BRAG 2003

One way to see some country on your bicycle is by participating in an organized cross-state tour. These rides are similar to one day supported rides, but last for about a week and cross some portion of a state. Generally, the ride is over low traffic roads, with some sight seeing along the way, and camping at schools each night. A forest service shower truck is available at each night's stop and your luggage is hauled to each day's stop as well. Pre-purchased meals are available on site, or the cyclist can eat in town at various restaurants. You can also choose to go into town and spend the night at a motel. We enjoyed Cycle South Carolina in 2002 and decided to give the Georgia tour a try this summer. BRAG (Bike Ride Across Georgia) covers a different route each year--this year they were doing the southernmost part of the state, beginning in Bainbridge on June 15th and ending up in St. Mary’s on the 21st.

Once we were registered (numbers 846 & 847), all we had to do was get into shape for six straight days of riding. Over Memorial Day weekend, we planned to do a 50 mile ride each of the three days. Saturday, while riding on Highway 52 near St. Stephens, SC, we crashed on our bike. We have enjoyed this particular route before, and like it because it is a low traffic, four lane highway with a wide shoulder. Unfortunately for us, the state had recently installed incised rumble strips all along the highway in both shoulders. These are a new type of rumble strip--much deeper and wider than what you are probably used to. If you come upon these avoid them--they are lethal to a bicycle. We were cruising along about 20 mph and were into the strips before Ken had a chance to avoid them, and he lost control of the bike, which went up over a curb to the right and then down into the road shoulder. He went over the handlebars, and I went down with the bike. Fortunately we weren't seriously hurt, and the bike was not damaged; however I did have to have some stitches in my leg. We were concerned that it would not heal in time for BRAG and were right up against the deadline for any refund. A very nice lady at BRAG headquarters gave us a few days extra so I could see the doctor again before deciding whether or not to do the ride. Once he gave the ok, we were good to go. I have to add that we were pretty spooked by the crash and I really had to talk myself into getting back on the bike. We did some slow, casual rides around the neighborhood during the week we had left, and that was all the training we were able to do.

Our tour actually started on the Friday before, when we drove to Kingsland, GA, near the finish town of St. Mary’s. We spent the night there and were up bright and early to get our bike ready for transport and ourselves on the bus to Bainbridge. (For a fee, buses, bike transport, and parking for your four wheeled vehicle are provided at the start and finish.) Tandems and recumbents were supposed to get there early to get those larger bikes loaded on the truck first. The bicycle transport is a little scary. They pretty much just stack them in a big truck, with cardboard in between them. We did hear of one bicycle being damaged the year before, but evidently it is mostly safe. Once the bicycles and people were loaded, the four buses were on the way. Since we were a captive audience, we were able to get the mandatory safety video out of the way. Two movies were also shown. We made only one rest stop, so next time I will pack a lunch! By early afternoon, we were in Bainbridge and began to get an idea of the scope of this ride. There were tents, bicycles and people everywhere! The rest of the day was spent getting checked in, setting up camp, and wandering around looking at the bikes. A large number of vendors were set up with all kinds of bicycle related stuff for sale, so we had to check that out as well. At bedtime, I was reminded of one of the bits of advice included with the BRAG information. It was suggested that you check for light fixtures when you set up camp, as most of the spots are near athletic fields and in areas with all night lighting. I had a very bright light shining right in my eyes once we were down for the night. I was more careful about that the rest of the week!

One thing to know ahead of time about these tours is that everybody gets up EARLY. You begin to hear people out and about by 4 am. Many of them leave before sun-up. I am not an enthusiastic early riser, and don't like to do anything without eating first, so we did not get up quite that early. However, we were generally in the chow line by 5:30. After breakfast, we had to get everything packed up and on the truck by 8:00. I think the latest we started was around 7:30; otherwise we were on the road shortly after 7. Ken would have liked to been out just a wee bit earlier than that, but he is a good captain and likes to keep his stoker reasonably happy!

Sunday was a 54-mile ride from Bainbridge to Thomasville. We were very impressed that first day, and for the remainder of the tour, by the level of organization. They have been doing this tour for 24 years, and have it down to a science by now. They just seem to have everything covered. There was plenty of food, with a good variety. Lots of port-potties, and hand washing facilities at each rest stop, which is an excellent idea. There were three different bike shops covering service at the rest stops and in the evening. Each day's cue sheet had a detailed description of the route, including warnings about road hazards and information about the towns we would travel through as well as a map of the camp site and information about nearby motels or eating places. There was a strong law enforcement presence, with uniformed cyclists actually on the ride as well units all along the way helping with traffic. That was very much appreciated.

