Notes from the road: BRAG 2008

By Byron Rushing

The trip went great! I got in late on Friday night from a business trip to Florida followed by drinks with friends. Managed to pack up my camping gear, borrow a tent (mine's still not finished, I wish I'd had it though), and roll out of Decatur about 10am on Saturday morning. Good thing I didn't leave too early, the trip to Oxford wasn't as long as I'd expected.

The ride on Saturday took me from Decatur to Conyers, where I stopped in to a bike shop to adjust my brakes and pick up a few critical items that I needed, to Covington and into Oxford at the Emory campus. The route was very easy for the most part with a section on the Arabia Mountain PATH near Stonecrest Mall and only a bit of riding on the highway access road. Getting into camp on Saturday, I registered at BRAG HQ and bumped into our friends Sheila and Collin! We ended up hanging out in camp most evenings -- "thanks gals!"

Sunday was the first day of BRAG, leaving from Oxford and traveling down to Griffin. The riding was good, traveling through several small towns, and very nearly riding past Fresh Air. I could have made a detour to stop for a sandwich, but chose to press on instead since it was still 8am. I did have a BBQ sandwich and some beer in Griffin that night.

Monday was Griffin to Macon and VERY HOT. It was one of the hottest days I've ever spent on a bike and I drank at least a dozen gallons of water and blue Powerade. Uneventful riding, though parts of Henry and Spalding counties are very pretty with lots of horse farms and bucolic barns. However about 5 miles before Macon, we came upon a great big lake with a very convenient boat ramp. About a dozen riders did flying dismounts from their bikes and plunged headfirst in to the water. A group of us hung out for about an hour swimming in the lake and feeling much more refreshed. We traveled into town for a movie (Iron Man, not bad) and Mexican food.

Tuesday was Macon to Dublin and was much different scenery than the previous three days. We dropped into the coastal plain, the ground got much sandier, and the farms got drier looking. The riding flattened out into shake-and-bake, still very hot but I finished much sooner for the day. Got a ride back to Atlanta from Dublin and stopped for Fresh Air on the way back through Macon.

Camping gear wise, I carried everything with me and was well prepared. Good tent, just the right mix of on- and off-bike clothes, and not too much extra stuff. I wish I had a good cycling cap under my helmet, but I lost my ITC hat (Clark -- I know you just gave me one). I was glad I took a light cable lock for in camp but could have used a clothes line for drying sweaty shirts. The BRAG ride felt more low-key than previous years, with less "official" stuff going on. But overall an excellent trip!

Pictures...
http://picasaweb.google.com/byronrushing/BRAGJune7102008