4/21/23 – We’re in Georgia! Fernandina Beach, FL to Brunswick, GA

Miles: 67.97 Today / 682.5 Total
Elevation Gain: 659 ft. Today / 5690 ft. Total

One of the things I’ve learned so far, on this ride: My slow start in the morning ways don’t jive with being on a team ride like this. The vans and trailer close their doors at 8:00 AM, which means I have to have all my gear and food tucked away and be ready to start peddling by then. Whoa! That’s a lot of pressure! Maybe doing this for 49 days will change my life. What do you think? Hey Ed, are you reading this? Could this change me?

So I’m pretty much riding by myself, with this group. I bump into some of the guys here and there, but they are either moving faster than me or leaving an hour earlier. I’m not sure I can work up to that, but I may try.

Today, just a few miles from where we stayed, there was a sign telling me that I was at the beginning of Bike Route 95—the Coastal State Bike Route from South Carolina to Florida. Sounds pretty cool, but for me, nothing changed. I was still riding on the 2 ft. shoulder of a state highway with cars and trucks flying by me at full speed.

A few miles into the Coastal route, I crossed over into Georgia! Yay!

Then a few miles from that, I started seeing a lot of East Coast Greenway (ECG) signs. Again, nothing changed. I was still riding on the 2 ft. shoulder of a state highway with cars and trucks flying by me at full speed.

In Kingsland, the City of Royal Treatment, I didn’t feel any royal treatment, but I did enjoy the public art made of pool noodles. Can’t wait to do this with my grandkids. It takes a lot of noodles, so I hope I can find some inexpensive ones somewhere. Feel free to comment with a tip, if you know where that will be.

At one point, the ECG turned off the busy state highway onto a quieter, smoother road, and that’s when I knew I could make a phone call to my daughter, because now there was no road noise from trucks and cars speeding past me. I was hoping to hear about what they did for my grandson Noah’s first birthday in heaven. One minute into that call, I lost my cell phone signal, and it wasn’t just momentarily. It was for the rest of the day. No more T-Mobile service. Nada. No phone calls to my daughter, no Google Maps, no text messages, no steaming music or podcasts—just me and my bike, with me singing songs to myself (it would have helped if I could remember more lyrics) and trying to keep myself entertained. That’s what the old days were like, before people had all this technology. I’m glad I don’t live in the old days.

With all this free time for my brain, I started paying more attention to the scenery, which was lush forests, tree farms, swamps, occasional rivers, and occasional clusters of houses. I was routed onto the Georgia Coast Rail Trail for a few miles.

In spite of not having any technology to entertain myself with, between the changes in scenery and the rest stops, the day flew by pretty painlessly. Our big move of the day was crossing the longest spanning bridge in Georgia—the Sidney Lanier Bridge, which is almost 1.5 miles long. There were strong cross wind as I rode the almost 1.5 mile span, and I felt like I was hanging on for dear life, but alas, I made it across and lived to see another day.

Once we got to Brunswick, we cycled through the historic section of town on our way to St Marks Episcopal Church, where we were allowed to sleep anywhere on the ground floor.

One guy slept in the nursery, one in the entryway to the church, a few others in the chapel, and others in the room where they usually have a preschool program. I slept in the Choir room and had my own private bathroom. As there was no shower at the church, the MS org made an arrangement with the local fire station, and we walked a block down the road to use their showers.

Later, a few of us walked a mile or so to get some Mexican food. I ordered the Sampler Platter and almost busted my gut. Hope I don’t gain weight on this trip.

Tomorrow, we have another long day. Can’t wait for a day off or at least a short riding day!