50 Miles o' Fun

The Monticello farmers market on the square, beautiful country roads on a warm day in May, a charming Mexican market, the Georgia Writers Museum - all with my sweetie accompanying me - please, not the briar patch!

Robert and I started our ride with a trip to the Monticello square.  Yesterday was the first Monticello farmers market I've been able to go to this year because I've been out of town (riding) every Saturday this season before now.  The chamber of commerce has done an excellent job of reinvigorated the market this year.  I loved everything about it yesterday.  I got some okra, a deer antler chew for my hounds, a fried peach pie, and some lovely broccoli that my friend Laverne grew.

Saturday on the square is also a great time to greet friends and neighbors.  I got to see everyone from my sister-in-law to the mayor of Monticello.

Robert and I stopped by The Vanilla Bean.  He had coffee and a scone, and I had a cup of tea and a piece of chocolate meringue pie.  I can't eat chocolate pie without thinking of the song "Swingin'" by John Anderson.  ("Her brother was on the sofa, eatin' chocolate pie...")

It was late morning by the time we began our ride in earnest, but it had been worth it to spend time in downtown Monticello.  We headed out on Highway 212 E.  As we approached the county line, Robert and I had different preferences on which way to go.  Although 212 E is generally a pretty decent state highway for riding bicycles, Robert wanted to get off it sooner rather than later by taking a left onto Old Hillsboro Road.  I wanted to ride several more miles on 212 and turn left on Rabbit Skip Road so that we could ride on Stanfordville Road, one of my favorites.  We were riding single file, right on the white line.  Just before we had to make a decision on which route to take, some a$$hat in a huge pickup truck passed us, definitely not giving us the three feet required by law.  He deliberately gunned his motor and blew black diesel smoke in our faces.  I don't like speaking badly of others or using profanity, but a$$hat cracks me up, and that truck driver certainly was one.  Robert was probably justified in wanting to take the Old Hillsboro Road option, but he deferred to me since I had planned the outing.  I was determined not to let the a$$hat ruin the day.  A few miles later on Highway 212, a couple of motorcycles passed us.  The second one gave us a vigorous "hang ten" wave.  That totally made up for the a$$hat.

Maybe it's a good thing we went to Rabbit Skip Road.  We saw a turtle just starting to cross the road, and so we moved it safely to the other side.  I always try to help turtles across the road, whether I'm in my car or on my bike.  Robert and I were surprised that this was the first turtle rescue of the year for both of us; usually by now we have made several turtle assists.

We arrived in Eatonton and went to Tienda Tarimoro, a wonderful Mexican market.  I had been wanting to do a another bicycle trip there since my first visit last September.  It has all kinds of specialty items: tropical fruits, masa harina, Mexican pastries, and interesting candies.  I'll bet you can get a good deal on the John Paul II candles since he's no longer the Pope.  Robert and I got some Mexican soft drinks.  Mine was mango flavored.  I hoped it would make me extra speedy on the ride home.

From there we rode just a few blocks to the Georgia Authors Museum on the Eatonton square.  Previously, I had seen a sign on an old hotel near the square proclaiming the future home of the Georgia Authors Museum, but I didn't know that a smaller version already exists until I visited my local Jasper County library last week (which, incidentally, is part of the Uncle Remus Regional Library System).  At the checkout desk I noticed a stack of brochures for the museum.  I was delighted to learn that the Georgia Authors Museum highlights three famous authors who lived in or near Putnam County: Joel Chandler Harris, Alice Walker, and Flannery O'Connor.  These are the same authors from the terrific Middle Georgia Authors ride that I did a couple of summers ago (see my blog entry from 8/10/14).

The museum is small but has some wonderful resources about the three authors, such as descriptions of their lives and work, autographed first editions, copies of book patents from the Library of Congress, and other memorabilia.  In addition to titles that I have already read, I saw other books by the authors, books about the authors...  It gave me a bad case of book lust.  There are so many books I want to read!  Sometimes I wish I could touch a book cover and absorb the contents instantaneously, like a Vulcan mind meld.

Although the museum focuses on Harris, Walker, and O'Connor, in the future it will feature other writers from the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame on a rotating basis.  Interestingly, of the 46 authors in the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, nine are from within 30 miles of Putnam County.

Robert and I started the journey home, taking a different yet also lovely route.  I had checked the mileage of the entire route when I mapped it, and it was exactly 50 miles.  As we were leaving downtown Eatonton, Robert led us on some side streets that I hadn't planned on.  We got to a dead end and had to turn around.  It added about a mile to my intended route.  Normally, I wouldn't mind a little extra mileage, but I had already thought of the title for my ride report, and I'm kind of anal retentive about such things.  Oh, well - it was actually 51 miles o' fun.

