Century
number six was a ride of thankfulness.
As always, I rode being grateful for my recovery from my crash, but
yesterday I was also thankful that I was well enough to ride after having had a
fever for several days earlier in the week.
I guess it was some kind of virus.
It was strange being completely off of my bike for three days, which is
the longest stretch since the crash. But
I kicked some virus booty and had a wonderful ride yesterday on behalf of the
ML&J Fund for Children and Youth. I
did the Wheels to the World Century in Athens.
(Having ridden in Rome last month, it seems fitting that I visited
Georgia’s other city of antiquity this month.)
One Ride
– Two Great Charities
When I
participate in an organized ride as part of A Year of Centuries, I’m usually
helping two charities: 1) my personally designated charity of the month and 2)
the charity designated for the ride itself.
It’s a good thing because I get to leverage my own limited
resources. Yesterday, I got to ride for
the ML&J Fund (my charity of the month in A Year of Centuries) and Women to
the World (the beneficiary of the Wheels to the World century). Even better, these two charities complement
each other beautifully. ML&J
addresses the needs of children and youth, and Women to the World helps vulnerable
and disadvantaged women.
The ML&J
Fund is about meeting needs at the most grassroots level. It is local people caring about local
people. The ML&J Fund provides basic
things – clothing and school supplies – to impoverished young people. If these young people’s physical needs are
met, they can better focus on their education, which is the key to them making
real, permanent change in their lives.
Women to the
World also helps people, women specifically, build better lives for themselves. It works with women locally in Athens and in
a number of countries around the world.
The local program is called Partnering Ambassadors for Life and Service
(PALS), and it helps women get their GED, find jobs, and learn other life
skills. Internationally, Women to the
World helps women in countries including Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, and
Kenya. It goes into very remote areas
that generally are too small to be served by larger NGOs. A typical Women to the World project might be
installing a well in a village. The
Women to the World mission statement summarizes its work well: “Rescuing women
and children from poverty, dependency, and abuse.”
I had read
about Women to the World’s work on its website before the ride, but I got much
more of a sense of its realness from the ride volunteers, who also volunteer
with the PALS program. There was a rest
stop at mile 50, where I had a conversation with a man who tutors women in math
as they work on their GEDs. As he
described a typical woman in the program – in her 30s, unmarried, and with four
children – really making strides in her life, tears came to his eyes. What a privilege to be a part of this, even
as just a participant in the Wheels to the World century. I had been dragging a little bit on the first
half of my ride, but this conversation truly energized me for the second 50
miles.
Wind and
Water
Because I
didn’t know anyone else there, I did the whole ride by myself. Well, I did ride the first six miles with a
group of guys. Then, the two cups of
Irish breakfast tea that I drank during my drive to Athens hit me with a
vengeance. I had to pull off into the
brush for a nature break, and I never caught back up to the group. It didn’t bother me because I was up for the
challenge. Besides, it was a perfectly
lovely day for a ride!
The route
was beautiful, mostly through farm country.
I even saw an old windmill that looked like one from Holland. It was across a big field, and the lighting
wasn’t great, but here’s the best photo I could get:
The second
half of the ride went through Watson Mill Bridge State Park. Traffic (including bicycles!) actually travels
through the one-lane covered bridge:
I also took
a picture of the South Fork River flowing below as I crossed the bridge:
It Must
Be a Sign
Athens is
one of the most bicycle friendly cities in Georgia. As I pedaled on the roads leading out of and
into Clarke County, it was quite gratifying to see so many signs like these:
Speaking of
gratifying signs, I was very impressed with the road marking for the ride. It was so easy to follow the blue arrows
indicating the century route. I didn’t
refer to my cue sheet or paper map the first time. It’s a uniquely fun feeling to ride along on
unfamiliar roads and simply follow the pavement markings, not being
concerned with getting lost.
I must
admit, however, that as an REM fan, this was my favorite sign of the day:
When they
were still in Athens, the REM band members often ate here at Weaver D’s, a meat-and-two
restaurant. Owner Dexter Weaver has a
motto, “Automatic for the people,” which REM co-opted as the title of the
Grammy-winning album.
Being in REM
land, a number of their songs floated around in my head throughout the day. The main one that got stuck there was “Shiny,
Happy People,” which I thought of as my theme song for the day.
Shiny, happy
person
Jittery
Joe’s Roaster
For someone
who doesn’t even like coffee, I had such a good time at Jittery Joe’s Roaster
after the ride.
It was even
fun washing my hands in the restroom.
Check out this highwheeler in the sink:
As you can
see Jittery Joe’s is very friendly to cyclists.
In fact, they even sponsor a racing team.
Our ride
organizers put out some yummy post-ride vittles. Who doesn’t love pizza and homemade pimento
cheese?
We even had
live music. The guitarist/singer was
great, playing all kinds of bluesy and folksy tunes.
And can you
believe they even offered free massage?
I had never seen this at a ride!
A few minutes of work on my neck and shoulders were heavenly.
I started
talking with the Jittery Joe’s manager about the operations there, and he
offered to show me the roasting machines.
It was fascinating. They have two
25-lb. roasters, but they have shifted to two 50-lb. roasters to keep up with
demand. This facility supplies all of
the Jittery Joe’s stores and anyone who sells their coffee, including canisters.
There were a number of pallets of coffee
beans waiting to be roasted, which the manager says is about a week’s
worth. They go through two tractor
trailer loads of beans per month, more in the wintertime. The beans come from 31 countries. I learned that the medium roast beans come
from the tropics, like Costa Rica, which I got to visit over this past New
Year’s. The darker roast beans come from
Africa.
After buying
some whole bean coffee for my husband (who loves his java!), I headed home with
these words of wisdom:
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