He's An Excellent SAGGer

We’ve got it down now, this stop along side the road, get the bike out, I ride for 20 miles and pop back in and off we drive for another 300 miles.

Such was yesterday, July 8th, Day 15 and today, July 9th Day 16.

Left Harrisburg, PA the morning of the 8th and headed for WV where, thanks to "Ride With GPS". I’d found a route not too far off our primary route and, thankfully, was not an endless series of up, ups, and upper ups.

It’s funny how I get this anxiety ball when I head out into new geography. It’s not about getting lost, it’s not about traffic. It’s about, "is their terrain out there that exceeds my strength and capabilities?" I guess you could say it’s about the fear of the unknown. But yet the unknown calls me over and over again. So WV here I come. BUT, this is a 350+ mile day and there really isn’t time for me to pick my way through my route and maybe make a few wrong turns. Plus the road was a shoulder-less, 2-lane road and it is WV.

So, Kirk gladly stepped up as a SAG par excellence. He rode ahead to the next turn, we confirmed directions and met up again at the next turn. He is so worth his weight in gold--as SAGGer and so much more.

We used the same model to capture my 4th new state today, NC.

These past two days have been rich, too, with visiting old college friends and expat Wilmettians.

Kirk and Rick Harrell were classmates at Davidson, back in the days when it was all male. Rick has been to Chicago many times on business but this was our first time to visit Rick and Frances in South Boston, VA, home to the Harrell family for over 150 years! We will long remember their graciousness and hospitality.

Jan Davis and Scott Arnold moved to North Carolina a year ago, so after capturing my NC miles we met them in Durham for lunch at the Watt's Grocery. And finally, 300+ miles later, we arrived at Joe and Connie Stoker’s wonderful new home on Lake Keowee just outside of Seneca, SC. Wonderful reconnection with them over dinner followed by a cruise on “their” lake.