Robert wore his Italian socks in honor of the Giro d'Italia, but, appropriately, these are also the main colors in the Mexican flag.

Peaches & Lakes 200K Permanent 2016

Originally, I didn't think I'd post a report for this ride because I can't write about all of them.  However, last Saturday's Peaches & Lakes 200K turned out to be one of the most enjoyable permanents I've done, thanks to a fantastic route with great friends during my favorite time of year.

To continue my R-12 quest, I needed to do a permanent in May because the previous weekend's brevet didn't work with my schedule.  I coordinated with Daniel, the Peaches & Lakes route owner, to do this excellent permanent.  Daniel, Ian, Robert N., and I did this route for the first time about a year ago shortly after RUSA approved it (see 6/8/15 ride report).  This is the optimal time of year for the Peaches & Lakes permanent because it's peach season - yea!  In fact, Dickey Farms, the peach stop on the route, opened for the year just a few days before our ride this past Saturday.

Andrew, Daniel, Ian, Julie, Robert N., and I left our starting control, the Waffle House in Thomaston, at 7:00 AM.  Daniel immediately turned on the juice because he thought he would be slower than the rest of us and wanted to get a head start.  The other five of us got into a comfortable rhythm on the bright, sunny morning.  It was a little cool at the start, but the sun soon began to warm us.

A couple of hours later, we arrived at our first stop, Dickey Farms.  Peach ice cream - woo hoo!

Photo by Andrew

Although I've ridden to Dickey Farms several times previously, I don't think I had ever seen their packaging process before.  I'm fascinated by any kind of processing equipment.  It's even better when it's for one of my favorite things - peaches!

Photo by Robert N.

Peaches are spread into one layer, moved single file onto a conveyor belt, and sorted by size

A piece of devil equipment - the one that puts a sticker on each peach. One of the activities in hell is peeling stickers off of fruit.

The peach ice cream was delectable, but unfortunately, Julie couldn’t partake.  However, she made quite a happy discovery: you can get a free sample of fresh peaches from the overripe ones that are culled from the packaging process.  My first peach of the season - swoon!

Next, we rode through areas very familiar to me from my group rides in Macon.  I enjoyed sharing these beautiful roads with my rando buddies, most of whom live in the Atlanta area and usually have to deal with much more traffic.

After skirting the western edge of the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge, we stopped in Juliette, made famous by the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.  As usual, the wait at the Whistle Stop Café was substantial, and so we decided to go somewhere else since it was an open control.

Unfortunately, Romeo’s in Juliette, the Italian restaurant that we visited on last year’s Peaches & Lakes 200K, has closed.  Therefore, we continued a couple of miles up the road to a convenience store.  This wasn’t nearly as exciting as the Whistle Stop, but we fueled and hydrated adequately and continued on our way.

You know it’s a good ride when you’re leaving the control at mile 80 and are sad that there are only about 45 more miles to go.  I was enjoying the day for several reasons.  First, we weren’t going at a breakneck pace.  More importantly, the training effect from so many long rides (300, 400, and 600K brevets plus some centuries) coupled with the intensity of Tuesday Worlds put me in good form for this ride.  Also, I truly love riding in Middle Georgia, and the weather was chamber-of-commerce perfect.  Then there was the excellent conversation.  We talked about all kinds of stuff, and I barely noticed as the miles simply disappeared.

Interestingly, one-third of Saturday’s riders were English (Andrew and Ian).  Andrew and I were discussing about how we occasionally have that common dream of being naked in a crowd.  Ian commented that he’s never dreamed of being naked.  Andrew and I decided that Ian must have a lot more self-confidence than we do.  Ian explained, “Of course I wouldn't take off my clothes; I’m a repressed Englishman.”  Ian cracks me up with his wonderfully dry sense of humor.

