Friday, June 29, 2007

Thursday on the Road

Thursday,6/28: Calhoun -> Chatsworth, GA. 28 miles.

Today began w/ a lovely morning ride up Newtown Road to New Echota, where we stopped for an tour of the last capital of the eastern Cherokee, and the site of the infamous final treaty between Cherokee Nation and the US. The visit was great, though we all almost succumbed to the dark and cool of the slide show.

Onward 17 miles up the old Federal Road to the Vann house, and more Cherokee story, and insight into 19c farm and plantation life.

Our bodies were feeling the effects of early cycling training, and the heavy heat (96 in town), so at late lunch in Chatsworth, prior to our 8 mile and 2000' climb to Fort Mountain SP, we decided that that climb, on this afternoon, might do us in. Later, no sweat. This early, risky to overall success. We thus snared a couple of motel rooms, and did some microwave "camp cooking," and worked steadily at hydration. We also got to watch a little TV and fall off the "digital /consumerism / we're outside" wagon. All the kids' spirits and attitudes have been terrific, and this little break jacked them up even higher. We might just fly into Tennessee this morning, riding north with a wall of mountains to our right, heading for the Hiwasee River and a Tennessee SP right at the gap in the Cherokee National Forest where the river rips out of the mountains. Not too long of a day, and we cross into a new state: just what we tenderfeet tourers
need!

--PJClements

ps: Thanks Ms. Gordon for the weblog reply! The crew thought that was
awesome. Connectivity a question mark for the next few days.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Thursday Report

Red Mountain SP to a KOA outside Calhoun, GA. 40 miles today, and they seemed easy, but weren't. Sixteen miles into the almost unfixable bike disaster fell: Caitlyn's chain popped into the spokes,shearing off the heads of six spokes.Yikes. PJC trued up and retentioned the wheel as well as could be, then we unloaded the bike as much as possible, and off we ran. Adairsville had no shop, so we hoped for help in Calhoun. We rolled on gingerly but quickly, outhustling a thunderstorm into town. In Calhoun we found a part-time shop run by Marcus, a former racer and great mechanic, who rebuilt the wheel, fixed up the bike, and had to be forced to take payment. Restored, we made it to our goal, the KOA outside Calhoun, and cooked up our dinner. An on-site petting zoo, including llamas, goats, peacocks, and roosters, tickled us all. 40 miles: easy roads but riding challenges.

--PJClements

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Report from the road

SUNDAY everyone gathered at Peddie, and it took us a while to move gear into the BOB trailer bags, learn how to assemble and stow tents, make a good cooking fire, and how, finally, to ride our long, laden bikes. Our practice ride was a ten mile circuit to Caitlyn Nixon's house, which enabled us to try out our climbing/shifting descending/braking with trailer skills. We packed everything in our vehicles and then headed for Cranbury for dinner, showers and a bit of
sleep.
9.75 m/9.75 total.

Yesterday, MONDAY, was a rapid but long run from Jersey to Atlanta, 840-some odd miles from 3.00am until 6.00pm arrival at Red Top Mountain SP 25 mile NW of town off I-75. Dave Babcock was a champion, offering himself and his titanically cool truck for the ride. We left the mountain for a Pizza Hut and then climbed back up into our tents for some earned sleep.
0/10

TUESDAY
If Dave Babcock was THE MAN Monday, George Clements was the savior leader today. We drove back into the suburbia today to meet George and enjoy his and Mary's hospitality. George then snagged cousin Dave Clements's minivan for our custom tour of Atlanta. We headed to the King Center on Auburn Avenue and Martin and Coretta Scott King's watery tombs. Then we ducked into the Ebenezer Baptist Church where a great gift was given us. Ebenezer Church is now a historic building that the National Park Service operates as part of the King Center. As we entered the sanctuary, a Ranger gathered a group before him in the front pews, so we snuck in behind to listen. What unfolded was no mere Park Ranger talk. The Ranger, a 70+ man with ebony skin and a great baritone, began a quick commentary on the role of history, but soon began the rhythmic repetition and rising alliterative parallelism of a serious sermon. A few more minutes and he was in full voice and we were entranced. Turns out our Ranger was Reverend Williams from Macon way. He'd known and worked w/ King and had been jailed 18 times in non-violent civil rights activities. We could not have dialed up a better morning.

