The Chinese Ham and Cheese Ride

This was my last weekend to ride two 100 mile treks in two days. Chuck, who will be doing the first 8 days of the Ride Through the Free World, was on board for the same distances. On Saturday we decided to do an old favorite we call the Ham and Cheese Ride. The HCR is as follows: from North Macon to the Macon State College area, then down to Byron, home of the famous pop festival circa 1970 that Chuck attended, then on to Knoxville, Roberta, and Mussella, where we purchase and eat the ham and cheese sandwiches, then two thirds of the way to Forsyth, and then finally back home. The usual ride is 80 miles. To get another 20 miles we have to add a long loop to Forsyth before returning. It's that extra loop we label the Chinese Ham and Cheese Ride - it's the regular ride and "dem some."

Although it's not officially summer until June 21, temperatures tend to approach 100 degrees by this time of the year. Either Chuck or I (most likely Chuck) must be living right, as thus far this year we have been shown great mercy with consistently benign temperatures. We began at 7:30 AM. It was 59 degrees with low humidity, light winds, high of 82, all in all, an invigorating atmosphere

After leaving Macon we eventually crossed Highway 80 and hit the "country roads" with little traffic and smooth pavement. Our first town is Byron. On the way we passed a prison where we typically slow down and stare at the visitors, who have parked along the road, and are walking to the front gate. I always have a prying compulsion to ask them the story behind the incarceration of their loved one. I have enough sense not to of course, but it is fun to speculate the crime based on appearance of the visitor. Just before Byron there is a long climb past an old boy scout camp.  At the summit I was shocked to see my favorite cedar tree with 90% of the top apparently blown off by what I guess must have been a small tornado. The diameter is just under 6 feet, about the length of my bike.

Largest cedar tree I have ever seen

We are very fortunate in Georgia to have what seems to be an infinite number of paved roads, most of which are in excellent condition. Some of these roads are so sparsely traveled you have to wonder why they were paved in the first place, much less repaved after showing just the earliest signs of wear. Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi River and half the people live in the greater Atlanta area, leaving plenty of room for us to ride. Somehow I do not think there is a honest explanation for these wonderful country roads. I would speculate there is a generous allotment on both state and county levels due to the sinister influence of those who build the roads. I'm certainly not complaining as this is a windfall for us cyclists.

As we were leaving Byron, having made one of the few required turns on the entire trip, the road suddenly looked very strange. It seemed impossible to me that we would have made a wrong turn and I feared we might have been simultaneously afflicted by one of three possible neurological ailments: a jamais vu seizure, Alzheimer's disease, or a right brain lesion. The first possibility, a jamais vu seizure, is best described as the opposite of the familiar deja vu spell, where you suddenly feel the sensation of being in a familiar place when you aren't. Don't panic, it's completely normal to have an occasional deju vu episode. It is, however, abnormal to have them often, which could mean a partial seizure, usually due to old head trauma. A jamais vu spell is the inverse of deja vu whereby a familiar place suddenly seems strange, as if you have never seen it before. This sensation is frequently a partial seizure and is more likely due to something bad, like a brain tumor. The second possibility, early Alzheimer's disease, would certainly explain the inability to recall or recognize a place I had been to 20 times in the past but it's typically not so aggressive that it arrives between breakfast and lunch. The third option, a secondary effect of a right brain lesion, would result in poor visual spatial ability which could cause an idiotic wrong turn, but as best I could tell I had no other related difficulties. Thankfully the problem wasn't any of these three, but rather a less cataclysmic yet somewhat more alarming diagnosis: we simply got lost - and impressively so in a familiar small town not far from our own. This realization is not the sort of confidence builder I am looking for considering I'm set to start traveling  3,700 miles in a matter of days, through all sorts of strange new roads and alien towns. 

Old Lemond fan with Z jersey through a canopy pecan grove

After leaving Byron we rode through a number of fully mature pecan groves alternating with peach groves. Georgia is known as the peach state but both South Carolina and California produce more. We do grow one third of all the pecans in the US and are the number one producing state. It is our second largest money crop behind cotton. Marijuana is supposedly in there someplace, but it's hard to get accurate numbers.

Dickey's Peach Packing Plant and Store

Many of this years peaches have already been picked. At Dickey's Packing Plant, in Mussella, I enjoy seeing the crop move along the conveyor belt and be sorted into boxes. The plant was built in 1936.  It has a spit level tin roof with attractive lines, an open air high ceiling set up for coolness and breeze, and pine floors in excellent condition.  It is impossible to carry the peaches on the bike but we occasionally have a freshly made peach shake. A word of caution: this shake is great going down, but sits in the stomach like a pound of nacho chips and a six pack. We took a pass this time and went straight for the ham and cheese sandwiches at the store across the street.

General Store  Mussella

Garmin file Chinese Ham and Cheese Ride 

(Click above to see ride)

Prior Post Update
As a follow up to the last entry, Charlotte returned safe and sound from Tuscany and weathered the interrogations well, although she was a bit miffed I had not come to her defense. I regret to inform that the investigation into my almost murder has come to a screeching halt because officer Poncherello has been assigned to the case. Turns out officer Poncherello was the same officer who handled a certain grand theft auto case a few years ago.  He reminded me that he was the young Georgia highway patrolman, (GHIPS) assigned to the case back in 2008 when I first reported my black 1985 El Camino stolen. During that case I testified that my beautiful, cherished, car/truck hybrid would be easy to identify because I placed a custom-made bumper sticker I designed reading I Swam the Rio Grande on it in order to give the vehicle the attitude I thought it needed. Needless to say someone couldn't take a joke.