Andrew mentioned that when he first moved to Georgia some years ago, he learned that Georgia has 13 important agricultural products that start with the letter “p.”  I’ve lived in Georgia my entire life and had never heard this, but I was intrigued.  He didn’t remember the entire list, but our group came up with the easy ones – peaches, peanuts, pecans, poultry, and pork – as well as persimmons, which is less obvious but Andrew remembered being on the list.  He also remembered pimentos.  That’s seven of the 13 items.  We tossed out lots of other possibilities.  Later, I checked with the Google, but it didn’t have this elusive list of 13 items.  Therefore, I inquired in the land of Facebook.  These are the items I think are the most likely candidates for the remaining six slots: pulpwood, peas (field peas, e.g. black eyed, pinkeye, crowder, white acre, cream, lady, or zipper), peppers (i.e., bell), potatoes (sweet – Andrew said that Irish potatoes weren’t on the list), pumpkins, and pickles.  Entertaining yet less likely suggestions included pawpaws, plants, poke salad, pollen, pomegranates, poop, possums, and pot.

As we made a particular turn, I remembered a sign that I once saw at that intersection:

Party time!  Excellent!

When I told the others about the sign, Ian made some comment about the Rhapsody.  Of course, he meant the Rapture.  I teased him about not being up-to-date on his fundamentalism.  Then I described to him the Rapture Hatch.  I think that’s the hardest I’ve ever heard Ian laugh.

We stopped at a store near High Falls Lake.  We had been kind of leapfrogging Daniel, but we all got to the store at about the same time.  As we continued on, he and Robert took it a little easier while the other four of us stayed together the rest of the way.  Our last stop was in Barnesville.  Julie wanted something salty, and so she got a big bag of pretzels at a convenience store.  She, Andrew, and Ian looked quintessentially rando as they sat outside on the curb sharing the bag.

For much of the last part of the ride, Andrew and I talked about work.  I don’t know when I’ve talked about work so much, but it was refreshing to get a perspective from someone besides my husband or coworkers.  Andrew and I discovered that even though our lines of work are quite different, we face many of the same challenges: how much to focus on production vs. management, work/life balance, etc.  At one point I described to Andrew and Ian the difficulty of being unemployed for six months in 2009 during the Great Recession.  One of the biggest things I learned from that experience is that too much of my identity was tied up in my profession.  Sure, that’s an important part of my life, but in the past I let it define me too much.  Andrew and Ian knew exactly what I meant.  They commented on the typically American phenomenon of asking someone what they do for a living immediately upon meeting for the first time.  Particularly since being unemployed, I have intentionally not asked this question of new acquaintances.  In fact, even among my regular cycling companions in Macon, I still don’t know some of their occupations.  Also, I told Andrew and Ian that just a few weeks ago at the 600K I learned that our randonneuring friend Jim is an emergency room doctor!  Isn’t that a handy friend to have along for the ride?  (although I hope we never need his services…)

When I got around to checking my Garmin, we had only about three miles to go.  Wow!  We pretty much breezed to the finish.  Maybe it was Andrew and Ian’s British influence, but it was such a civilized ride.

How to Ride in a Group

Yesterday I did the Journey for Autism, a ride in Macon to benefit children in Middle Georgia who have autism.  Not only is it for a great cause, but also this has become one of my favorite group rides each year.  That's because my friend Jake does such a fantastic job as the ride leader.  He controls the pace so that we all stay together, and the weaker riders like me don't have to kill ourselves to hang on.  There were about two dozen of us who rode together, averaging almost 21 mph for 102 miles!

Recently I read a cycling article that gave a good explanation of riding effectively in a group.  Don't ride like you're on cruise control in your car; ride just the opposite.  The purpose of a car's cruise control is to maintain a constant speed.  Therefore, the accelerator pushes down for increased power going uphill, and it eases off downhill so that the car doesn't go too fast.   I've seen so many cyclists erroneously take the same approach at the front of the peloton, hammering up the hills and coasting(!) downhill.  It might seem counterintuitive, but the key is that you're not trying to maintain constant speed in a group ride.  You want to maintain constant power.  Too many cyclists have no concept of this, but Jake was valedictorian of his graduating class in the Chad Madan School of Group Riding.

By the way, a true group ride like this is different from a ride like Tuesday Worlds, which is really a practice race.  All's fair in love, war, and Tuesday Worlds: surges, attacks, etc.

One of the rest stops on the Journey Ride had a photo op that I simply couldn't resist.

Don't have a cow, man.

Also at this rest stop, Jake drank some Gatorade that didn't sit well with him.  Therefore, he let a couple of other guys pull for about the last hour.  One of those was Stony.  Stony is an excellent cyclist, but I think he graduated from some Elbonian school of group riding.  He has only one setting when he rides: Stony Grinder.  It was definitely a harder effort for the last part of the ride, and I was happy to stay with the group to the end.

