Today we rode something close to the original Peach Eatin’ Chicken 57mi route. When this route was made, it got named chicken for the portion of Jimmy Smith’s Tour de Chicken Farms it incorporated. The chicken farm got busted a year and a half ago and moved to the Peach West Relocated Chicken route. One alternative from the original route today was stopping by to feed our 2,000lb pet draft horse, Sampson, who enjoyed some naval orange slices. Jennifer Talley needs to come see the horse she introduced us to.
I was very happy to see Rick Swagler pull up at the beginning, being that he was waiting to heal from crashing out here a few weeks back to get on gravel again. Casey brought his friend Clark with him, and they did a great job of keeping Rox entertained up front all day. Paul showed up as a welcome surprise, fresh off 24hrs of Iron Maiden last weekend, add Merrill and Greg and there were eight of us.
We knew the heat was going to be a challenge. I suggested bringing a sock to put ice in and stick between your jersey and your back. I did that at the beginning around 84 degrees, and it’s weird. It numbs where you put it for the first thirty minutes, but once it hit 90, it felt really good. Special thanks to Barry Hair who I learned this trick from. Regardless, the heat was a challenge. The humidity wasn’t too bad, making the shade feel really nice, but this route is about thirty percent shaded so it was a serious challenge.
Thanks to everyone for showing up, it was such a great day on bikes.