My Yogi Bear picnic basket is still on my Trek from the 400K I did in March. I could easily carry arm and knee warmers, extra gloves, sunscreen, and - most importantly - plenty of food. On these virtual brevets, I want to minimize my store stops.
The first part of the route was my favorite, taking me through the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge to Juliette. From there I headed toward Jackson. I took a few slight detours from the original Fried Green Tomatoes route so that I could travel more county roads instead of state highways. Then, when I got to Indian Springs, I made a big detour to Fresh Air BBQ.
Fresh Air is the best BBQ in Georgia! Currently, they are doing takeout only, of course. You order at one window and pick up at another, just like they did in 1929 when they first opened. Signs reminded everyone to remain at least six feet apart while waiting in line.
I had thought I might eat my lunch at the edge of the parking lot, but a sign said no dining on the premises. My Yogi Bear picnic basket definitely came in handy as I squeezed the clam-shell takeout container into it. I rode a few miles to a quiet spot and had a side-of-the-road picnic. It was totally fun!
I rode a few more miles and eventually reconnected with the original Fried Green Tomatoes route north of Jackson. Although I'll probably ride a lot of the Fried Green Tomatoes roads on another one of my V-200s, next time I'll modify the route again. I'll take out the entire northern portion that goes into Henry County and substitute something to the south, maybe down to Jones County.
I had thought traffic would be noticeable lighter because of COVID-19 shelter-in-place requirements, but it wasn't. In fact, both of the negative encounters I had with cars on Saturday's ride were in the northern part. In the first one, I was on a road with little traffic, riding close to the white line. A car passed right next to me, even though there were no other cars around. I yelled and shook my fist. What else could I do? Well, I caught up to the same car about half a mile later at a red light. It was in the right turn lane, and I pulled up beside it in the lane to go straight. I started yelling at the woman in the car to give me three feet. She realized I was talking to her and rolled her window down. I yelled again, "You're supposed to give me three feet! You almost hit me back there!" She apologized and seemed genuinely remorseful. I thanked her and asked her to please watch out for cyclists. Although my adrenaline was still pumping, I truly was grateful for her acknowledgement of her error.
The other bad driver I encountered wasn't so nice. Again, I was on a road with little traffic, riding right next to the white line. A huge pickup truck roared around me, and right after he passed, he blew his air horn. Sorry for being on "your" road, dude. I was so mad that I said out loud, "Why do people have to be so mean and rude?" Jesus had to have a serious talk with me after that about loving my neighbor.
I don't want to focus on the negative because overall it was a great ride. In fact, there were several big positives on that northern portion of the route. I was able to get water at a church and later a fire station. Also, at a particular intersection someone had put out a bunch of encouraging signs like this:
When I got back to Jasper County, I deviated from the original Fried Green Tomatoes route for pretty much the remainder of the ride, avoiding Jackson Lake Road and Highway 11 N. I had about 15 miles to go. That was only about another hour of riding, but my energy was getting low. I sat in the grass next to the road and had a quick snack from my Yogi Bear picnic basket.
Despite my late-ride snack, I followed through on my end-of-ride plan: ride through the Dairy Queen drive-through for a mint shake!
Dairy Queen had advertised mint shakes a month or so ago, and I've been wanting to try one ever since. It was delicious and rejuvenating at the end of my ride.
When I got home, I took a shower and brushed my teeth. I was minty fresh, too.
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