We had a delicious spaghetti meal after the ride.  I sat with my buddies Monte and Nate.  Nate built a backwards bike for Monte, who had it set up as a fundraiser for the Ocmulgee Mountain Bike Association (OMBA).

For $5 you got three tries at riding the backwards bike a mere 10 feet.  The prize was $50.  The trick is that it really is backwards; when you steer right, the bike turns left, and vice versa.  I didn't try it, but apparently almost no one can ride it even such a short distance because it messes with your head so much.

Check out Nate's signature on the front of the backwards bike

It's kind of appropriate that the backwards bike was at the Journey Ride because of the seemingly backwards way a truly good group ride works: easier on the uphills, harder on the downhills.

Puddin' Pedal and Other A-Peeling Ruminations

Bananas and I have a complicated relationship.  Bananas are one of the best cycling foods there is - readily available energy, potassium, inexpensive, portable, etc.  But I can't stand bananas if they have a single brown spot on them.

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

I'll only eat a banana if it's barely ripe enough to eat, definitely with no brown spots and preferably still a little green.  I go grocery shopping once a week, usually on Saturday, and buy two bananas.  Therefore, it's rare that I eat a banana later in the week than Monday because I'll eat one banana on Sunday and one on Monday.

I strongly identified with a recent article in The Onion:

NEW YORK—Sources at Key Food supermarket confirmed that a sad man tore two bananas from a bunch of seven while shopping alone in the store’s produce section Wednesday. “This ought to do it,” the lonely individual reportedly thought to himself as he placed the fruit in his shopping basket alongside a single pint of milk, which sources confirmed would likely go bad before it was finished. “I’ll probably have one banana today, maybe the other tomorrow or the day after, so—yeah.” According to reports, the five bananas remaining in the bunch were purchased by a smiling, cheerful man, who brought them back to a home full of people who love him very much.

The Bananas of My Youth

I've always had an aversion to brown spots on bananas, but it was exacerbated by my mother.  Sometimes for breakfast she would slice an overripe banana into a small bowl, pour in some milk, and sprinkle a little sugar on top.  As if this would make it palatable.

On the other hand, bananas were a saving grace during 5th grade.  My class must have been especially bad because almost every day that school year we had to sit in alphabetical order at lunch.  That was a mixed bag; I got to sit next to my best friend Madeleine, but we had to sit across from two boys with cooties, Wesley and Eric.  It was especially a bummer when we had silent lunch, which seemed to be more often than not.  On days that we got bananas , it was easy to entertain ourselves during silent lunch.  We would cut a slit into a banana like a mouth and make it drink milk with a straw and then burp.  Hilarious.

Bananas in My Riper Years

In 2010 Robert and I did a wonderful cycling trip in Oregon that went from Ashland to Bend via Crater Lake.  On the day before we flew home, we went to a fair that was in Bend.  Chiquita bananas sponsored one of the booths, and we had a phenomenal photo op:

Top Banana and sidekick

I also got a free paper banana crown, kind of like a Burger King crown but with bananas.  As we left the fair right at closing time, I was wearing my banana crown.  Robert had already advised me that it really wouldn't be practical to take it home on the airplane with us.  Some stoner dude saw my banana crown and asked where I got it.  I told him about the Chiquita booth.  He really wanted my banana crown, and so I sold it to him for $1.

On a more somber note, I've written about my serious crash in a bicycle race in 2012.  I broke my upper jaw, messed up my upper teeth, and got a huge gash in my chin.  My doctors did an excellent job of putting me back together (and all the wonderful prayers and other support from my friends had a lot to do with it, too), but it was seven months after my crash before I could bite again.  I never realized how much I took such a simple thing for granted.  During the time I was healing, I could eat most things as long as I cut them up and put them in the back of my mouth to chew.  This is how I had to eat even sandwiches.  Sometimes I got funny looks.  But at last I had my final dental treatment.  My dentist told me to give it a few days for everything to settle, and then I could bite whatever I wanted, except apples and corn on the cob.  (Although I'll never be able to bite into those two things again, I can still eat apples cut up and corn cut off the cob - not a huge sacrifice, all things considered.)  The first thing I bit into post-crash was a banana:

A Bunch of Recipes

Once bananas get too ripe, they must be banished to the freezer to be used in banana bread or smoothies.  Even then, I've found that they need sufficient other ingredients to mask the overripe banana taste.  Thus, many plain banana bread recipes don't really float my boat.  I have found a couple that I do like, though.  One is Banana Blueberry Banana Pecan Nut Cake, a recipe from the famous Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle, about 30 miles north of my home in Monticello.

