It is finally here, Rides for Redemption's "Ride for the Refugees." After months of planning, the day has finally arrived...on brisk winds and cold temperatures! Yes, I woke this morning at 25 degrees!
Looking at the forecast, I knew the temperatures were not going to get out of the 30s, PLUS we had a northwest winds gusting to 20 mph...a good head wind! This put wind chills in the teens. Now to those who live in the north, this probably sounds like a bunch of whining, and well, I guess it is, but I've been in the south for 20 years, and this is down right cold! I lived in North Dakota for 6 years, but 20 years of acclimating to the south...30s is cold!!! All this to say, this was the set up for the #ridefortherefugees. Josiah Haner got the vision to put together #ridesforredemption, an organization that uses people's passion for riding to help those around the world. Ride for the Refugees is the first ride for Rides for Redemption...here is a little info on this...
We have all seen glimpses of the terrible atrocities taking place in the middle east. The violent advance of the Islamic State armies in Iraq and Syria has left millions displaced with no more than the clothes on their backs. Aid workers in the various regions hosting refugees are in desperate need of funds to support the millions who have been driven from their homes.
The unfolding of these events is the very thing that brought Rides for Redemption into existence. And it is the very thing we will be riding for in our very first event; a 150 mile journey on the Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga trails. We are seeking sponsors to pledge any dollar amount per mile of our long journey. We are also seeking prayer from those who would commit to pray for Iraqi and
Syrian refugees throughout certain time slots of our ride's duration.
We live in such a privileged and protected place here in the United States, and we have so much at our disposal to give for causes such as this. Please consider joining us to make positive difference in this tragic situation. Let's show true love and concern by reaching out a helping hand to these in such desperate need. Every gift matters, no matter how small.
To find out how you can contribute, send an email to rides4redemption@gmail.com.
Thank you for your support!
Josiah
Josiah, Dan, and Landon arrived at my house around 830 AM-ish Friday morning, November 14. We got about an hour late start, but that was not a bad thing as this let the air warm up by at least 1 degree (yes, some sarcasm here). We got to the Hiram, GA trailhead on the #silvercomettrail around 10 AM.
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| Trailhead at Hiram, GA |
After saying a prayer and saying goodbye to Landon (a blessing for driving my truck back home, Thank You Landon!), we started pedaling just shortly after 10 AM. The Silver Comet Trail is a concret trail that goes from Smyna, GA westward to the Alabama border. Because we were wanting to do close to 50 miles per day, we opted to start at Hiram, GA. The Silver Comet is fairly flat, around a 1% grade, although it seemed like we were going up hill the entire time, but I think that was because of the strong head wind. Here are a few pictures along the route...
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| Josiah taking a picture of me taking a picture of Josiah taking a picture |
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| Me |
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| Dan |
Have to admit the fall colors were beautiful and really made the journey even better. After about 24 miles we stopped in Rockmart for lunch. Our support crew, made up of Sandy (Josiah's mom), Lauren, Fabia, and Amber, an awesome group of women, went ahead of us, and by the time we got to Rockmart, they had the lunch table set up, the food ready to eat, they were amazing. However, with the wind blowing, the riders (myself, Dan and Josiah), decided to get out of the wind and eat in the RV. To give you an idea if what we were wearing to keep warm, here is what I was wearing...
bike shorts
leg warmers
2 pair of socks, wool
1 underarmor longsleeve shirt
2 long sleeve shirts
1 heavy jacket
1 Buff
1 head/mouth cover
helmet
2 pairs or riding gloves
While riding, I was sweating on the inside, but when we would stop, the cold air would slice through us and we would instantly get cold.
Back to our support team, they had chicken salad, chips, fruit and mint oreos (need the sugar for energy of course!). This support team also had our clothes for the next couple of days, camping equipment (yes, we were going to camp in this weather...not kidding!), food, and in general supplies for the trip. Without the support of these ladies, this would have been a difficult trip. It is cool to see how God uses the giftings in each person, brings them together, and forms a successful group to accomplish a mission, totally cool!
