the Bulldog's hands and everyone was on their feet. The energy was explosive in the stadium and things started out with a Bulldog touchdown. The game seemed to be very close for most of the afternoon and at half it was 17 to 20. the Bulldogs were behind with 17, but not for long. They came back out and everything started to turn around. One play after another and the Bulldogs were back to where they had started the game, ahead. With a good runnning game, some great 3rd and long plays, and some excellent interceptions, the Bulldogs pulled ahead at the end with a final score of 45 to 20. I couldn't have shown up to see a better SEC game. This was an incredible show of the fans and the Bulldog nation. For a final day of the entire trip, this was the greatest ending that I could have asked for. THANK YOU BILLY AND AMY.

Daily mileage: 0.0 miles
Total mileage: 6,150.0 miles

Day 100, November 9th 2007 (Moultrie,GA)

Today was the day that we were going to travel north and closer to the big game. I had some time before we travelled to do some things in the afternoon. We weren't going to leave until 4 in the afternoon so I had all day to experience more of Moultrie. I started with a bowl of cereal and then I went for a bike ride. I was anxious to see how well I could ride now that I wasn't carrying an extra 35 lbs on my bike. I had a couple of different routes to choose from that Bill had told me would be good places to ride. I went down the road and continued as far as i could go. When I reached the end of the road I turned around and I started to come back. There was some beautiful country in the area and it was a nice joy ride. The wind was a strong cross wind, but the temperature was right where it should be. With rolling hills taking me further and further along my way, the road was in perfect condition. It was still awkward riding and trying to balance the bike, but I managed to move along at a fairly good pace. I was going to try and put in some good miles for the day. When I returned to the house on my way back on the road I went in to fill up with more water. My odometer read 18.9 miles and having looked at my total mileage before hand, I figured this would be a good place to stop riding. I was at exactly 6,150.0 miles and it seemed like I couldn't have stopped at a better point. I still wanted to get myself to the pool and swim before we took off this afternoon. So I grabbed my running shoes and I started to jog to the YMCA. I was able to swim when I arrived and then enjoy some more of the hot tub before I started my trip back to the house. Needless to say, by the time we were ready to get on the road and start to travel I was pretty exhausted from the afternoon. I was feeling good after we stopped and picked up some food and it was a good energy boost that I had needed. Before we continued to ride straight to Grandpa Bill and Perlease's house we pulled over at one stop along the way. It was about half way to the house and a good two hours into the drive. Amy's daughter Shelley and her husband Michael had a 10 week old baby and it made for a perfect stop on the way up to Bill and Perlease's house. I had never met Michael or seen their baby, Taylor, and I can't say that I even remember the last time that I saw Shelley. It was great to see more of family while I was in the area and it was fun to be able to talk with them at their house. Shelley had made an incredible cake over the course of the day and it tasted just as good as it looked. We filled up and took a little time to visit before we headed back out on the road to finish our journey north for the day. It was pretty late by the time we made it to the house, but Bill and Perlease were still up and awake. We went in and the first thing we were offered were milkshakes. Everyone had to have a milkshake upon entering the household and I was ready for the calories. Bill made sure to top me off with a large milkshake and it tasted great. We were able to catch up since the last time that we had been with eachother and it sounded like things could have been better in the area of Gainesville,GA. There was a beautiful lake that the house was set along and since there had been no rain for such a long time, the lake had lost a lot of water. The city of Atlanta and a lot of surrounding cities all used the water out of Lake Lanier and with no rain going into north Georgia for such a long period of time, it was a large drought that they were currently having to deal with. It was sad to see when I went down to look at the lake because it was very obvious that it had lost a lot of water. It used to be a large and full lake, but now with the drought it was just extremely low. The rest of the evening was great and was leading up to the big game tomorrow.

Daily mileage: 18.9 miles
Average speed: 19.4 mph
Total mileage: 6,150.0 miles

Day 99, November 8th 2007 (Moultrie,GA)