Blueberry Banana Pecan Nut Cake

1 cup blueberries
2 sticks butter, softened
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1-1/4 cups ripe mashed bananas (2 or 3)
1 16-oz carton sour cream
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease and flour two 9x5x2-inch loaf pans; set aside.  Rinse and drain fresh blueberries.  If using frozen berries, dust with a small amount of flour.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add bananas and sour cream.  Mix well.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Fold blueberries and pecans into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool.

Yield: 2 loaves

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution


Another variation on banana bread that I enjoy immensely is from the Bats in the Pantry cookbook, which features recipes with ingredients that rely on bats for pollination or seed dispersal:

Banana Ginger Bread

 
2 cups brown sugar
*1 cup mashed bananas
2 eggs
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*2 tablespoons vegetable oil (optional)
*3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
*½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
*½ teaspoon ground cloves
*2 cups dark beer
*2 cups dates, pitted and chopped
*2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 9” x 5” loaf pans.  In a bowl, cream the brown sugar, bananas, eggs, and vanilla.  (Add oil if moister bread is desired.)  In another bowl, combine 3 cups flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, and cloves.  Combine the mixtures from the two bowls; mix in beer.  Toss dates with remaining 2 tablespoons flour.  Stir dates and ginger into mixture.  Pour into two greased loaf pans.  Bake for 1 hour, or until inserted toothpick emerges dry and clean.

*This ingredient is made possible by bats!


A delicious and nutritious way to use overripe bananas that have been banished to the freezer is to make a healthy breakfast smoothie:

Banana-Fudge Smoothie

1-1/2 cups very cold vanilla soy milk or regular milk
1/2 cup soft silken tofu
2 ripe medium bananas, frozen and cut in 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon sorghum syrup or dark honey

Combine ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

Yield: 2 servings

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution


State Banana Pudding Festival and Puddin' Pedal

Despite my slippery relationship with bananas, I was all over the opportunity to go to the State Banana Pudding Festival in Irwinton and ride in the Puddin' Pedal today.  The Puddin' Pedal is about 18 miles long and has a stop for banana pudding halfway through.  My cycling friend Benny in Milledgeville alerted me to this fabulous celebration.

Because I wanted to ride farther, I started my ride from Gray.  From Gray to Irwinton and back, plus the Puddin' Pedal, it was about 75 miles.  I just didn't see any need to ride 125 miles, which is what the total distance would have been if I had ridden from my house.

As I approached Irwinton, I passed some of the walkers who were finishing up the 5K.  One boy heard me approaching and stared at me as I rode by.  I called out to him, "Nanner, nanner, nanner!"

I caught up to Benny and some other cyclists from Milledgeville at the Puddin' Pedal rest stop in Toomsboro.  Banana pudding is an excellent thing to serve at a rest stop.

Then we headed back to Irwinton.

Back at the Blue Goose in Irwinton, the site of the State Banana Pudding Festival, I was glad to see my friends Katherine and David.  Additionally, they assisted me with the photo op.  One of my life rules is never to pass up a photo op where you stick your face into something, especially when it's so delightfully cannibalistic:

I also took a photo with Benny:

The spoons totally make this photo op.

Then it was time for the highlight of the State Banana Pudding Festival - the Puddin' Path!

For $5 I got to sample banana puddings made by seven local nonprofit groups.  I received a spoon, a napkin, a voting ticket, and a save-the-date card for next year's State Banana Pudding Festival.  After sampling all the banana puddings, I got to vote for my favorite.  The voting cans were recycled Jittery Joe's coffee cans - excellent!

The sampling setup was just right.  I got a small cup of banana pudding at each table.  By the end, I had had gracious plenty.  The various banana puddings were delicious.  There was a chocolate banana pudding - quite tasty, but at least for this event, I was anticipating straight-up banana.  One banana pudding kind of scared me.  It didn't have any vanilla wafers or anything else solid.  In fact, I assume that the recipe bombed because it was all liquid - more like banana pudding soup.  Another group had an interesting variation that was like a banana split, containing flecks of chocolate, pineapple, and maraschino cherries in addition to bananas.  The other banana puddings mostly went heavy on the whipped cream.  I discovered that banana puddings typically are either whipped-creamy or have a meringue on top.  I'm partial to meringue, which is how my grandmother made it.  In fact, my vote for the best banana pudding went to the one that was most like hers:

Here's Grannie's recipe:

Banana Pudding

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2-1/3 cups milk
2 egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
7-1/2 tablespoons sugar
Vanilla wafers
4 ripe bananas, sliced

Mix 3/4 cup sugar and flour in pan to be used for cooking.  Add milk gradually to avoid lumping.  Add egg yolks that have been beaten well.  Cook over medium heat while stirring frequently to avoid sticking.  When mixture thickens well, remove from heat and add vanilla.

