Riding on Vacation

Java in St. Simon's Island

Where do you go on vacation? The beach? The mountains? Disney? My family loves the beach. We take a week and go to a beach every year. Usually it's Myrtle Beach because my wife grew up going there but this year we went to St. Simon's Island. Of course the beach and pools were great but this is a biking blog so I'll share the stuff we did on the bike. First let me tell you guys that St. Simon's is no place for cycling. They have a bike path on every main street but unless you are on a beach cruiser it's useless to a roadie. Between runners, walkers, dog walkers, and the beach cruiser bikes you'll feel more like you're in a crit than on an endurance ride.  If you do get on the road you'd better go at the crack of dawn because the roads are busy all day long and there's little shoulder. For casual biking however it's the bomb! There are shops and piers and beach homes to envy. We toured the light house and had ice cream. I stopped for coffee in town after my second adventure. I risked my life twice during the week before finding a new friend named Brooks who rides out of Atlanta Cycling. He's been coming to St. Simon's for 25 years and suggested we ride to Jekyll Island. It was the best ride all week. We left out at 6:30am and rode over a bunch of bridges. Along the way we met other cyclists who evidently already knew what it took me a week to learn. Get off the island. Jekyll is much better for cycling. They also have bike paths but there's little traffic and riding the roads early in the morning is like having the island to yourself. We enjoyed a tough morning ride that was awesome and made it back in time for breakfast with the family. 48 miles, 19.5 MPH Avg, 85 Avg Cad.

Biking at Jekyll Island

During the week my family and I went over to Jekyll and rented bikes. There's not as many shops but the path from the Historical District to the camp ground is right along the water line. It's a great shaded, freshly paved path that's taylor made for tootling along with kids. You can pick up a burger at the pool house in the Historical District (cash only). We had a blast!

I'm a fan of former President Bush. Once when he was giving an interview he was asked about his position on sexual education for kids and teens. He explained that he believed in promoting abstinence as the best solution with other solutions like contraception being less than perfect. The interviewer questioned his view as naive. President Bush said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that we should all strive for perfection in everything we do. If you fall short of perfection wouldn't that be ok. So if he's going to set the bar for kids or any group for that matter, why wouldn't he aim for perfection. He believed that as Americans we set the bar at mediocre sometimes. I think about that when I'm working on something or teaching my kids. Don't be scared to reach for the ultimate.
I was sent this link from a good friend that reminded me even more of why I like George W. Bush. Enjoy!
Commander in Chief still leading!

The remainder of 2011 is going to be great! With rides like the ones listed above and then Six Gap, Lt. Governor's Century, Currahee Duathlon, Tour de Tugaloo, Chainbuster Racing, oh my! I hope you are all working toward something and I pray it goes great!

Now if we can just get out of this heat. Stupid global warming.

Chad