Sasquatch Ride 2020

Last weekend was the annual Sasquatch Ride.  It was well suited to pandemic times, and I had a blast.

The Sasquatch Ride has been going on for a number of years.  I rode it the last two years, when it was staged out of nearby Indian Springs.  This year organizer Ray Egan moved the ride back to where he hosted it previously, farther south near his home in Kathleen.  Everyone rode to Veterans State Park in Cordele, camped out, and rode back to the start the next day.

I drove to Kathleen early last Saturday morning.  There were about 40 riders.  Although you certainly could to the Sasquatch Ride as a true bikepacking event, carrying all your stuff on your bike, I took the easy option and let Ray, his wife Tina, and the volunteer crew carry my tent and bag.  This made it kind of like dirt-road BRAG.

It was a very congenial group.  I got to see several groups of cycling friends: Bill, Paul, and Willie from Middle Georgia; Chad and Mike from Louisiana (whom I met on last year's Sasquatch Ride); and Craig and Jason from North Georgia.  Also, I met lots of other nice people.  For example, I parked next to three women from Florida.  Before we rolled out, one of them asked, "Will you take our picture if you have time?"  I laughed and responded, "I've only got all day!"

That was the truth.  In fact, I didn't realize what a tonic this chill, no-pressure ride through beautiful countryside would be.

I always want to run through pecan orchards.  No, wait - running is barbaric.
I always want to gallivant through pecan orchards.

Lots of cotton was growing along the route.  I had seen a good bit last month near Fitzgerald on the Wild Chicken 100, but the cotton on the Sasquatch Ride stretched for acres and acres, all the way to the horizon in some places.

About halfway to Cordele, we had a lunch stop at Five Points Grocery.  Ray had said that some people might walk into the store and walk right back out, but I could tell the moment I walked in that it would be great.  It's a Mennonite store.  A friendly, elderly Mennonite couple greeted us as we came in.  They sat near the front door, bantering with the cashier.  The restaurant was in the back.

The handwritten menu board had breakfast items and sandwiches.  After perusing the choices, I opted for the fish sandwich and the special side of the day: fried okra.  I enjoyed my delicious lunch while sitting on the grass outside with some cyclopeeps.

Rocket fuel!

Although I definitely felt energized after stopping to eat, I didn't need any more calories for the rest of the ride.  You know how McDonald's calls their fish sandwich Fillet-o-Fish?  This one should have been called Full-o-Fish.

I continued enjoying the beautiful afternoon.  This scene tickled me because usually I have to watch out for grass clippings in the road.

Eventually, I got to a spot that Ray had cautioned everyone about.  Railroad tracks crossed one of the dirt roads, but the road hadn't been regraded to go over the tracks.  We had to dismount and carry out bikes over the ballast and tracks.  If I wasn't already sure, I now knew this truly was an adventure.

As the day got warmer, I was glad I had wisely worn arm and knee warmers rather than long sleeves and knickers.  However, I had brought only one pair of gloves.  Although I wasn't overly warm in these mid-weight gloves, they looked kind of funny when I took off my arm warmers.  I felt like Jackie Kennedy.  If they were lace, I would have felt like RBG.

I pedaled onward, stopping whenever I felt like it to snap another photo.

While I was taking this last photo, Craig, Jason, and their friend Lajos caught up to me.  I enjoyed their company for the remaining 10 miles to Veterans State Park.  We rolled into our group campsite.

After I set up my tent

and got a nip of refreshment

Party time!  Excellent!

I rode to the fancier campground that had showers.

See you in the douches.

On the way back to the Sasquatch Ride campsite, I stopped to see some of the tributes to U.S. veterans.

Before dinner we had some appetizers.

There were about half a dozen dogs at camp :)  I hadn't seen an Irish setter in years - she was beautiful!

I got a kick out of watching the dogs eat peanut shells off the ground.

We had a delicious barbecue dinner, and I got a pre-Thanksgiving preview of pumpkin pie.  I sat with Craig, Jason, and Lajos.  Craig's other big hobby besides cycling is ham radio.  In fact, he brought some lightweight portable equipment with him, which he messed around with at camp late that afternoon.  At dinner he told me about ham radio, which I knew practically nothing about.  It's fascinating!  If I were a middle school student where he teaches band, I'd definitely join the ham radio club that he sponsors.

I turned in around 9:00 and read in my tent for a while, using the flashlight on my phone.  I had the foresight to bring a battery charger so that I could charge my phone overnight.  I slept relatively well, but I woke up in the middle of the night.  I heard all kinds of night sounds: a barred owl, coyotes, the guy three tents over snoring...

Not surprisingly, I woke up the next morning  before my alarm went off.  I got dressed and packed my tent and gear.  Then, I walked over to investigate the pond next to our campsite, which I had meant to do the day before.

Breakfast included leftover barbecue and pumpkin pie from the night before.  I felt extravagant because usually the only time I eat pumpkin pie for breakfast is the day after Thanksgiving.

Like the previous morning, it was chilly, but I knew it would warm up pretty quickly.  It was another bright, beautiful day.

The route was simply the reverse of the previous day.  I came to the most difficult sand section.  The day before I had had to walk a short distance, but this time I managed to keep pedaling without stopping.  Soon thereafter, I saw a few guys entering the route from a different road.  They had decided that once (the day before) was enough for the sandy section, and so they detoured around it on Sunday.

I caught up to these same guys (who were on single speeds!) when they stopped for a break at the hike-a-bike railroad tracks.  I rode on ahead but saw them again soon back at Five Points Grocery.  The store wasn't open on Sunday, but Ray and Tina set up a SAG stop next to it.  Although I wasn't hungry, I topped off my water bottles and took a pimento cheese sandwich for the road.  My jersey pockets were already full from the arm and knee warmers that I had shed.  How would I carry my sandwich?  Aha!  I was carrying my car key and some money in the plastic pouch on a lanyard around my neck, tucked inside my jersey.  I had gotten this pouch at PBP, and it is the handiest thing for carrying valuables on a long ride.  It was just big enough to accommodate my pimento cheese sandwich, which I wrapped in a paper towel.  I felt like Sandra Bulloch in Miss Congeniality when she had doughnuts stashed in her evening gown.

A little while later, I turned onto Mennonite School Road.  I hadn't seen the road name the day before, but I did remember a particular school that I had thought might be Mennonite.  I knew that many Mennonites live in the area, and the school looked private (e.g., no sign showing the county name).  Sure enough, I saw the same eponymous school.  As I rode by, I was impressed by the practical ingenuity of the Mennonites who built this playground.

This temporary downdrain was not installed according to the
Manual for Erosion and Sediment Control in Georgia.

As on the day before, I enjoyed stopping for photos whenever something struck my fancy.

Friendly black angi (plural of black angus)

A few of the dirt roads were somewhat technical.  Sometimes it was a matter of picking the best rut row.

I kept my eyes peeled for one last photo opp that Craig and Jason had alerted me to.

Everybody hurts.

When I had begun that morning, I noticed that my Wahoo battery was at 37%.  I had started with it fully charged but didn't bring a Wahoo charger cable, incorrectly assuming that I had enough juice for both days.  So, Sunday morning I knew my battery would die before the end.  It made it through the first 100K (about 62 miles).  Then, I used the Strava app on my phone to record the remaining 11 miles.

It was as fun a weekend as I've had in recent memory.

Do more of what you love.