Beat egg whites until frothy.  Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Add 7-1/2 tablespoons sugar gradually and beat until stiff and glossy.

In a 9" x 13" Pyrex dish, layer vanilla wafers, then bananas, then filling, then meringue.  Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 12 minutes or at 425 degrees for 5 or 6 minutes.


Interestingly, Grannie's banana pudding recipe and her coconut cream pie recipe are quite similar.  You go with bananas or coconut, depending on the desired end product.  I like her coconut cream pie even better than her banana pudding.  In fact, coconut cream pie is one of my favorite desserts, period.  I would have done well on Gilligan's Island.

Coconut Cream Pie

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup coconut
5 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
7-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 pre-baked pie crust (homemade, if possible)

Mix 3/4 cup sugar and flour in pan to be used for cooking.  Add milk gradually to avoid lumping.  Add egg yolks that have been beaten well.  Cook over medium heat while stirring frequently to avoid sticking.  When mixture thickens well, remove from heat, add vanilla, then coconut.  Pour into pre-baked pie crust.  Let cool.

Beat egg whites until frothy.  Add cream of tartar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Add 7-1/2 tablespoons sugar gradually and beat until stiff and glossy.  Lightly pile on cooled pie, making sure it touches all edges of pastry, and sprinkle with coconut.  Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 12 minutes or at 425 degrees for 5 or 6 minutes.


If only there were a State Coconut Cream Pie Festival!


After I traveled down the Puddin' Path, I decided to go down the street to Maebob's for some fried chicken.  I rarely eat fried chicken and never make it at home because I can't make it anything like an institution like Maebob's does.  So I had to get while the getting was good.  It was mighty fine.

Full of banana pudding and Maebob's chicken, I headed home in a Southern fried stupor.  There's no way I could indulge like this very often, but it sure is good every once in a while.

Double Caesar 600K Brevet

Wow, a 600K!  Even I don’t quite understand why I do these things.  Randonneuring is exhausting and even painful sometimes, but at the same time it’s so fun and rewarding.  I was psyched to complete the Double Caesar 600K Brevet last weekend.  It was the longest single bicycle ride I ever did, and it was my last step toward this year’s big cycling goal, completing a Super Randonneur Series, which is a 200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K all in the same calendar year.

Six of us started the ride.  We rolled out of a Publix parking lot in Evans, GA at 4:00 AM.  I savored the first few hours of riding when I felt fresh, knowing that the hard work was to come.  (See my preliminary ride report from 4/27/16, All That Is, Seen and Unseen, for a fuller description of the first part of the brevet.)

We all rode together for a while.  Although we didn’t talk much, our group was quite companionable.  We passed a small sign pointing to a YMCA.  Not trusting myself to ride in the group with no hands, I did the obligatory gestures with just one arm.  Robert Newcomer, who was riding behind me, was confused for a moment but then knew exactly what I was doing.  More than anything, he was thankful that I didn’t sing, too.

Eventually the group spread out, and I was riding with Brian and Ken.  I was glad to be able to draft off of such strong riders, but I was also a little concerned about going too hard too early.  Not having done a 600K before, I didn’t have a reference point, and we had a lot of hours to go.  After a while, I decided to drop back a little, but they eased it back a notch so that we could stay together.  That was really nice of them.  Thanks, Brian and Ken!

Our third control (second stop because the starting point counts as the first control) was a Subway in Pendleton, SC.  Woo hoo!  Lunchtime!  Ken and I went through the line and got our sandwiches at the same time.  I sat down to start on mine while he went back outside to his bicycle.  When he joined me at the tables, we discovered that I had accidentally eaten half of Ken’s sandwich – d’oh!  He was very nice about it.  We simply split my sandwich, too, so that we each got half of each other’s.  He didn’t even mind risking getting cooties from me.  By the way, his sandwich was better than mine.

We had been back on our bikes for only about an hour when Brian’s rear derailleur broke off of his frame!  This was a major mechanical that he couldn’t fix on the road.  Therefore, he DNFed and had to call Kevin (our Regional Brevet Administrator, or RBA) to pick him up.  Brian was terribly disappointed, and Ken and I knew we’d miss his company on the rest of the ride.

