It started out like any other day. We were awoken at 5:30 by the sounds of music playing and the hiss of deflating thermarests. We rubbed our eyes and packed up our bins to get ready for our next move. It was an 85 mile day and our sore legs were making us anxious.
After chores, we met for a route meeting. That was when the magic began. We learned that 39 miles of our route today would be on a bike path. Schweeeeet!! Bike path = flat, scenic, smooth, and most importantly NO CARS! It doesn't get too much better than that!
But the next thing we learned at the route meeting was better than having a bike lane for half of the ride: we learned that we would be staying at Berry College that night which means suite style dorms with one shower per two people and a bed for each rider. A BED. It sounded too good to be true.
So we began our ride. We first rode near downtown Atlanta. We were close enough to see the skyline. The drivers were courteous for the most part. Austin, Brian, Josh, Dan, and I were stopped in a left turn lane waiting for the traffic to cease when a driver right behind us began to honk. Grumpily, I turned around to find out what the driver's deal was. Turns out, the driver simply wanted a picture of us. We all posed while the driver snapped a picture from the driver's seat with his phone and then he gave us the thumbs up. This set the mood for the rest of the day.
The bike path was amazing to say the absolute least. We cruised averaging probably around 18 mph. It was so smooth that we barely noticed whether we were ascending or descending. We went through quite a few tunnels in which everyone tried to make the weirdest noises possible. The echoing was amazing. We stopped a few times to eat snacks, take pictures, and climb rocks.
After the path ended, we had 20 miles of straight hills. It was awesome. My legs are sore but they're getting stronger. Marcus got a little heat exhaustion so Rae and I cooled him off and fed him bananas. He get better after that.
Berry College is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I wish I went to school here. Apparently, their campus is 17,000 acres, the biggest in the world. Tonight, we explored the campus and saw so many deer. The buildings were like Hogwarts. If I had more than one semester left of school, I would totally transfer.
We are sad to leave this beautiful place but tomorrow we cross our second state border into Alabama!!!! Scottsboro, here we come!
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