It might have been the time zone change or general fatigue or just mentally wanting to be done but, today was a tough day. Tougher than it should have been. I felt tired and lethargic all day and it was all the first time I felt like I just wanted to be done. Maybe tomorrow will be different, like the end of a school year but today just dragged.
Today's route took us on a tour of the British Isles. On one 20 mile section, we passed Montrose (Scotland), Dudley (England) and Dublin (Ireland). I half expected to see Cardiff next. I'd have been more excited if it had been Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch which is the Welsh town with the longest name in the world. Google it if you don't believe me.
We managed to avoid the rain in the morning but literally rode into it in the afternoon. We also bumped into a massive turtle crossing the road. Jeanine said it weighed about 10 pounds. It crossed from left to right and then started to go back again. Having seen so much road kill recently, we decided he was pushing his luck so she picked him up and put him well off of the road. That's 3 turtles saved now. Her new nickname is Florence Turtlegale. Pictures are here
The rain went off after maybe half an hour so we considered ourselves lucky.. until we got to the last rest stop. That's when everything got all dark and the lightning started way off in the distance. Our aim was to get into town before it dumped down. We did make a valiant effort but got caught like the typical Tour de France breakaway with 1km before the city limits. What made it worse was that the hotel was on the other side of town. Riding through the city center we saw a massive bolt of lightning. Before I even got to say 'one', there was a massive peel of thunder... The last two miles to the hotel could possibly have been swum quicker than ridden. I think I was riding through 4 inches of rain as it bounced off the road. Now, 2 hours later, you wouldn't even know that it had been raining.
Tomorrow is the last day. Everyone is feeling a bit beat down and is ready to be done. Funny how a couple of days can make a difference eh? I'm expecting we'll all be excited tomorrow and that there will be some partying in the evening. At the moment, we're all trying to work out the best way to ship our bikes home and how to shuttle from Tybee Island back to Savannah airport.
The forecast is for 40% chance of rain tomorrow. I'm hoping it doesn't literally rain on our parade. I guess it might make a good bookend to the trip though. I never got to see the Pacific because of the fog in Cannon Beach. Maybe the Atlantic will be rained in?
Until then, time to try and dry out my wet things from today.
Hey Doug, what a fantastic journey you've had! Thank you for taking the time to document it as you go along. I know an hour on the computer every night could have been better spent doing other things - sleeping for example - but it has been brilliant for us weekend warriors to follow along with you as you go. Enjoy tomorrow and may the rain clouds always be at your back... See you soon!
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