We arrived safely in Thomasville, and one of the first things we did was buy a couple of hamburgers from a booth set up by some teenagers--I don't remember if they were connected to a music group or were cheerleaders, but their hamburgers hit the spot. We found a nice camping spot under a tree--away from the lights--and hit the shower line. With about 2,000 bicyclists, you expect some lines, but overall, the waits were never very long. Ken had to talk with the bike shop fellows, since he had lowered his seat during the day and felt the bolt give slightly when he tightened it. They recommended he not try to remove it, but ride until, or if, it actually gave way. It made it the whole week, but when he checked it at home, he found it had indeed separated and was held together by only one thread! The highlight of this day's stop was the ice cream social in honor of Father's Day, although we both felt we ate just a little too much.

After a good night's sleep, we were off for the 62-mile trip to Valdosta. We had gotten motel reservations for Valdosta, and were looking forward to that. Since we didn't want to pay someone to take our stuff to the motel, we had previously packed a small back-pack, which we got out of our luggage when we arrived at the campus in Valdosta. We then put our luggage back on the truck so it would be transported the next day and set off for town. We don't ride much in town so found this a little intimidating, but actually it went very well. We did take a wrong turn, and when we stopped for directions, the nice man who helped us turned out to be from a town just up the road from where we live. Since the day had been very hot, we really were appreciated the cool room. We were up and out at first light, headed for Douglas, 69 miles away.

A big part of the BRAG experience is the vast number of bikes and bikers. Out on the road, there was almost always a line of bicycles as far as you could see. There were top-of-the-line bikes, mountain bikes, and a couple that were home made. We were really surprised at the number of families with children. Lots of older children did the ride on their own bikes, but some were passengers. We saw our first triple--two of them in fact. There were also a few tandems pulling trailers or half-bikes. Many folks on the ride had done it several times--one woman I talked to had done BRAG 19 times. It was a family tradition by this time and her grown-up sons were on the ride with them. Ken met a man who was one of his instructors when he was in the Army at Fort Rucker, Alabama. We have never been on a ride with so many tandems--it was great to see so many different ones and visit with the riders. We were gratified on the last day when a man told us he and his wife were checking out tandems because they wanted to get one, and had thought ours looked the best.

    Douglas was the site for the lay-over day, so we spent two nights there. We had carefully chosen a spot close to the chow hall and bathrooms and just a short walk to the luggage truck. We had paid special attention to avoiding the many obvious wet spots in the yard. We were enjoying a nice visit on a nearby porch during a real downpour, when the gentleman we were with suggested we might want to look at our tent. It was sitting in a small pond! One of the suggestions I had paid attention to was putting clothing in plastic bags in the luggage--the only thing that got wet was our BRAG t-shirts, which I had not gotten around to putting in the plastic bag. The duffel they were in faded on them just a little, but I managed to get the stain out at home. I expected our sleeping bags to be soaked, but the tent held back the water other than in that one spot, so we were VERY fortunate that day. After a while, we emptied the tent and moved it and were dry the rest of the time. The other fun thing about this stop was that the gentleman we were visiting with is the mayor of Americus, Georgia. He had lots of tales to tell about Jimmy Carter and his family. It was interesting to talk with someone who knows an important person just as an ordinary person. The next day, there were several ride options, including resting, which is what we chose. We got the laundry done-that was the longest line I was in all week-and went to Wal-Mart and bought a camping fan. It has a magnet to attach it to the roof and actually puts out quite a bit of air.

On Thursday, we were off to Waycross, some 51 miles away. This was our other motel stop. The traffic was pretty bad here--about the worst of the trip and by being in town, we missed out on the shuttle bus to the Okefenokee Swamp, which was just about the only real tourist attraction on the tour. At the motel, some lovely older gentlemen were quite taken with the tandem and had all kinds of questions for us. They won my heart because they assumed I must be doing all the work! They got quite a kick out of telling me I should get some foot rests welded on and get an electrified prod to poke Ken and get him to pedal faster! They sure made our day!

Friday was a 68 mile day to Brunswick, which was the nicest camping of the trip due to a brisk breeze to cool off with and dry everything out. All week there had been pancakes at the first rest stop to purchase separately, but this morning the Chris Cakes were the breakfast for the day. These guys put on quite a show--throwing you a plate and flipping the pancakes from the griddle to your plate. And the pancakes were good too! So, we were well fueled up for the last day--54 miles to St. Mary’s.

As we approached the end of the road, we had some regrets that we couldn't go on and do Cycle South Carolina the next week. We felt a real boost to our morale since we got stronger and felt better as the week went by. The confusion and semi-chaos of the end of the ride party was disappointing, but no real biggy. Besides that, the only negative thing was the sameness of the route--it was really pretty boring. We would heartily recommend BRAG to cyclists of all abilities.

TailWind Members ~

Ken and Suzanne Timmer ~ Goose Creek, SC