Tuesday, October 11, 2011

October 10, 2011




Beaufort SC to Savannah, GA
50 miles

We got to sleep in today because of the shorter ride. So the very first thing I did (and do every morning) is turn the TV on to The Weather Channel. What showed up got my attention: "flash flood warning, heavy rain (1-2 inches) strong gusting winds, thunder and lightning. But, not being terribly smart I donned my bike outfit and headed for breakfast. The talk of the group was "to ride or not to ride". Six or eight folks said "no way"! The rest of us headed out at 8:30 into a driving rain and strong winds. A bit nuts, I guess it's a macho thing - or just part of the adventure. Whatever - eighteen of us rode the entire time in a driving rain. The good news is - it was a warm rain so I never even put on a rain jacket.

This is our third attempt at getting this blog done - because of Internet problems here at the hotel.

About 5 minutes into the ride a garbage truck blew by four of us and hit a huge puddle soaking us from head to toe - but what the heck, we were going to be totally soaked in a few minutes anyway. Those of us that wear glasses find it even so much harder in the rain.

So you're thinking "What's wrong with him?" You'd be right to wonder. But with only 5 riding days left and the fact that I've ridden all but 30 miles (due to 3 flat tires) I really want to ride the rest of the way to Daytona Beach.

We rode over another 2.5 mile long beautifully constructed bridge coming into Savannah. This is another very big and important port city. We arrived at the hotel totally drenched and guess what? It stopped raining - of course! After a long hot shower and a quick lunch a limo picked up Carol and me and took us to two different plumbing and hardware showrooms. Mr. Steam, one of our generous contributors to the Scholarship Fund set this up. We met the owners, took a bunch of pictures and received a very nice donation from each of the companies.

Tomorrow's a rest day...our third and final one. We're going to do some serious sight seeing and touring in this marvelous old southern city. When General Sherman arrived here at the end of the Civil War, rather than burning it to the ground (as he did most cities) he gave Savannah to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift!

We'll share some of what we see and do in tomorrow's blog.

Thanks for your interest in my ride. It's been quite an adventure.

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