Bike Ride Across Georgia Part 2

Day One

How do BRAG rides work? Due to the Georgia heat they start at dawn so that you can be done by mid afternoon. You just “show and go” or in other words you turn up at the start and go when you are ready. The routes are marked by symbols painted onto the road and you have a map and description in your pocket. Routes range from 16 to 101 miles so there is something to suit all abilities. The days were colour coded so yellow was Friday, white on Monday and orange on Friday with road markings to match. A coffee stand offers splendid brews starting from 6am. The bike sag wagon is at the start to attend to your mechanical needs. I took my shiny steed and asked for a pump up to 70psi. Two guys with a track pump each at each wheel grabbed the bike and pumped it up so fast it was like a formula one pit stop. I also got the creaky crank tightened up.

The first ride was split into three sections if you chose the 60 miles. A riverside trail, a newly converted rail to trail cycleway and country roads. The riverside trail followed the Chatahoochee River for eight miles. This was first class cycle track with centre dotted white line and uninterrupted by road crossings. I was one of the Rogues that morning (Random Old Guy Using Excessive Speed).

From BRAG Bikefest 2011 Columbus

The grass was heavy with dew and mist hovered low over the river. The dawn sun lit up the trees on the Alabama side of the river.

From BRAG Bikefest 2011 Columbus

Signs warned of alligator habitat but all I saw were red cardinals and scattering squirrels. The photographer snapped as I went by and a sign said that I was on “Roll 3”. In half an hour I was at the first rest stop. These stops all followed the same pattern. There was a toilet block or portable toilets. Taps for washing with liquid soap. A couple of tables with a water dispenser, Gatorade (a luridly coloured rehydration drink) and loaded with snacks including PB&J (peanut butter and jelly sandwich where jelly is a clear jam made from grapes), homemade pimento cheese sandwich which is mostly cheese with bits of red pepper. Then there are apples, pears and bananas and at most stops they were already sliced up for you and also gerkins. Then an array of junk food like salty mini pretzels, crackers and crisps and sweet biscuits and gummy bears. There was also a big box of first aid supplies and I did use the sunblock and insect repellent from it on the next day. The next part of the ride returned to camp on the same route. I was following a couple of other rogues whizzing along when we crossed a bridge with a wooden deck. The dew was still on the slimy boards and the guys turned sharp right and fell flat on the deck. I slammed the brakes on and stopped before I got to the bad patch. If you saw people with scrapes on their right arm it was due to that bridge.

Part two was on the newly opened Fall Line Trace. Picking my way there was a bit tricky so I followed some very slow people until we joined the trail. This is 11 miles of cycle track laid along a former railway. Unlike our Stroud cycle track it is completely surfaced with silky smooth asphalt. All the bridges are either intact or have been replaced and they can carry emergency vehicles if needed. It is four metres wide with a dotted white line in the centre and mostly free from road crossings. A far cry from Stroud which includes a flight of steps, extreme gradients, missing bridges and muddy or rocky stretches. All the centre bollards had been removed for this event to make it safer for large numbers of bicycles. Again I tucked in behind a bunch of rogues and we flew along this gorgeous track up to the next rest stop. Some people didn’t waste time by stopping and carried on but I made sure to get a cup of water and a PB&J at every stop.

From BRAG Bikefest 2011 Columbus

The 38 milers did a U turn here and fewer people did the 60 section which was on roads. Sometimes I didn’t see any other cyclists. This was meandering around quiet country roads alongside cotton fields with gentle slopes. The slopes were very gentle by Stroud standards. We got to a Chevron Garage, the corner of which was a rest stop.

From BRAG Bikefest 2011 Columbus

This would have been more pleasant if it wasn’t for the parked trucks that kept their engines running. It was getting hot by now so I splashed water over my face.

