Just as the song starts this slideshow out, it’s steady as she goes! We are well into the ride and we are finding that Mexican food has not been our favorite on this trip, we miss Starbucks (but our trusty dusty Garmin led us to ONE on the entire trip), and McDonald’s is something we look forward to. I mentioned to Taylor & Kelly that I don’t think I have ever eaten McDonald’s twice in one day. BUT it’s either that or we eat the packaged snacks we brought along and those are starting to taste like cardboard. Somehow the carrots and sweet peppers I brought along in BULK didn’t get munched on too much. Oh well, we at least had the right intentions. This is also about the time in the trip that I must have said a million times over “Are we going to be able to cover each team equally? I’m getting nervous!”. Kelly reassured me over and over that we would without a doubt. Taylor had me Shazam’ing each song he played because it not only got us pumped up, but kept the riders pumped up too. Hanging out of a car while shooting is now becoming second nature. I laughed and said that I would not know how to ride in a car normally anymore.
The riders are peddling hard toward the Nachez Trace which we would be on for a very long time. The Dream Team lit up the Trace with their uber cool neon-lit bikes. When I worked to get the right photo at night of all the colors, I realize that I could see all the stars in the backround. Too cool! We had a little rain along the way and we were all starting to feel the effects of working hard and little sleep. But not to worry, there was always someone amping up the energy by a funny prank or just overall silliness.
Thinking I could do one big slideshow went out the door pretty quick when I realized there was no way to fully tell the story in just a few images. So yes, there will be more shows!! WAY TO GO EVERYONE!

I’ll be back with more!

~lisa

Continuing the story from Part 1 which is posted just prior to this one. As we make our way toward Hiawassee, GA we have a minor hiccup in the ride. I say hiccup as though it is something to laugh at, and really it isn’t. Donna was down in her drops and had her vest open. When she raised up the vest caught the handlebars and she went down FAST! Her knee landed on a rock and it caused her an incredible amount of pain. We soon realized that it was more than a bump and she was going to need stitches. Taylor got a hold of her bike to work on it a bit to make sure to fix anything that was damaged in the fall and got it back and running in no time. Donna on the other hand was sitting on the bus asking what she was going to get to numb the pain before she had a needle and thread stitching up her knee! Jana is an M.D. and was asked to assist Keith. After 6 stitches and ice packs on both knees, Donna was ready to call it a night. We were worried because the next day was a full century ride and we thought…no way, her knees will be in big time pain. Well, much like the song on the slideshow, she’s like a rock!! She rode and did amazing along with the other Yellow Bonkers. What a ride it was!
When we pulled into Hiawassee, Mike’s dad was there waiting on us along with Mike’s wife and kiddos. Mike’s dad was beyond proud and SO excited to host a dinner at his house. As we chowed down on spaghetti and salad, Mark & Taylor managed to make us all laugh at the booty/shammy cream jars. Mike then took the laughs a bit further when he showed us all where it was to be used. You will see the funny pic in the slideshow (it’s tame just in case you were wondering..haha)
We tried to take a pic at each state sign – tried is the operative word. Also, WHY is it that we cross the state line at night? Trying to focus my camera in the pitch dark is a total challenge, that is where the flashlights or headlights came in handy.
We met up with team Polka Dot at dawn the next day and the scenery was breathtaking. The fall colors and morning fog made for incredible views!! This was also the day that Brandon became known as “The Cookie Monster”. He came up to the car and was starting saying “coooookies…cooookies”. Speaking of Brandon, while he was off making a call and eating more cookies, we managed to try and play a prank on him. I went up to the person driving the dump truck and asked if he would do us a favor. I said “See that bike over there? Go and get it and act like you are picking it up as trash”. Poor guy said as he was lifting the bike “I’m gonna get shot!”. We laughed and reassured that this was all in good fun. He found it rather humorous too!!
Enjoy the next slideshow. More to come 🙂

Stay posted for more!

~lisa