Wednesday (June 8th) was day four of the 2011 Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG). There were numerous things that made today a great day: spent two nights in the same hotel and didn’t have to pack the car last night, had a break from riding, slept until seven, and today was mine and Lisa’s 26th wedding anniversary.
Though I slept in, Lisa and Leigh, (Doug’s wife) left early to go for a walk. I woke up before they returned and Lisa sent me a nice text asking if I was up. Told her I was up, showered, shaved, dressed and ready for my massage. She told me she would send Doug right over. Not really what I had in mind.
We hung around the hotel until 11:30 then met my cousin Bobby and his family for lunch at Della and Johnny’s. Bobby pastors a church in Dublin and he and his wife, Laura, are currently foster parents to three sisters ages 3, 4 and 5. Add these three cuties to their other five (ages 5, 8, 11, 13 and 15) and it makes for an interesting lunch. It’s good to catch up with Bobby and, at some point, we always get around to talking about his brothers, Jimmy and David. One of my favorite David stories is when Bobby’s son Joshua drew a smiley face on David’s baldhead while he was sleeping but that’s a blog for another day. The lunch was lively with all the kids and I got a kick out of Joshua and Jacob explaining how they keep catfish they catch alive in a small pool in their backyard until they are ready to eat them. Jacob informs me this “keeps them fresh”. Who can argue with that logic?
Though talking about Jimmy and David is always fun, the story of the backyard, pool raised catfish made me laugh, the topper was when one of the young sisters announced that she needed to poop. Mother Laura, seeing this as a teaching moment, calmly said to the young one, “I have to go to the restroom.” A huge smile broke out on the young girls face as she looked at Laura and exclaimed, “So do I!” Priceless.
We hurried off to the school where Bullet Bob Fuller was completing the optional ride on this off day. Bullet had challenged his friends that if they met a
minimum pledge-per-mile for Michael’s Ultimate Mission then he would ride the 100-miler on Wednesday. He said they met the minimum within a few hours as many of his friends ganged up to push him over the mark. I think Wednesday was the hottest day of the week but there was nice, cold chocolate milk waiting for Bob and two lovely ladies to present him the yellow jersey when he finished.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around waiting for my massage. It just wasn’t meant to be but we had a nice dinner at Deano’s Italian Grille and most everyone from the team (with the exception of Phil, Kathy and Mary Katherine) were able to attend. Gary Larkins (aka triple zero) was at our table along with The Diesel Doug Lane. Larkins was giving it to Doug pretty good about the upcoming “race” between Doug and Lee on Friday. Will cover that in my Friday update.
Nice relaxing 26th anniversary. Longest ride of the week is tomorrow to Metter.
- Dinner at Deano’s