Leaving the garage, the traffic was faster and heavier for the next few miles and at 50 miles into the ride it was a bit wearisome to ride the undulating main road. It was all worth it as there was a sharp drop into the next rest stop by Lake Oliver. Although it wasn’t as steep as Rodborough Hill, many people were too scared to ride it down and walked instead. Hardly anyone attempted to ride up it but I showed that it could be done. The stop was idyllic and was at the waters edge.

From BRAG Bikefest 2011 Columbus

Lake Oliver is artificial and was made by damming the Chatahoochee. Some of the PB&J had been left out in the sun so it had been toasted to a crispy, curled up state. I grabbed these and shredded them up for the geese that eagerly gobbled them up.
The last part of the ride back to camp was riverside but the track isn’t joined up so there are detours past the hydroelectric dam and the decayed industrial heart of Bibb City with the burned out ruins of the massive cotton mill looking like a bit of Colosseum and aqueduct that the Romans had left behind.

I got back to camp, took a shower and went to grab a rest on my bed mat. I started to write my bike diary but after a few paragraphs, Tom from the day before passed by and invited me to the visit the people that I had met the day before. After a couple of beers it was decided to get a more upmarket dinner and Mario’s on Broadway was the destination. It claimed to be Mediterranean and menu looked very Greek. Tom thought that Greek was a bit too weird and carried on to the Mexican place. The Dolmades were as expected and my main course of lamb shank on a bed of rice was perfectly cooked if not very exciting. The wine helped it go down. The Columbus town centre was heaving with people when we left. A band played covers in the middle of the street and people had come with their whole families and their lawn chairs for the evening. Bars were serving beer in plastic cups on the pavement. Many shops stayed open including Ride-On-Bikes in honour of Bikefest.

From BRAG Bikefest 2011 Columbus

Every night the Chatahoochee River started roaring. This is because there is a hydro electricity plant up river and when peak electricity demand hits, the river is unleashed and a mighty flow begins. Much like our Severn Bore the sudden change can kill unwary swimmers and fishermen.

BRAG - Bike Ride Across Georgia

This blog entry will be in four parts. Here is part 1/4

Last October I went off to Georgia to ride Bikefest 2011. This is one of the events held by BRAG - Bike Ride Across Georgia. Bikefest this year was held in the lively city of Columbus. The thought of eating the miles along the USA countryside with a fully supported ride was very attractive. The website advice was mostly helpful but mystifying in places with mentions of “shake and bake”. So I timed a visit to Georgia to match Bikefest and started preparations.

I would have loved to ride the Moulton but it would have had to be packed in two extra bags, which would add £140 to take on a plane. Also, while the frame is tough I’m not sure that it would survive British Airways unbent. As for a hire bike I was quoted $100 a day for a very lovely Specialized Roubaix. I looked for another option and Walmart had a road bike shaped object for $149, The GMC Denali 700C. This bike has suffered the scorn of “serious” cyclists so I decided to have a look at one and if it was truly unrideable then the hire bike was still an option.

In Tifton, Georgia the website said that there was “limited stock”. This is Walmart code for “we have got only one and it is out on display”. We got to Walmart and there it was up in the air on a rack gleaming in bright yellow. I got it down and noted where the pennies were pinched. The stodgy single pivot caliper brakes with no release mechanism. Wheels held on by 15mm nuts. The 21 speed Revo shifters which force all the cables to make a tangle at the front. The 75psi max 700C x 32 tyres. The final assembly quality was very poor and the brake pads and derailleurs were not correctly set. The chainwheel looked like chrome but this was due to a shiny plastic detailing. The actual chainwheel gears looked like they were held together by screws but these were actually disguised rivets. But the geometry and saddle was nice and the wheels were almost circular.

I got the store to adjust the brake blocks and took the bike. After tightening up all the bolts the first ride it was apparent that the front derailleur didn’t change very well. It was fitted far too high and at the wrong angle. Even after lowering and straightening the derailleur it made a little noise. The chainwheels were not quite at right angles to the crank and so wobbled. So I adjusted the cable so that it would only make noise in low gears, which I don’t use very often.

