Country Back Roads and Other Rainy Places: Paynes Prarie to Gold Head

Pre-packed

Day one

We arrived at Payne’s Prairie around 6:00 Friday night, much later than we had expected. We got the tent set up and baked some potatoes and grilled a couple of steaks. We ate around 7:30 in the dark. After supper we settled into the tent wondering what the following days would bring.

A heavy load. Check that front tire!

We got up and cooked eggs, grits and ate leftover steak. It was a great breakfast. It was also the best part the day. There was some real struggles ahead of us and it started by being a very late start. We had to checkout and then get the truck checked into overflow parking. By the time all that happened it was 10:00 before we started out. Today was a 63 mile day, but like all campgrounds the camping is a couple of miles from the main gate. By the time we hit the road we already had 2.5 miles on the computer.

Our route was a north easterly direction into a NE wind. It started out mild but quickly became a constant drag. The other challenge was completely unexpected. The road was very rolling the further north we rode. Wind and hills, a bikers nightmare.

About twelve miles down the road we biked through Cross Creek. Many years ago I went fishing there with an old friend and we saw bald eagles flying overhead. As we biked along three bald eagles came swooping over us, white tails and heads just a shining in the sun. We stopped and watched then for awhile as I thought about my friend. I haven’t seen him years. Hope he’s doing well.

As we rode on, the wind became more of an issue and our goal just became the next line on the queue sheet. We finally stopped for lunch around 2:00 and we still over thirty miles to go. Our next goal was just to get five miles down the road and then get five more and then five more. Finally with 6 miles left we turned to the west and a tail wind. It was a great way to finish but not enough to lift our spirits too high. It was 6:30 when we pulled in and it was getting dark. By the time we pulled into our site we had ridden 70 miles. A long day with a head wind.

We got the tent up just as the sun went down. We were too tired to cook so we ate a couple of cups of peaches and some French bread. By the time we showered we both just collapsed into the bed. Day one was done and so were we.