The Reunion Ride - Day One

I've dubbed this ride "The Reunion Ride". It seems like the more I exchanged emails with my friends from high school the more I found I could lay out a route that would be fun and allow me to see old friends along the way. I haven't seen many of them for 20-plus years (20-plus sounds better than 30 years, right?). So, with that in mind the ride starting taking shape.

"It's 16 degrees.", Renee announced to me this morning as I was standing in the garage getting geared up and ready to head out on Day One of the ride. "This is crazy!", she added for extra emphasis. Oh well, if I had a buck for every time Renee thought I was crazy we'd be livin' on Easy Street. Instead, we live on Lawnvale Drive, so I'm open to offers for anyone who wants to start paying for "Renee thinks Chuck's crazy moments" from this point on. There's still time for me to make good money and I'm certain I can come up with more opportunities for her to question my sanity.

I disagreed with her, but when I pushed the button on my battery heated vest and nothing happened, I started to see her point. (I forgot to recharge the battery last night.) Then I randomly decided to leave the battery packs for my heated glove liners laying on the work table in the garage. I've got myself some slick heated equipment for riding in the cold. Now if only I could pull my head out of ass long enough to actually use it, I'll be in good shape. (Renee could be on to something! If I'm not crazy, maybe I'm just a jackass!)

I knew I would need gas in 50 miles or so, but I only made it 25 before I needed to stop and get the feeling back in my fingers. The wind chill at 16 degrees with a 70 mph wind would be, let's see, carry the 2, remember the decimal, that's right, it's DAMN COLD!!! I pumped the gas, jumped back on and made it another 35 miles before I stopped at McDonald's for a breakfast burrito and a cup of coffee. The next run lasted 60 miles before another cup of coffee was required to thaw. Another 40 miles and a gas stop. You get my point, it was cold and I was zooming along at about a 35 mph average counting the time lost with all of the stops. At this pace, I'd make it to Atlanta around midnight. My goal was 6PM.

By 10AM the sun was rising above the trees and beginning to warm up the air, at least a little. I finally got a decent run under my belt and made it 130 miles before stopping for gas. 60 more miles and it was time for lunch and what to my wondering I eyes did appear but a Hooters. A quick ham and cheese and a diet coke and I was back on the road again. I did about 70 miles through most of South Carolina and more gas, then a 150 miles to Duluth, Georgia. That's the kind of runs it takes to make up lost time. I made it to Alpharetta by 6PM.

I called Danielle Melancon-Burton to see if she, Mickey and Stephanie were still available for dinner. It was great to get to see them. Danielle and Stephanie still look as great as they did 30 years ago. Mickey's got less hair, but still can throw you that dazzling smile that made him the girls' favorite back in high school. See for yourself in the pic below.

I won't speak for the Burton's or Stephanie, but I had a great time. It's was nice to get to catch up and see for ourselves that somehow we survived the foolishness of our youth. (Ok, I know what you're thinking, "Will Chuck survive the foolishness of his old age?") Mickey and I reminisced about "the apartment". Some of you remember the apartment we lived in after high school. My god it's a wonder any of us made it past 1979. I had to enlist in the Air Force just to get sober! Good times, but I can only speak for myself when I say that 6 months damn near killed me.

Alright, Day One is complete. 627 miles not counting the 1 u-turn to get back on 29 south in Lynchburg or the 2 u-turns it took to get to this damn hotel this evening. It looks like I've got about 150 miles to get to Birmingham tomorrow and see Glyn. Then on to Mobile for the 4PM group hug at The River Shack. I'm looking forward to it. It looks like it'll be about 32 degrees in the morning. Hey, look on the bright side. That's twice as warm as it was this morning. Thank God I gain an hour about 40 miles from here. Assuming I don't stop, I'll be in Alabama about 15 minutes before I leave in the morning. (You see I cross time zones, so I'll get an hour back after riding for 45 minutes, so I'll be there 15 minutes...oh never mind.)

See ya!