I did a few local loops of 20 to 30 miles to see if I could survive a proper ride on it. The crank started to creak. The saddle needed shifting up. After stretching, the derailleurs needed adjusting again. The brakes were not really wonderful. But the frame was fabulous and gave a very steady ride. The saddle was amazingly good. The drive-train ran out of gears quickly as it appeared to be designed for mountain bikes so 25 mph was the top speed. The gears were set to 3, 7 most of the time.

Hello Columbus

As I neared Columbus there was a massive downpour with a thunderstorm. The traffic slowed down to 40mph due to the rain. But it dried up as soon as I arrived and it didn’t deter the campers on this riverside site. The middle classes arrived with their massive RVs (Recreational Vehicles) towing SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles) behind them. Other SUVs and pickup trucks were festooned with the highest tech Specialized, Trek, Bianchi, Giant fitted with aero this and that. Not a Schraeder valve in sight! Tents varied in size from bivouac to minor manor house. My home was to be the indoor camping which turned out to be a former cotton warehouse. This 1885 building had been modernised as offices with carpeting and air conditioning and so was as comfortable as a floor can be. Why was the building empty? Because after 120 years of trading they moved production to China.

From BRAG Bikefest 2011 Columbus

I checked in at BRAG HQ, got my wristband, T shirt, parking permit and a set of routes, timetables and regulations. When you want to warn of a passing car the rules say that you should call “Car Up” or “Car Back” but it doesn’t say which one is which direction. It turns out that "Car Up" means "Car Down" and "Car Back" means "Car Up". I hope that is clear. Before dark I got the bike out and fitted accessories including pump and tool pouch and got the tyre pressure as high as I could. I set out my bedding on the floor then cycled a little loop around town.

From BRAG Bikefest 2011 Columbus

Getting a bit hungry I wandered into the town’s Broadway which was conveniently only a few hundred yards away. I found a food place that looked interesting and cheap. The ordering system was take a menu sheet from a pad, write your name on it and tick your choices. Pay the cashier who staples the receipt to the menu.. Give the menu to the chef. Five minutes later your name gets called out. The food was very good and inexpensive. Turns out this is where the college students have their meal plans. There were some other BRAG people at the table identifiable by their wrist bands. These were vet Rod, and retired teachers Susan and Mikey and a chap called Tom. After the meal I wandered around the nearby streets until my phone picked up an open WiFi signal. I found a bench and downloaded the last few podcasts of “The Archers”. Hurrah for technology! I settled down on my patch of warehouse floor with the headphones listening to Clive Horrobin hitching a lift to Ambridge.

From BRAG Bikefest 2011 Columbus

South Georgia Ice Co. RIP

It was clear that the South Georgia Ice Co. was living on borrowed time. Few repairs to the building had been done. Equipment was patched to keep it going. At the time of our last visit I wondered who would need ice that was not of food grade. As it turns out the answer was "nobody". The ice was made in metal buckets with particle board covers that the men walked over. The ice picked up rusty sediment and dust and woodchips so it wasn't suitable to put in your mint julep. In better days the blocks would have gone to keep fish cold, or to keep food fresh in an ice box or the picnic cooler. Or indeed to run the air conditioning in the luxury rail car of a railroad baron. Now everyone can get a refrigerator or aircon instead.
The calendar in the staff room was on April 2010 so they didn't even make it through the summer when the ice would have been wanted.

From 2011-10-12 Georgia Ice Co

Although the main entrance was padlocked all the other doors were open including this bulky insulated external door.

From 2011-10-12 Georgia Ice Co

The plant room was open with all the pipes and compressor on display

From 2011-10-12 Georgia Ice Co

The ice crusher and other clutter in the loading bay had been removed. If you took away the canopy it would look much like it would have as originally built. The freight cars could have picked up ice or carried on across the road to the Union Depot or the other warehouses alongside Chestnut Ave.

From 2011-10-12 Georgia Ice Co