Today we had our longest ride of the trip so far — 94 miles from Tallapoosa to Lafayette, Georgia. It was a beautiful day of riding through the rural Georgia countryside. The thing I love about crossing the country by bicycle is that you slow down enough to take in your surroundings much more than with other modes of transportation, and then you have hours to think about the things you see. For example, today I saw a sign for a farm of some kind named “Not Just Kidding” claiming that they had Great Pyrenees Dogs AND Dwarf Nigerian Goats! Google a picture of a Dwarf Nigerian Goat and you will not be disappointed.

Another interesting part of that is I think if you are willing to pay attention, you have the chance to learn a lot about our country and the people who live in it. I’ve lost count of how many confederate flags I’ve seen flying on the houses we ride by. It’s a lot. It makes me think about how uncomfortable I would feel riding on those roads if my skin was a different color. Today we rode on the Trail of Tears for a while. I thought about what it would have been like to travel that road so many years ago as a Native American. It has been interesting to have the opportunity to process our Nation’s past in this way and think about the people who travelled these roads before me, both literally and figuratively. We sleep every night on the floor of churches, and we are constantly blown away by the generosity of our hosts. We have been served so many delicious meals, and it’s only been two weeks! 

I guess what I’m trying to say is that we get to see the country and experience it for what it really is. There are no shortcuts on this trip. We get to see (and feel) the landscape unfold before us, changing from flat, to hills, to mountains, to flat again. We get to meet people from all over the place and hear their stories. We get to see the good parts of our country and the not so good parts. It’s beautiful. I’m just trying to take it all in.