I was up in the morning and I had been able to sleep in for a little while. It was about 8 when I woke up and Amy had taken off for work at the high school, but Billy was still at home. He let me know where everything was for breakfast in the morning and I was set back with all of the options. It seemed like anything that I wanted to eat was a possibilities for the morning and I couldn't wait to fill up on a few calories. Although it may not seem like much, cereal was great to eat. I had plenty of options, but cereal was probably my favorite choice at this point. It was always difficult to drink milk on the road and so anything with milk in it was nearly impossible to eat over the course of my trip. Bill told me that he was going to be back from his office around noon to pick me up and then he was going to drive me around Moultrie. It sounded great and I was looking forward to the tour. I was able to get a hold of my mom in the morning and she was able to tell me some great news. My step-dad, Jim, had racked up quite a few frequent flyer miles and so I was going to be able to get a flight back from Georgia for free. Good things continued to roll on and it was a blessing to see everything fall in place how it did. I couldn't have been happier with how the trip had ended and now I was going to be able to stay in Moultrie for about a week before my plane took off to go back to Ames,IA. Instead of having to deal with any cold weather on my trip, I was going to be able to enjoy the warm weather for a little while before I went home. When Billy came to pick me up and show me Moultrie, I had just finished relaxing for the morning. It was unusual to not jump back on the bike and I knew I was going to be able to get used to it. We drove through the city and it was a beautiful town. About 20,000 people lived in the town and anything and everything was in the area. Billy was an attorney and he had his own office in Moultrie that I was anxious to see. We went to Billy's office where I was able to meet his two secretaries, and then we went out to eat. There was a little Barbecue place along restaurant lane and it was supposed to be a worth while stop while in town. It was definitely worth stopping at. Family owned and operated, most everything was made from scratch. There were a few different flavors of barbecue sauce and each one was amazing. The medium sauce was probably the best, but each one made the pork superb. After filling up we went to the one other place that I was going to spend most of my time while in the area. The YMCA. I had dreams while on the road about swimming and would have done just about anything to get in a pool. I was told that I could come in at any point as a guest and use anything in the building. The lifting weights sounded pretty good, but as soon as I was able to see the pool it was a great tease. We left the YMCA and went back to the house where I was dropped off and where Bill went back to work. I was inside the house for only a couple of minutes before I had gathered everything up that I needed to swim and I was out the door. I couldn't wait any longer. The thought that the pool was so close, I needed to be in it. It was weird being back on my bike without all of the extra luggage and it was difficult to balance. I had trouble riding standing up because I didn't have the extra weight on the rear, but I was flying. I made it the three miles to the pool and I was ready. The pool wasn't going to be open for another hour, so I kept myself busy by lifting weights. I did all sorts of different things to keep myself busy until the time arrived. I went to the pool and getting in was refreshing. I had no idea that this was going to be such an incredible thing to jump into at the end of my trip, but it was. I swam for awhile and got my fix in. I was going to be able to come back any day for the next week and I couldn't have been happier with where I was at this point in time. When I was out of the pool I went up the stairs to the men's locker room and found one other tool that made me feel more at peace. A giant hot tub was in the locker room and it was everything my body had been asking for. I soaked for a good while before I decided that I should probably start to head back to the house. I didn't want to be late for my first dinner at the house. It was a little before dark when I arrived and Bill was in the process of making a great meal. His daughter and my cousin, Kara, had made it over to the house for the evening and it had been about 8 years since I had last seen her. So now that she was 16 years old, she had grown up a lot. Probably about twice as tall as I last remembered her. Amy arrived home from work not long after and the food seemed to fall in front of our faces. Some great grilled chicken with cheesy potatoes, fresh broccoli, and some good rolls. It was an excellent meal and tasted great after the work-out I had put in for the day. It was a blessing to spend the rest of the evening in good conversation with family and to enjoy each other's presence with where we were.

Daily mileage: 6.4 miles
Total mileage: 6,131.1 miles

Day 98, November 7th 2007 (Daphne,AL to Moultrie,GA)

