Paul Anderson’s Cycling Challenge

The day started out at Athens “Y” Camp where we awoke to a cool crisp morning and steam coming off the lake.  The hills coming out of the gorge warmed us all up and while we started with a good pace, we were sidelined by tire troubles…again.  This year’s trip has seen far too many flat tires which has bamboozled most of the staff.  Thankfully, Drew is a master handyman and was able to rectify the problem by making some tedious but very precise adjustments (he switched out the bike).  While this slowed us a bit, we were able to arrive in Toccoa at the Paul Anderson Park at 10am to a rest stop orchestrated by Edward and Paula Schaefer along with Rebecca Binette and Quality Foods.  The food and drinks were fantastic along with the bike that Edward and Paula generously gave away.  

Leaving Toccoa, we headed to Royston, making good time and stopped for a lunch break along the side of the road.  We then launched the final part of our assault…Elberton and Richard B. Russell State Park.  The trip to Elberton was uneventful as we finally had the wind at our backs and on coming into Elberton, everything seemed right on schedule.  This should have been the first sign that things were about to go wrong.  A brief wrong turn send us off track by 3 miles, nothing major but when we finally arrived on the correct road, we began a seemingly endless journey to the park.  The road was under construction, windy, and hilly.  10 miles out of Elberton, we arrived at the Park and than had to proceed another 2 miles to the campsite.  We were all glad to be off the bikes.  Kevin, Michael’s father cooked us a spectacular chicken dinner and then we relaxed by the lake and watched the stars.  2 more days and and 180 miles to go!

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