5 Points Ride

Yesterday I got up at 5 to meet Chip Radford of the Greenville Spinners at Furman University. We were to meet the 5 Points riders in Marietta at around 0830 or so. I hate getting up that early. I had enough sense to pack up most of my stuff the night before so I wouldn't have to worry about it in the wee hours when my thought processes haven't fully kicked in. I'm out the door a little after 6 and head up 385 for Greenville. At 6:42 the traffic was heavy, but moving and I thought how glad I am I don't have to do that commute anymore. I made it to the meeting place with time to spare and met Nick, another of the Greenville Spinners and the final member of our trio. We met Chip on the other side of the Chapel and after a quick trip into the woods we headed out. Chip knows the area and picked a route with very little traffic. It was a little chilly as we started and I was glad I put on my arm warmers.
Chip was a little cold at first, but then warmed up. Notice the mountains in the background. We hit a decent climb and I was told this was Tub's mountain. It was a good climb, but not too bad. As we topped another hill I could see Table Rock in the distance(just to the right of the white structures).

We had to take a short cut to make the meeting spot on time. I thought to myself that these things are never on time, but kept the thought to myself as voicing it aloud may jinx things. We pull into the Burger King in Marietta at 8:50 with no riders in sight. Greg Hart of the Blood Connection was there (yeah, isn't irony great)to ride into Furman with the group. We waited and chatted with Greg and his wife, and some guy from the Great Escape, I don't remember his name. Yeah, I was right about the timing. One of the support vehicles roles up with the trailer for the gear.

We wait some more and another support vehicle shows up. Greg makes some calls on his blackberry and gets an idea where the riders are. About ten minutes later they roll in.

Introductions are made and it became very obvious who the South Africans are by the accents. More later, I'm beat.