Amid stories of Atlanta's history and his own work with Coretta Scott King in the early 70s, George toured us through town. He aimed us to lunch at the Varsity (awesome and deadly), and then the Cyclorama about the battle of Atlanta. He then drove us all back to the campground, leaving us alone w/ our bikes and wits. We cooked dinner and hit the tents for a good sleep. The morning will take us to Calhoun and New Echota and the reality of our ride. More later from down the road.

However, most important is this: these kids are awesome!, working hard, embracing their opportunities. They'll do fine all the way.


--PJClements

Saturday, June 23, 2007

The "Juniors' Ride"

Here's the text on the Peddie Website page promoting this bicycle ride. -- PJClements
.............................................................

THE “JUNIOR” RIDE – A Journey of National and Personal Discovery.

Do you want a journey this summer of unpredictable richness? // Want a challenge unlike others out there? // Want to do something special, something epic, something to which others might say “Whoa?….Really? You did that?” // (This trip is open to all returning Peddie students, not just juniors)

After gathering at Peddie and then driving south, you will begin your adventure at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and the King Center in Atlanta, and then, in a fitting coda almost a thousand miles later, you will conclude your trip through Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. Now who, besides you, will have done that??

There is one slot open for an eager adventurer, male or female, for this three week bicycle tour that follows a handful of powerful American narratives, a ride conceived by Juniors at Peddie and designed by junior Charlotte Babcock ’08 (working with Mr. Clements). Open to all returning Peddie students, the trip requires an eager attitude and a considerable level of fitness. To move nimbly and quickly, and to ensure easy contact with the people we meet along the way, the group will remain small: three to five students, and one adult (PJClements). We ride the best backroads we know; we camp in the evening (commercial and state park campgrounds are scattered along the way), and do our own cooking, a style of travel called “self-contained bicycle touring.”

DATES: June 24-July 18 +/- [24 days = Three weeks of bicycle touring, three days of pre/post travel = 900 + cycling miles, self-contained.]

TRIP COST, GEAR: Transportation, food, shelter, and group expenses will be divided equally. Preliminary research suggests maximum expense to be under $1,000 per person. Peddie will provide camping gear, cooking equipment, and bicycle travel trailers (BOB trailers): riders provide their own clothing, cycling gear, and bicycle.

INTERESTED? Contact teacher Pat Clements [pclements@peddie.org] or Project Leader Charlotte Babcock ‘08 [cbabcock@peddie.org].

TRIP ROUTE: Specifically, here’s a more robust version of the route. We will ride from Atlanta (GA) -> New Echota-> Chattanooga (TN) -> Knoxville -> Bristol -> Wytheville (VA) -> Roanoke -> Lexington -> Charlottesville -> Washington DC (see map above). We begin at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and the King Center on Auburn Street in Atlanta, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was born and later preached; we end on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where he delivered his most famous speech. Within this story of civil right are more American stories, all linked. We ride through the rural south, toward Chattanooga along General Sherman’s 1864 Atlanta campaign (in reverse); in Georgia and Tennessee we ride through the Cherokee story of their Trail of Tears (1838). Further up in Virginia we encounter the Scots-Irish 18c settlement of the uplands; we ride across the Wilderness Trail; we touch sites of the Civil War, the climbs and descents of the New River Valley and the Shenandoah Valley, we visit Thomas Jefferson’s home and university in Charlottesville, we explore the rich land of northern Virginia, and we focus our conclusion on the Nation’s Capitol. By traveling old US11 for a long section, a road that was both “The Wilderness Road” and “The Virginia Valley Road,” we bicycle travelers are assured of campgrounds, historic sites, and a steady sequence of towns, cities, colleges and universities as well as the connectedness to civilization that a more distant or less densely populated route might not include. The 900+ mile route includes plenty of subtle natural beauty, especially while riding between the ridges of the Tennessee and Virginia valleys. and plenty of gorgeous land and people every step of the way.

ORDER OF MAGNITUDE: Any three week tour = 20 riding days @50 miles/day = 1,000. So, delete a riding day for an additional rest day off the bike; subtract two more riding days for weather, oddities, or opportunities; increase the average of actual riding days and/or subtract 150 miles from 1,000. So a three week tour with a small, able group can cover 850-1,00 miles with plenty of flexibility and necessary wiggle room. This ride, designed by Charlotte Babcock ‘08 fits these design principles perfectly.