Update #14 - Mar 12th, 2002
Moultrie, GA - 2,748 miles

The ride from Apalachicola, FL to Moultrie, GA went okay. I retraced the route that I took along the Gulf of Mexico to Sopchoppy. It was interesting to see the changes in the progress of various housing constructions sites that I seen earlier in the year. The areas of road construction had progressed some also.

I also met a couple of elderly cyclists from Maine about twenty miles away from Sopchoppy. They were riding across the country between St. Augustine, FL to San Diego, CA. I spent about 20 minutes giving them some pointers of the route to New Orleans.

After a couple of days of rest at the United Methodist Church in Sopchoppy, I headed north along U.S. 319 through Tallehassee to Georgia. I actually accepted a ride with a friend of mine (Brad C.) in a truck to Tallehassee since he had to go up for a doctor's appointment. From the Georgia state line, I rode along U.S. 319 some more to Thomasville and then on to Moultrie. The First United Methodist church in Thomasville hosted me Monday night (March 11) by getting me a motel room.

The ride the past couple of days has been okay. Nothing major happened except for this morning. I was on my way along U.S. 319 between Thomasville and Moultrie. U.S. 319 is a divided highway with a narrow paved shoulder that is ridable. The main part of the paved shoulder is continuous rumble strip to keep sleepy drivers on the road.

About 14 miles south of Moultrie, this guy in a white truck came speeding up from behind me. I thought that he would pass me properly but he didn't change in the lane much. The next thing that I knew there was a big bang. The guy had come so close to me that he clipped the main part of my mirror off. I was able to keep the bike up and stop without falling. The driver stopped really fast and turned around to see if I was okay. I was glad to tell him that I wasn't injured (I could have been since my left hand was just a inch or two away from the mirror). The guy apologized and slipped me $20 in hopes that it would be enough to pay for a new mirror.

I was able to ride to Moultrie by noon. The small bike shop in Moultrie didn't have any mirrors. Before getting back on the road after the minor accident, I had found the two main plastic parts of the bike mirror. I wasn't able to find the mirror. Using a dime store mirror I had bought in Moultrie, a plastic tire iron, and a lot of black electrical tape, I was able to make a temporary fix on the bike mirror. The nearest bike shop in the area that would be big enough to sell mirrors is in Macon about one hundred miles away.

The past couple of days the weather has been okay. There is to be rain showers coming through the area so I will be staying the night with friends here in Moultrie. Tomorrow, I'll be riding to Cordele where I will spend a couple of nights with friends.

Plans are still being made for the ride to Kentucky and then on to Northern New York and possibly Maine. I'll be riding through around Atlanta to Chattenooga, TN.