We rode 96 miles today into Forsyth, Ga. It was a beautiful day and a very pleasant ride. The weather was mild, the roads in Georgia are excellent, the scenery was beautiful, and after two weeks, we finally had a following wind. It was the day we have been waiting for since the Texas Panhandle, the last time we had really good cycling conditions.

The one sobering part of our trip today was our ride through Barnesville, GA. A tornado touched down in Barnesville last night and we came through as the clean-up was in process. I felt guilty riding my bike through the devastation. I told Dan that you could feel a bad aura in the air; we guessed there had been fatalities. Growing up in South Louisiana, I have seen post-hurricane scenes all my life. But the magnitude of what a tornado can do shocked me. We saw what appeared to be 100-year trees completely uprooted and thrown distances from their positions. You could absolutely follow the path of the tornado. You could see one house totally devastated and another, only a couple of hundred feet away, relatively unscathed. We later learned on the local news tonight that an older couple lost their lives in their mobile home. The mobile homes don’t have a chance. I am guessing this couple did not have time to react. They probably heard the sirens and the tornado was upon them.

We also learned today that the exact area we stayed in Tuscaloosa was on the direct path of the tornado. We stayed on 15th Street and McFarland, which is now completed wrecked. One story mentioned a CV Pharmacy that was destroyed on that corner. Dan and I stopped in that Pharmacy just three nights ago and purchased supplies. It is hard to imagine what happened just two days after we left. We seemingly have been just a day or so ahead of the storms and tornadoes since we left Fort Smith Arkansas.

Georgia has some beautiful areas along Highway 18, the road that we traveled today. We saw what I would describe as country estates, some colonial or antebellum mansions and some just beautiful old homes. I have never been to Georgia other than flying through the Atlanta Airport. I am favorably impressed with the area and very thankful for the great roads in this state.

We have about 250 miles remaining on our trip. The weather is going to be great the next few days. We can smell the Atlantic Beach!