First team ride since the Tour de Cure last month. This route was part of the Up the Creek Without a Pedal charity ride (aka UTC) north of Berry College in Rome, GA. The team met up in a corner of the parking lot at Mt Berry Mall. Thirteen riders set out a little after 9:00 and headed north. Didn't take long and we were in the rural area. The UTC routes are my favorites. This time we were going in the opposite direction of the UTC, but rolling through farmland on nice paved country roads with mountain ridges all around can't be beat. Karl, our ride leader, usually has a shorter route available but all of us were "going long" today. Our turn-around point was Lake Marvin in the Johns Mountain Wilderness Area. The lake was really nice and a bonus of an ICE MACHINE took some of the edge off the hot temperature. Some of the guys climbed a bit farther to the top of the mountain while the rest of us chilled down by the lake. Heading back, I was feeling good and pumped up the pace in the first few miles. The stronger riders eventually caught and passed me, but it was fun leading the way for awhile. We turned off onto a different road going back and after the first long uphill climb was pretty flat. No shade though, and we pretty much "cooked" on the way back. That ice in the water bottles didn't last too long. 45 miles in the books.
All of us made it back okay and a great post ride lunch at Fudrucker's in Rome was enjoyed. As always, we have lot of laughs at these things.
Need to start taking pictures with my phone. I wish this area was closer to Cobb County as it is my favorite road riding area.
Next ride in 2 weeks is out west in Polk County I believe. Polk County to me (in addition to great riding roads) is the land of free-ranging dogs. Maybe it will be too hot for 'em to bother with us.
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