It seemed like it was growing harder and harder to wake up each morning. With each days ride being more of a survival ride, I was ready to get things over with. My wisdom teeth were continuing to hurt, the weather was growing colder, and the days were shorter and shorter. The views were beautiful though, and that's probably why I continued to get on my bike and ride. The weather was absolutely perfect, and I was on the road around 9. The sun was coming up fairly early in the morning, but the morning wasn't warm until around 8. I started my ride on a detour route that took me away from most of the traffic and was fairly scenic. I was away from most of the flat land that I had been riding on, and I was cycling through some rolling hills and through the woods. Trees were everywhere. With all sorts of colors and with a great scent in the air. It was a ride like this morning that set me away from most of the rude drivers for a moment's time. Things were good for the beginning of the morning and then the detour ended. I was back to some riding with traffic. There were some country homes and some farms, and cars. The traffic seemed about impossible to avoid and by the time I had cycled about 60 miles I stopped just outside of Pensacola,FL. I was looking at cycling a little further for the day and then putting in two monster rides for the two following days to make it to Billy's house. He had told me to call him today to let him know where I was and how I was doing. So I called him and I had the best surprise of my trip. At this point I was exhausted from just about everything and I was ready to be in Moultrie,GA. When I talked to Billy and told him that I was in Pensacola,FL, he asked me if I wanted a ride to Moultrie. I thought all of 2 seconds before I said yes. He had a friend that was in Pensacola,FL for some business for the day and he was going to be heading back towards Moultrie. It was such a relief to say that this was going to be the end. I had thought a lot about it while I was on the road during the past week, and the idea of cyling more through the south sounded like a bad idea. With the drivers and the roads, I was ready to call this trip over. I had seen a lot of amazing things over the course of the trip and I was plenty satisfied with all of the great people I was able to see. The joy rides were everywhere in the west and now I was in survival-ride-territory. I was told from Billy to meet David at the Outback Steakhouse, downtown. I only had a few miles to ride before I made it to the Outback and I couldn't have been happier to see the sign. This was it. The end of all of the crazy drivers and the end to sleeping outdoors. I had wanted to put in 6,000 miles over the course of the trip, and that ghoal had been reached. I had wanted to be on the road for three months, and that goal had been reached. I had done the coast to coast trip and I had biked from Washington down to Florida. I was now at the end of the journey on the road and just as Forrest Gump had said on the road, I was feeling the same way. "I'm tired now, I think I'm going to go home." When David arrived, I loaded my bike in his vehicle and we headed down the road. We drove for about 30 minutes before we pulled over to eat at a buffet. I was glad that we had only been driving for a short while before we pulled over to eat. Not only was I starving for a good meal, but the car was so awkward to me. It had been quite awhile since I had been in a car, and to be travelling at the speed we were going was almost overwhelming. When I first got in the car and we started moving with the rest of the traffic I could have sworn we were going to start to lift off at the speed we were going. It turned out that we were only going about 65 mph. I had my hands gripped on both sides of my seat as we travelled along and I knew that this was going to take a little while to adjust to. So with the Ryan's Buffet now in our reach I was ready to eat about everythinig in sight. They had fresh food off of the grill and all sorts of other foods. David had a couple of plates and was very patient. After we ate our plates together at the same pace, he looked at me and told me to go back for another. I felt bad that I was probably going to eat a good couple of plates more while he sat and watched me eat, but he was very persistant that i continued to eat. He knew that i was burning up a lot of calories on the bike and so his understanding as to how hungry I was was great. After a good couple of plates more I was beginning to feel normal again. I had all of the calories that I had needed and probably a few more. It was such a great stop and now we were off to travel at lightning speed. The food managed to settle fairly well as I adjusted to the speed, and I was able to visit some more with David. After he had asked about everything from my trip I was able to learn that he was a broker. He sold convenience stores along the coast and all over. He said that he mostly drove for his job and with all of his driving he had plenty of miles racked up each year. One funny story he shared with me was when he was sitting next to another dad at his son's basketball game. As they started to get to know eachother a little he was able to find out that this guy was a truck driver. Interested in how many miles a truck driver would put on in a year, David asked himwhat his yearly mileage was. The truck driver responded that he would put on around 50,000 miles a year. David then sat very quietly for most of the rest of the game. David wasn't a truck driver, but with the miles he put on each year he had totaled around 100,000 miles each year. I couldn't believe that it was possible, but it must have been. In only today, david had been driving from his home to Pensacola and back which totaled around 600 miles in one day. It seemed like an exhausting way of life, but it probably paid the bills. We drove through the night and I didn't feel like I was missing very much at all from the ride that i would have taken. I was able to escape from the drivers on the road and I was only passing by more and more trees to get closer to Moultrie. When we arrived in Moultrie, Billy was waiting to take me the rest of the way to the house. David still had a good hour to drive ahead of him, but this was my dropoff point. I was so thankful for David being where he was when he was and how things had continued to fall in place for me on the road all the way to the end. After placing my bike and things into Billy's car we went to what was going to be home for me for a little while. It was great to see that both Billy and Amy had stayed up and had waityed for me to arrive and I knew that they both must have been exhausted at this point. I was able to say hello and then we all went off to bed. We were all exhausted and for good reason. It was about 11 at night and we all had a long day. I was able to have a room to myself, with a bathroom, cable television, and last and certainly most important, a nice big bed to sleep on.

BICYCLE
(Daphne,AL to Pensacola,FL)
Daily mileage: 64.4 miles
Average speed: 12.5 mph
Total mileage: 6,125.7 miles

AUTOMOBILE
(Pensacola,FL to Moultrie,GA)
Average speed: 80.0 mph
Total mileage: 240.0 miles