To the left is Chippewa Square, which features the park bench used in the making of Forrest Gump.
We arrived in Savannah on Saturday afternoon and drove directly to the three-story, historically designed townhouse that Susan’s cousin, Robert, shares with his partner, Ken. The arrival of Susan’s brother, Gary, and his wife, Luann, from Jacksonville Beach, Florida prompted our first stroll about town, a quiet amble through a few city squares to Robert and Ken’s circa 1840 three-unit townhouse that they rent to summer vacationers and SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) students. As evening approached the six of us moseyed downtown for a delicious meal and great conversation at a Vietnamese restaurant on Broad Street.
Sunday was “bike ride day” for Susan, Gary, and myself so we were all up before dawn to
don our bicycle garb, enjoy a cup of java, pump the tires, and ride our bikes a mile or so to the Distillery, a local pub and starting point for the ride. The plans were for the three of us to take on the 103-mile “century”, although we had back-up maps for the 56 mile or 69 mile routes. We were amid a tight pack of about 450 riders as we left under police motorcycle escort to attack the most scenic part of the ride – the Talmadge Memorial Bridge (see photo at right) over the Savannah River. The 185-foot rise over one-half mile quickly disintegrated the pack and we soon became separated from one another as we wove through slower clumps of bikers or gave way to stronger peddlers seeking a clear path for the rest of the ride.I was the first to reach the bridge’s far side and pulled over to regroup with Susan and Gary. Susan arrived within a minute or two but as we gazed toward the top of the bridge Gary was nowhere to be seen. Finally, after most of the riders had cleared the bridge, Gary pulled up sweating profusely. A sticky brake and wobbly rear wheel caused him to stop twice for repairs and turned the first few miles of the ride into a torturous ordeal. We quickly formed a three-person drafting line, and breezed across the flat marshland of South Carolina and back into Georgia. About 20 miles out disaster struck again for Gary when his rear tire blew out. He realized that a further delay would probably prevent Susan and me reaching our goal of completing the century, so he graciously sent us on as he waited for Luann to drive out from town and pick him up.
Susan and I now sought other riders to draft with and were fortunate enough to encounter a few strong groups that pulled us through some of the windier portions of the route. This was a non-competitive ride and we easily made friends with a few riders who rode our pace and arrived at the numerous rest stops at about the same time. The final ten miles we were on our own and traded the lead every mile or two as we faced a stiff northeast crosswind into Savannah. After 6-1/2 hours of seat time and 103 miles we arrived back at the Distillery and celebrated with a few gulps of their special draughts.
After a quick shower at Robert’s place we regrouped with Gary and Luann and drove 20 miles east to the coast where Susan had arranged the use of her Aunt Bobbie’s Tybee Island condo for the night. An enjoyable evening meal at the Hunter House, which also provided a great view of the Labor Day fireworks from the balcony, closed out an adventurous and most enjoyable day. Back at the condo Susan and I were in bed by 9:15 and soundly slept off the tiring bike ride. On Monday morning we enjoyed a simple breakfast of bagels and fruit, followed by a long, relaxing conversation with Gary and Luann where we caught up with the latest “doings” of Kayla and Earl, and Nick and Gwen.
(P.S. I must confess I failed to take any photos myself so I ripped the two above from the Internet.)
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