On a Holy PATH

Bicycle rides are always fun, but trying a new route and having a picnic afterwards made yesterday extra memorable.  I rode to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit near Conyers.  Robert drove there and rode part of the way backwards on his bicycle to meet up with me.  Then, we rode on the PATH Foundation’s eastside bicycle trails, the Arabia Mountain/South River Trail network, which has an endpoint at the monastery.  We rode out and back along the entire length of the trail, about 20 miles each way.  When we got back to the monastery, we had a wonderful picnic by the lake on the grounds.

How marvelous not to have to get up to an alarm yesterday morning!  That doesn’t happen too often.  I had breakfast, packed our picnic for Robert to take in the car, and made a brief stop at the Monticello farmers market on the square on my bicycle.  Having scrambled a bit to take care of these preliminaries, I finally started to relax as I got into my cycling rhythm.

Georgia Highway 212 directly connects Monticello and the monastery, but it’s too busy a road for bicycles after crossing into Newton County.  Therefore, I created a route that roughly parallels Highway 212.  About halfway to the monastery, I started riding on roads that I had never ridden on before.  The county and neighborhood roads I chose were quite delightful, and I only had to ride on Highway 212 for three short stretches.  Robert joined me about 10 miles before the monastery.

I’ve ridden on other PATH trails, including the Silver Comet and the Atlanta Beltline.  I was eager to see what the eastern trails are like.  Unlike the Silver Comet, the Arabia Mountain/South River system doesn’t follow an old railroad bed.  That makes it relatively hilly compared to the other PATH trails.  As we rode, Robert and I thought it might have as much climbing as 70 ft/mile, but when we checked our data later, it turned out to be only about 55 ft/mile.  Our usual roads closer to home have about 50 ft/mile of climbing.  All of the short, punchy climbs on yesterday’s ride must have made it seem like we were gaining more elevation than we really were.

The route was beautiful, with shady woods, winding turns, and glimpses of rock outcroppings around Panola Mountain and Arabia Mountain.  These two mountains form part of same batholith (large intrusion of igneous rock) that includes the more famous Stone Mountain.  I was also intrigued by a land application facility that we passed.  Sludge, the end product from wastewater treatment, can be sprayed over fields, forests, or farms as fertilizer.  A tall fence with warning signs encloses the sludge field along the Arabia Mountain trail.  I’ll bet that a lot of people don’t even know what’s there.

With as many long rides as I’ve done, I don’t know why I brought along only one Clif Bar yesterday.  I guess I thought I would stop at one of the trailheads, but I didn’t read the PATH website very carefully ahead of time.  It turns out that there aren’t any concessions along the way.  Robert and I stopped at the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, thinking that they probably would have a Coke machine.  (A magic Coca-Cola, with its caffeine and sugar, sounded mighty fine.)  Alas, they didn’t, but I did get to refill my water bottles at the fountain outside.  As I stood there, I saw this glorious lizard camouflaged against the tree bark:

It was only a few more miles to the end of the trail in downtown Lithonia.  Having grown up in DeKalb County, I can't believe I had never been to downtown Lithonia before.  Robert and I rode around until we found a convenience store.  Magic Coca-Cola at last!  I felt noticeably better on the return trip.

After changing clothes back at our car, we went to the Abbey Store.  The monks make several food items that they sell in the store, including fudge and fruitcake.  However, I was on a quest for biscotti.  According to the monastery website, it's perfect for snacking or dunking with coffee, cappuccino, latte, tea, or sweet wine.  That sounded just right to go with our picnic, especially since I had brought a bottle of wine.

I went to checkout with my box of biscotti.  The brother at the cash register rang me up.  The total was $13.34.  As I pulled out a $20 bill, I mentally calculated my change: $6.66!  As the brother handed me my changed, I faux gasped.  He didn't really react.  I don't think the monks get too worked up over such things.

Robert and I had visited the monastery a number of years ago for our anniversary.  We took the time then to visit the chapel and tour the grounds.  I thought I remembered some picnic tables.  Sure enough, a nice volunteer in the Abbey Store said that there were some by the lake.  I had brought an old bedspread to lay on the ground if necessary, but a table made an even better setup:

We had roast beast sandwiches with horseradish and Muenster cheese on croissants, muscadines and scuppernongs that I picked myself earlier in the week, Marcona almonds leftover from our recent Vuelta a España dinner, and layered salads in mason jars.  Here's a closeup of the pretty salads:

The layers include lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots, peas, pumpkin seeds, and a little mayonnaise and sour cream mixed with ranch dressing mix.  I always like to include a green vegetable in our picnics.  Often it's homemade hummus with crudite, but I wanted to do something a little different this time.

We had both lemonade and wine to drink.   The wine was Devereaux Rouge, made at Courson's Winery in nearby Sparta.  It was surprisingly good!  Good craft beer from Omaha, Georgia last weekend and now decent wine from Sparta, Georgia; as Robert said, the apocalypse must be nigh.  Well, there was that receipt from earlier...

I've found that some wines that might be a little iffy in our usual home environs can be delicious at a picnic.  Maybe it's something about being outside.  Regardless, as promised online, the wine was an excellent dunking medium for the biscotti.  The biscotti were just plain delicious on their own, too.  They would also make a really nice hostess gift.

Robert and I have been on a number of picnics over the years, but this is about the prettiest spot we ever selected:

Food for the soul.

The creatures around us provided entertainment.  Canada geese (44 by Robert's count) alternated between basking under the pines, swimming, and flying over the lake.  Some crows tussled with a hawk.  I'm not sure which type of bird it was, but one seemed to have a nest that the other was trying to get at.

Then there was the cute squirrel!

It obviously had been fed before, but I figured that it was better not to feed the wildlife.  Besides, I really didn't want to share my fancy croissants and biscotti.

Reluctantly, we finally packed up.  Since there was a definite spiritual aspect to the day, perhaps it's appropriate that we saw this church on the way home:

I'm guessing that I wouldn't be quite comfortable with their style of worship, but I bet Jesus likes it.  That's a great thing about God; God loves us whether we are Catholic monks, Loves & Huggers, perplexed Presbyterians, or anything else.