At the next control, a convenience store, I bought myself a souvenir (Arrr!):

Paddling and pirates.  The only thing better is dog paddling:

Shelly the beagle, one of my beloved polyhounds

The titular section of the brevet was approaching: climbing Caesars Head not once, but twice!  (because riding 600K isn’t hard enough on its own…)  It’s more than 1,800 feet of climbing in seven miles from the base of Caesars Head to the top.  I generally do well on such mountainous climbs because I have a relatively high power-to-weight ratio (approximately 4 W/kg at threshold).  However, it’s not often that I do a climb like Caesars Head with 161 miles already in my legs.  But I felt good.  Actually, I crushed it:

Kevin and Brian passed me in Kevin's car and cheered me on!

I reached the top before Ken did and continued on toward Brevard, NC without stopping at the top of Caesars Head.  The next control was at Huddle House in Brevard.  Huddle Houses make great controls because they’re open 24 hours, and they don’t mind if you prop your feet up while you eat.  Not to mention, a waffle, bacon, and two eggs over-easy taste great after riding 184 miles.  As I lingered over my meal, Ken arrived.  We were ready to go at about the same time, and I was glad to have his companionship again, at least until the second climb.

Although this was my first Double Caesar 600K, the Audax Atlanta Club has had this brevet a number of times before.  Previously, the second climb over Caesars Head has been simply going backwards on the same route.  This year, however, the second climb was a different route because the road on the descent of the first climb has deteriorated.  Technically, I don’t think last weekend’s second climb was over Caesars Head, but we had to get back over the same ridge.  I had mapped the route ahead of time to upload to my Garmin.  As I built the route, I was fascinated by the map.  (I’ve always loved studying maps.)  The North Carolina/South Carolina state line caught my attention.  It consists mostly of straight segments except in the region around Caesars Head, which is a squiggly line that runs roughly southwest to northeast.  When I noticed the squiggly line in that area, my first thought was that a river forms that portion of the state line.  I looked more closely and discovered that’s not the case, though.  The state line follows the mountain ridge.  Even more interesting, you can see the drainage pattern of the creeks flowing from the ridge, to the north on the North Carolina side and to the south on the South Carolina side.

The second climb wasn’t the long, steady effort like the first one over Caesars Head, but it definitely had some steep sections.  It also had a highlight of my ride – a black bear!  It was that beautiful, crepuscular time of day.  I was grinding up a steep slope and spied the bear about 40 meters ahead of me on the side of the road.  I think it was a juvenile – definitely not a cub but not as big as I’d expect a full-grown adult bear to be.  It must have seen or heard me coming because it ran off into the woods.  It wasn’t scary at all.  The whole incident lasted only a few seconds, but that was the coolest wildlife experience I’ve had on my bicycle!

The last part of the descent had relatively mild slopes.  The route was just beautiful as it followed a winding creek.  I was tired, now being about 200 miles into the ride, but my spirits lifted in the day’s last rays of sunlight.

The route as a whole was mostly out-and-back.  Following the two major climbs, it rejoined the earlier route at the control where I had bought the magnet/bottle opener.  I really wanted to stop there again for a Coke, but now the store was closed.  Instead, I stopped on the side of the road for a snack break with the food and drink I already had with me.  A few minutes later, here came Ken.  I was especially glad to be back with him now that it was dark.

The next control was our sleep stop.  Usually, the sleep stop on the Double Caesar 600K is at some cabins at the Clemson Outdoor Lab.  However, they were already booked when Kevin called.  Therefore, he reserved a few motel rooms at the Quality Inn in Anderson, SC.  It was farther to get to Anderson than the cabins at the lab, but it also left fewer miles to ride on Sunday after the sleep break.

The hardest part of the ride was those last couple of hours before the motel.  I was so tired.  I had been awake since 1:15 AM and had been riding practically nonstop since 4:00 AM.  I tried some of my usual tricks, like singing to myself.  Mostly, however, I just mentally willed myself to keep going.  A stop for a Mountain Dew didn’t hurt, either.

Around midnight, Ken and I finally made it to the Quality Inn – hallelujah!  After bumbling around for 10 or 15 minutes, we figured out which rooms to go to.  Kevin had sent Ken a text with a room number and told us to look for the flashing bicycle light in the window.  We must have been too tired to see the light the first time we circled the motel.  Ken bunked with Brian, and I went to find Kevin, who was waiting up for everyone on the other side of the motel.

