Update #5 (By: Meredith)

Sure are quite a few updates here, aren't there? Well I do believe they are necessary; Andy's covering a HECK of a lot of ground between updates!

Some of you might be interested in knowing the following:

Scenery:
*Andy is currently cruising on State Rd 52 with pleasant weather. The red bud trees are blooming, everything is green, and there isn't a flat road in sight! Andy's strong, so he'll be fine though! When I was on the phone with Phil earlier, he laughed because they just passed a sign that said "7.3 mile climb ahead". HA! Go get 'em Andy!!
*The pavement finally got dry after all that rain. And you know Andy's not going to 'rewet' the pavement with tinkle (Phil says Andy isn't peeing a whole lot because he's sweating so much, delicious!)

That brings us on to our next point: Food!
*Andy desires something other than carbs right now. Sure, carbs are wonderful, but not after you consume them for 16 hours. So now he's focusing on powerbars, perhaps a bagel, and his fantastic Infinit.

Food goes in and...what comes out??? (answer found below)
*Direct quote from Phil: "HOLY SHIT! ANDY JUST TURNED WHITE! YOU SHOULD SEE THIS MOUNTAIN AHEAD OF US!!! YOU CAN'T SEE THE TOP! THE TOP IS COVERED WITH CLOUDS! THE MOUNTAIN IS IN THE SKY! And what's this??? What is that brown stuff coming from Andy's back? ANDY JUST SHIT HIMSELF AT THE SIGHT OF THE MOUNTAIN!"

On to a classier note: Ra Ra Cheer Cheer Spirit!
*Random people will honk, cheer, and shout words of encouragement to Andy along the ride. One guy even sported a bike jersey and ran along side Andy (for quite a while, too). But those Georia Drivers are CRAZY (aka not biker friendly). What's worse than mean drivers? Mean dogs. There have been many dogs along the road that are barking and chasing Andy. No worries, Mick is behind the wheel now and ready to run those bastards down if they even THINK about touching a precious hair on Andy's body. (I pictured the game Frogger with dogs as the frog trying to cross the street and tons of white Minivans trying to barrel over them. Great visual!)

Other than that, Andy is doing very well. He's keeping a constant speed between 15-16 mph. The van has not had to refuel yet. Andy took a 30 minute break off the bike at one point, so he got some time to recoop.

If you're keeping track of Andy on his ride, he is currently on State Rd 52 by Chatsworth. This is in/near Fort Mountain State Park.

Fort Mountain:
This climb continues to be on the Tour de Georgia, one of two hill stages in this great professional race. It is about a seven miles of climbing 2600 feet. Most everyone will do this in the morning so there are some great views looking down the valley; enjoy the downhill!

Then they will get to Ellijay (pronounced L-J)

Ellijay:

After this climb, a long decent to Ellijay and then a right hand turn onto route 382 on the way back to Resaca, Georgia. This section is hilly, not a great deal of climbing, but hilly.

If you want to follow along the race course, go to http://www.heartofthesouth500.com/route.htm

That's it for now. I'm currently at work..not working. Probably should do something about that.

("I can't tell you where I'm staying... all I can tell you is that there are two trees involved...")

Stay tuned...