Day 1 - On to Scottsboro AL
Day 1 of BARARAMA500:
Today we began the ride in front of the Davidson Center for Space Exploration at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. We had pictures taken in front of the Saturn V rocket and the Space Shuttle.
We were led at the start by a red Corvette in memory of Professor Heinz Lenz, who led our morning PEP exercises during Plebe Summer in 1979. The leaders wore red t-shirts, and we were told, in his broad German accent, to “Follow the man in the red Corvette”. We were led by a 2010 Grand Sport Corvette belonging to Gregg and Melinda Dellert. Gregg graduated from that other school, USMA, class of 1993. They participate with Vets with Vettes, an organization using their Corvettes at car shows to raise money for veterans' causes.
We learned today that the sponsor of our dinner yesterday, Tommy Johnson, had contacted the local municipality and convinced them to run their street sweeper on the streets of our route! We did note that there was much less debris on the roads at the start of the ride.
We completed the 600 ft climb that we had been anticipating when we studied the route yesterday. Some of us remarked that the climb was the most difficult that they had done, and there was a real sense of accomplishment at the end. And what goes up must come down. We had a decent of similar height and enjoyed coasting on the other side.
Our first SAG stop was courtesy of the Orthopaedic Center in Owens Crossroads, Alabama. Their clinic was on our route and had shade tents set up with beverages and snacks. They provide similar support for other events in the area.
Lunch was at the Cathedral Caverns State Park. Tours are available in the Cathedral Cavern, but we did not take the time to enjoy this.
The afternoon temperature warmed up into the lower 90s. We anticipate this to have been the hottest afternoon of the ride. We also encountered headwinds and used the efficiency of pace lines to reduce the challenge of the headwinds.
One afternoon SAG stop was at the Limrock-Aspel Volunteer Fire & Rescue. We appreciated the escort from five miles out by Barry Powell, driving the rescue truck.
After several more miles, we stopped at Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro, Alabama. This company receives unclaimed personal baggage from most of the major airlines. One-third of the contents are donated, one-third are cleaned and sold, and one-third are discarded as trash. Amanda Higgins of Unclaimed Baggage described their business to us while we enjoyed air conditioning, cold beverages, and chocolate chip cookies.
Three miles further, we completed the ride for the day at the Hampton Inn in Scottsboro.
Our evening meal was courtesy of the local Agape Church at the KC39’s Bar-B-Q on Guntersville Lake. Representing Agape Church was Max and Lauren Fuller, who are active in the church as Bible Study and church school leaders, as well as the ministry for foster children.
Today, we particularly noted the generosity of the citizens of Alabama. Our thanks to all whohave supported our ride.
Statistics:
62 miles
2400 ft of climb,
CBD (chased by dogs) five times
FLATS - 0
Collisions - 1 bike-on-bike collision with no damage or injuries.
If you were playing Road Kill Bingo and had the following (which we saw), you would have won:
Armadillo
Opossum
Skunk
Woodchuck
Rabbit.
Oddly no squirrels
For tomorrow, the route plan has one climb of about 700 feet and one of about 400 feet. Distance total will be 63 miles with 3323 ft of climb.
- Darren Anderson