Weekly Summary

The Crew

We finally got a picture of all of us. Clockwise from the orange jacket.  Orange jacket is Greg. Then Tait, one of the guides. Then Chris, Don, Joe sitting, Dave standing, Bob, me, Chris, and finally the other guide and company owner Dennis. One person, Brian, had to leave due to a back injury so there are only 10. 

I Had Why I Live In The South Reinforced!

I moved to Atlanta because I like warm weather. I am surprised how cold it can be in June out here. I joked before leaving about getting snowed or sleeted on but thought would never happen. I didn’t expect both to happen more than once! 

The wind is another thing. I knew it could get quite windy out here. But I didn’t realize how common it was to be wildly windy. I basically never have to check wind conditions in Atlanta before I ride. I’ve now realized why everyone makes such a big deal about wind conditions.

So, combine warm weather with low winds and Atlanta is a terrific place to live in general and for cycling. If you can handle the heat, that is.

The Physics Of Chafing Solved!

One of the gentlemen mentioned that he wears two pairs of bike shorts and that really minimizes chafing and pressure soreness. I was skeptical but then realized after the day I had to wear my rain pants that my bottom was better. I wore my thinnest, least favorite shorts as a second layer the last two days and it was an amazing difference. I think I have figured it out…

When you are riding rough pavement there are tons of little vibrations that are constantly causing your shorts to rub against you just a little. Every time you move, you cause the shorts to rub against you just a little bit. With the second layer, most of the movement happens between the 2 layers and much less happens to your skin. Hence, much better! The extra padding helps with the pressure on the sit bones too.

I don’t think this is an issue if you aren’t riding every day like this. I’ve never worried about it before. But, for longer tours like this, I’m sold on the approach.

Everyone Is So Sore

All of us are hobbling around. Our whole bodies are just sore and tight. Stretching is a multi-time per day event! One of the guys has done a couple full Iron Man events and he says this is beating him up harder. We all think our bodies are adjusting, however, and nobody isn’t able to push through.

My leg is still holding up and I’m really happy about it. There aren’t but 1 or 2 days upcoming with a climb steep enough to irritate it. So, I am hoping I’m home free soon.

A Bike Fit Is Critical

I paid for a professional bike fit last year and it really helped. One day this week, my knee was bothering me for some reason. I looked at the bottom of my shoe and the screws holding the cleat that attaches to my pedal had gotten loose. The cleat had rotated just a tiny bit. I moved it back to where the markings from the bike fitter were and it was resolved. It was amazing how such a small difference in cleat placement could cause such issue with my knee in just a day or two.

If you ride and plan to do any sort of regular distance, I’d suggest a bike fit to make sure your positioning and angles are correct.

Dogs

I think we have a dog owner issue in Georgia. Across all of these miles, there has not been a single dog off leash and none of us has been chased. Granted, most of the areas are super rural. But, even going through towns and such, there are no issues.

It occurs to me that dog owners in Georgia do not keep their dogs under control as well as people do elsewhere. Another guy told me that the worst problems he ever had were in Mississippi. Perhaps some of you have noticed regional differences in dog control?

So, while I’m happy that I haven’t had to deal with dogs, I am disappointed that, apparently, I have to worry more in Georgia than I should.

People Getting Lost

I have been amazed at how many times we’ve had people get lost even though they have a bike computer on their bike and the routes on their phones. If you get your phone and bike computer set up right, it is pretty easy to follow the course and to identify if you’re off somehow and find your way back. Most of us haven’t gotten lost at all, but a few have gotten lost multiple times. We’ve given them a lot of well-deserved grief…