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| Our Support Team and the Riders |
We downed that and then soon we were back on the trail. The immediate next section of the Silver Comet Trail leaves the railway line and becomes quite hilly. In fact, the stretch from Rockmart to Cedartown is quite hilly and not along the railway line. The write up from the Silver Comet Trail Website even says you may have to get out and walk some of the hills. Fortunately we did not have to HAB (Hike A Bike), however we got close by putting it in "granny gear." The views from this section were incredible, so incredible we forgot to take pictures (I know, right?) however a heads up, if you plan to do this in the summer, heed their advice and bring plenty of water as there are no watering stations between Cedartown and Rockmart. Right before we got to Cedartown, we say a unicyclist taking a break on the side of the trail. I got to hand it to this guy, for someone to do this on a unicycle, kudos to ya!
When we got to Cedartown, the trail seemed a bit funky. What I mean by that is that instead of either being on a road, stand alone or rail line, it was part of a sidewalk in front of abandoned businesses, a bit weird and a bit sketchy to me, but it was well marked at least. The depot, where you must HAB (not because of hills but because of a sign that says "get off your bike and walk"), was kind of cool.
From Cedartown to Borden Springs, AL was a beautiful section of trail. When we got to the Alabama/Georgia state line, there was a sign over the trail and on the ground, etched into what looked like marble or granite where the Welcome to Georgia and Welcome to Alabama signs. This is where the Silver Comet Trail ends, and the Chief Ladiga Trail Begins.
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| Josiah |
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| Dan |
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| Myself (left) and Dan (right) |
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| Josiah (left) and Dan (right) |
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| Looking Down the Chief Ladiga Trail |
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The campground we stayed at was the Chief Ladiga Trail Campground. If you ever do the Silver Comet/Chief Ladiga Trail and want to camp, this is a great campground. It is a primitive campground with a great bath house, built only a couple of years ago. The campground and the bathhouse (heated!!!!) were both very clean. The setting is between two ridge lines with a small river/large creek running on the northern side of the campground.
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| Chief Ladiga Trail Campground |
What was so cool is that we we rode into the campground, the support team has our tents already set up! These gals are amazing! Not only that, they also were preparing chili and the trimmings for us, plus an amazing campfire!
After taking warm showers, we relaxed around the campfire, eating chili. Afterwards we told stories where one person would start the story with a phrase, and as we went around the group, each person would add another phrase. They were suppose to start off as scary ghost stories, but both stories ended up as a comedy. In the middle of story telling, James and Tori showed up (Josiah's brother and sister-in-law). Then as we were having 'smores, Terry, the caretaker of the campground, stopped by for a visit. He must've stayed for at least an hour. He told us the history of this campground and what they want to do with it. Eventually they want to get RV hook-ups for it.
Because of the cold and windy evening (temps already near 30 by 8 PM), we were going through the firewood like crazy. There was a time around sunset where two of our people went foraging for firewood along the road. Then, as two more went out after dark, Terry told us about an area where the boy scouts had cut up a tree that had fallen. A couple of the group went with Terry to where this wood was and he hauled it back for us. This was an amazing man. If you can picture a true southerner, with an Alabama accent, deep husky voice, this was Terry. Before he left, Sandy asked if we could pray for him and he readily said yes. Come to find out he has had health problems and is still re-cooperating from them.
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| 'smore time |
Around 930 PM we were ready for bed. Now I had brought two heaters with us, plus Landon (the guy who drove my truck home from Hiram) lent us his portable generator. The plan was to use these two ceramic heaters in the boy's tent and one in the girl's tent, and then let the RV use it's own heater. That was the plan :) However, we couldn't get the heater in the RV to work, so Dan suggested letting the ladies in the RV use our heater and we would to without a heater in our tent. We started the portable generator up for the ladies tent for their heater and then we were off to bed. Thus ends Day 1.
Stats for Day 1:
Total Miles: 54.5
Total Riding Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Average Pace: 12.5 MPH
The Route...
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| Hiram, GA westward to Borden Springs, AL |
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