Decatur to Hamilton, AL

Luna moth!

After a much needed day off yesterday, most of our team was much better prepared for the long, rolling ride that today held. Many folks spent their day wandering around the Decatur mall like angst-ridden teenagers, even getting scolded by the mall cop for snoozing on the mall floor. I, along with the three other leaders (Cassie, JD, and Ethan), spent the entire day at Starbucks, sipping coffee and doin’ work, so it was nice to start today with much of that under my belt.
We had a wonderful breakfast of BRAND NAME cereal, toasted bagels with actual crème cheese, and lots of milk and orange juice. Decatur doesn't have a ton of stuff going on, but that simply made it less tempting to not rest up.

Anyway, we hopped on our bikes this morning, bright eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to live yet another adventure. Within the first 10 miles of the ride, my riding group spotted a real life peacock, thanks to its instant screeching which could be heard hundreds of feet away. I hate mornings too. We also ran across several dogs en route, which I enjoyed much less than our run-in with the peacock. Though there were several who gave chase to some of our riders, they handled the rude interruptions of our beautiful ride like champs and gracefully gave each pooch a squirt of Gatorade right in the kisser (quite unpleasant, believe me).

Our trip also had a Side-of-the-Road-Find competition in memory of 2011 SC2SC leader Christina Genco, who once strapped half of a toilet onto her camelback to win a similar competition. Chris found a clutch bamboo walking stick with very creepy-looking deer foot attached to the bottom. (I was introduced to this find at our lunch stop when he began even so gently scratching my back with the little hoof. Surprisingly pleasant.) Rae had another great find when she snagged a snazzy coconut bra from a ditch.  Cass, ever reliable, even found a colander - we needed one of those! After lunch we encountered our steepest climb of the trip thus far, one that hit 22% at its steepest. Though challenging, the view of the contoured foothills of the Appalachians was well worth the sweat.

After a tough 80.1 miles, we arrived at our generous host site, Hamilton United Methodist. Early arrivals were able to “DM” (“donation magic”) some snow cones, groceries, and even $140 in cash for local supporters! Our dinner was provided by some generous members of the congregation of our host site (shout out to Dennis & Vicky and others who helped, as well as a special shout out to future Bike & Builders Anne and Jane). There were pans on pans of lasagna, dessert, pulled pork, and baked beans. A feast fit for a king.

We also knocked out laundry tonight – wrapping up everyone’s clothes into the tarp to make a “laundry burrito” is always entertaining. Those who were not on laundry crew spent their evening making a prune juice run to the nearby grocery store, playing beautiful music and sleeping.

Speaking of which, 10:30 comes early round these parts. Night, y’all.

Roll Tide,

Lacy