Land's End!!
Dateline: Tuesday, East Georgia
Tuesday
The finish is in site! But first, it’s kill a dog for jesus day! I get attacked by 3 on my first ride, chris gets a couple more, cliff get’s one, and in a special moment, jerry almost kills himself getting away from another one until he realizes that it’s a metal ornamental dog that someone had in their front yard. We were obviously a bit gun shy of dogs by this point. What is it with the South and dogs?
My ride is again fog shrouded, but I have a great ride; I’m feeling very strong, and I ride > 20mph for 25 miles, a very good ride for me. Chris takes over and has a good ride also, then we transition to the other 4 riders while chris and I jump ahead to Savannah and transition vehicles again. They decide to ride 2 up for the remainder; first cliff and tom head out, then gill and jerry, then cliff and tom finish up the ride.
The ride finish was as manic as the rest of the ride. Cliff and Tom were jockying for position as they set a blistering pace into savannah, > 23mph. Chris and I were making a mad run from the airport to catch them, and Gill and Jerry were getting caught at the city traffic lights so frequently that they couldn’t stay ahead of the riders. We finally all caught them with ~ 5 miles to go. The Savannah road system was somewhat confusing, and we were trying hard to figure everything out, direct the riders accordingly, and not get them or us killed by the farm vehicles on the road. What a rush!!!
As we head into main street and the finish, Chris and I jump ahead to setup the filming equipment. We have decided to finish at the Savannah Marriot, on the site of the old lighthouse distinguishing the Savannah River from the Atlantic. It’s where the RAAM finishes, so it’s good enough for us. Chris and I get the video gear setup, and I’m on the radio directing to Jerry. Tom and Cliff climb the Savannah bridge (a beautiful suspension bridge for those of you who have never seen it), and are flying into town. Suddenly, Gill screams out “Oh my god, he’s down” and end the transmission.
I of course figure Cliff has hurt my new bike (which he was riding) and I am terribly concerned. The reality was however that Tom had caught a wheel in the cobbled cracks of main street savannah and upended. He’s lying sprawled in the street, bleeding from his leg, hip, and shoulder, and stopping all traffic flow in the city. Typical dramatic Tom fashion for those of you who know him. Chris and I are meanwhile out of radio contact and dying to know what is going on. Is he alive, dead, run over, or did Cliff just need to stop for food again…
They get Tom up, and he and Cliff come sashaying into the finish, bloody, sweaty, but smiling up a storm. We group touch the lighthouse corner point, and call the ride a wrap. What an incredible feeling 3,000+ miles, 130+ heat, 10,000+ elevation, 50+ dogs, and more nice people than you can imagine. Chris has the quote o the day, as he walks towards the convenient store to get a smoke and says “Hey, I’d ride 3,000 miles for a camel”.
We have a brief ceremony to bury our mojo (good luck charm). It’s a small cloth swatch from one of our biking friends who died a few years ago. We thank him for watching over us, and throw the swatch into the ocean. He took real good care of us on this ride!
Post Ride
We decide to grab a motel right on the river, and drink until we pass out. Seems like a good plan. We hit a small blues bar, drink and eat for a while, lay at the pool and sleep for a while and then head out again for more beer and a marvelous seafood dinner. We end the night with a wonderful visual; drinking margaritas and smoking cigars at an outside bar, singing along with the acoustic guy on “American Pie”. What a great trip.
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