It’s not every day that your doctor informs you that rogue/mutated cells are no longer running rampant in your body, destroying everything they come in contact with. So what does one do? Celebrate! And how do I celebrate? With a 25 mile bike ride! Many of you may think me insane, and I may very well be, but if you’ve ever ridden a bike cross-country and enjoyed it, then you know where I’m coming from. There’s really nothing like it: wide open roads, beautiful scenery, complete synthesis of man, mind, and bike. There is no drug (that I’ve tried) on God’s Green Earth that can possibly come close to replicating how I feel when I dismount my trusty steel steed at the end of a long and (sometimes) grueling ride. The coursing adrenaline, rushing endorphins, legs limp as over-cooked pasta noodles, surging sense of pride and accomplishment; the swirling synergy created by all of these elements combine to form an intense high like no other (seven hours later and I’m still feelin’ it). Enough gushing and on to the reason for this post…
Beginning with this ride, I’m going to try my best to document my lengthy cross-country travails. There are several reasons for this. For the sake of space and time (both mine and yours), I’ll give you the top three. First, and most importantly, it’s just plain fun to share stuff. I figure there are other riders out there who, like myself, are always looking for new areas to explore, and new ways to challenge their bodies/minds. Second, given that I currently reside a fair distance from the urban core of Atlanta, there’s usually a fair amount of beautiful scenery to distract you from your burning legs and aching lungs. Third, I see this as a great way to document how much progress I’m making in my training regimen. I’m trying to increase my range and endurance gradually, and this will help me to make/keep track of progress.
So here’s…
…a map and some photos of the ride I took today. The distance and route I actually took is slightly different from what’s shown (The ride really ended up being roughly 25 miles in length, and went nearly to Lake Lanier). This is mostly due to the fact that I rode the middle ten miles in a sort of auto-pilot/recovery mode, and thus wasn’t really paying attention to signposts with road names on them.
(1) The ride officially starts in Old Suwanee, on Main Street.
(2) You're essentially following a rail line that runs nearly parallel to most of the route.
(3) The beginning of Brogdon Road after crossing Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road.
(4) N. Price Road bridge, right after the N. Price/Brogdon split.
(5) N. Price Road heading towards Old Suwanee Road.
(6) The rail line crossing at Old Atlanta Hwy & Lanier Ave.
(7) Chapel Avenue just before I make the jump onto Peachtree Industrial Blvd., and on to Lake Lanier.
Sorry about the low image quality of the photos, as they were taken with the camera on my phone. Once I obtain a suitable camera, expect images of drastically higher quality. That about wraps it up folks. Oh, one more thing: if there is anyone reading this who lives in the Suwanee/Sugar Hill/Duluth area who is interested in joining me for a ride, please feel free to get in touch with me.
Filed under: Missives, biking, cross-country, cycling, My girlfriend is jealous of my bike
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