Kevin recommended that I sleep in the room adjoining his so that I wouldn’t be disturbed by other riders coming in after me.  He also said I would need less sleep than I thought.  A REM cycle is 1 ½ hours, and so he suggested 3 to 4 ½ hours of sleep, 6 if I really wanted it.  I had already planned on 6.

Kevin had brought everyone’s drop bags.  How luxurious to have my toiletries and clean clothes!  After a wondrously restorative shower, I put on my Elvis pajamas and went to sleep immediately:

Thank you.  Thankyouverymuch.
(Photo taken several years ago when I got these pajamas in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis's birthplace.
Best.  Souvenir.  Ever.)

By the way, Jim, who had abandoned the ride when he got to Brevard, was already asleep in the other bed when I turned in.  He was snoring, but it was the politest snore I ever heard.  It didn’t keep me awake at all.

Although I had set the alarm on my phone for 6 hours, I suppose three REM cycles were enough because I woke up after only 4 ½ hours.  I put on my clean kit.  I really wasn’t hungry, and I definitely didn’t feel like going to the McDonald’s next door, but I knew I needed calories.  So, breakfast was an apple and some trail mix from my bike bag.

It was about 6:45 AM, just late enough to ride without a front light.  I prepared myself mentally for the remaining 110 miles, knowing that I would be riding them alone.  Ken had said that he planned to sleep only 1-2 hours(!), and so he was already out on the road.  Robert Newcomer arrived at the motel just as I was about to leave.  He made it 10 minutes before the control closed!  He had ridden all through the night.  Talk about determination!  He had time only for about an hour of sleep because he would be pushing it to make it to the remaining controls (one more convenience store and then the end).

As I continued my ride, I was pleased to discover that I felt adequate.  Not exactly great, but I felt like I had enough energy to complete the job.  Normally, I can ride 110 miles in maybe seven hours.  It was a relief to know that I had until 8:00 PM to finish the brevet, although I certainly didn’t intend to take nearly that long.

I passed Ed.  He had arrived at the motel after me but not slept as long.  He was riding more slowly than I was, but then I hadn’t done a 1200K the previous weekend – whoa!  Yes, Ed did a 1200K one weekend and a 600K the next.  He’s a mo-chine!

I actually leapfrogged with Ed a few times because I needed an extra food stop.  Sitting on the curb outside of a convenience store, drinking chocolate milk and eating Cheez-Its – how quintessentially randonneur-like.

I never doubted that I would make it to the end.  It was simply a matter putting in the miles and hours – and managing the fatigue and pain.  Cycling, like life, certainly has its difficult parts.  I don’t ever want to deny that about either, but at the same time, there’s a lot to be said for choosing the good and positive.  Some self-help stuff is too woo-woo for me, but certain tools really do work.  I came up with one that helped me finish my ride.  My eyes pretty much stayed glued to the number of remaining miles on my Garmin.  (This was an indicator of how tough it was for me because that’s not my M.O.)  Starting at 45 miles to go, I thought about the best thing I could remember at the corresponding age.  I wouldn’t let myself think about negative things, and my best memories had to be things that I still consider to be good – nothing that I thought was good at the time but later turned out to be not so great.  I even did my best to remember things from my youngest ages: cupcakes for my 4^th birthday at pre-K, learning to swim when I was 3, dressing up as a leopard for Halloween when I was 2.  I really couldn’t remember anything from when I was 1, but I was grateful for the people who loved and cared for me.  When I considered my best memories as a whole, it helped me see what’s most valuable in my life: my husband, our animals, experiences, and the things I’ve learned.

Even though I was smelling the barn, the final miles weren’t easy.  Some of the roads had heavier traffic than I expected, probably because of a detour.  Also, where did all of those hills at the end come from?  They sure didn’t seem so big at o-dark-thirty the previous morning.  Then there were the hot spots that showed up on my feet about five miles from the end.  I wiggled my feet and toes as much as I could and kept talking to myself: “C’mon feet!  Hang in there for just a few more miles!”

At last I rolled into the Publix parking lot.  I did it!  379 miles in 34 hours and 53 minutes.  I texted Kevin, who showed up a few minutes later with my drop bag.  (He lives just a few miles from there, which is why a number of our brevets are staged from this location.)  Thank you, Kevin, for your phenomenal ride support!  You make it possible for the rest of us to do this sport we love.

Besides working for the Super Randonneur Award, I was glad to successfully complete this 600K to show myself that I could do it.  I’ll be doing more long brevets over the next few years to get ready for my next big cycling challenge: Paris-Brest-Paris 2019!

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