East Coast Bike Tour – Days 19 & 20

Day 19 – Brunswick to Darien, GA

Today almost counted as a rest day. I only biked a little over 20 miles which did not take me long at all. Therefore I had almost all day to relax.

I only rode 20 miles because I am meeting three awesome people – Dani, Kelly, and their baby Oliver – in Darien GA. Dani will spend the next two days riding with me and we will meet up with Kelly and Oli in Savannah.

In my 20 miles, I was able to stop and check out a few historic plantations. I saw Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation and Butler Island Plantation which were rice plantations that started around 1800, were abandoned during the Civil War and picked back up after and lasted until the early 1900s. I had no idea the GA coast made rice back in the day!

The most heart pounding part of my ride, however, was me riding down the 2 lane highway, looking up and seeing a big ol logging truck headed straight towards me. I immediately yanked my handlebars to the right onto the grassy side of the road and slowly came to a stop. I looked back and he kept barreling down the highway passing up other cars that were in front of him while pieces of bark littered the highway.

Day 20 – Riding with Dani – Darien to Richmond Hill, GA

My first day riding with another person! And it’s with a good friend! Dani, who is from Spain originally, rode with me 77 kilometers today, which was more than he asked for. He was hoping for less than 65 kilometers, but he killed it no problem.

We started our day the ol fashioned Spanish way – late. He did drive all night from St Petersburg, FL and get into Darien, GA at like 1 am though so he had an excuse for the late start, and I was all for it. I enjoyed a free hotel breakfast and some play time with Mr. Oliver.

We started our ride out strong until Google led us to a dead end, so we turned around and tried again. About 10 miles in we stopped and sampled a bunch of different flavored Georgian pecans and various things made from peaches. Ended up just getting a peach slushy that went down very cold and too quickly.

Through the rest of the ride, it was overcast with a nice breeze which was amazing…until it started pouring buckets on us. After we were fully soaked we pulled over and took shelter under one of the hundreds of churches that were along the road.

Not long after, we pulled into our campsite and luckily they had one campsite left – just for us. Kelly and Oliver met up with us as we enjoyed the pool and getting my tent and his makeshift sleeping arrangements together. We spent the next hour trying to find a hotel in Savannah for that night for Kelly and Oli and for us the night after, but Oli was quite particular and undecisive with what he wanted.

Dani and I then rode over to a Scottish pub for an early dinner and beer where we sat next to a very outspoken, loud, blunt, gentleman who liked to talk politics, and was super excited about my ride. He started out by buying us a round of Jamison whiskey shots. We then talked with him for the next hour or two while we grubbed on some pot pie and meatloaf and washed it down with an ice cold beer.

It was good having another friend camp out with me for a night. Being able to sit and chat as the sun went down with someone I knew and praying that there won’t be any rain that night because if it did, we were screwed.

Tomorrow’s ride will be another easy day, taking us into downtown Savannah to meet back up with Kelly and Oli and spend the day and night there.

Stats:

• Day 19 – 23.79 miles in 2 hours 4 minutes
• Day 20 – 77 kilometers in 3 hours 28 minutes (48 miles)

Accommodation:

• Blythe Island County Park
• Econo Lodge
• Savannah South KOA Holiday

Breweries:

• None 🙁