Leaving Georgia

I cycled hard from Athens, having left midway through the afternoon. The highway was busy and not great cycling. Pedalling next to the railroad and I'm hoping a train would pass so I had something new to look at. After nearly 20 miles came the turning which put me on a quieter road toward Bowman. As I turned away from the main highway, the awaited train passed.
I cycled on through the gathering dusk and out the far side of Bowman city. At the side of the road above a little creek I found a sheltered spot to pitch and set about cooking a dinner of cous cous and tuna. A kindly couple asked if I needed help, and later the local Sheriff pulled up. I wasn't breaking any laws but being on a bike I rarely stop at the Stop lines. If there's clearly nothing there, I just go, but then I wasn't brought up here. He jumped out the vehicle with a flashlight in hand, but I had no need to worry, he was down just to check on me and recommended I stay in the city park overnight where camping was allowed. I'll remember this for the rest of the journey!

The city park gave me a great nights sleep and I rolled on early. I had contacted Joseph in North Carolina about sleeping a night on his couch, and knew that to fulfill my part of the bargain I needed to get to his! The next stop on the tour, and the final town in Georgia for me was Hartwell, on the shores of Hartwell lake. I dropped in to the library to blog a little and the librarians were, well, how best to put it... fun and full of good-natured banter over my tight cycling shorts! They wished me well and I headed for South Carolina across the bridge over the lake.

Lake Hartwell

I had passed through 17 counties of Georgia. Each one had brought different tarmac (asphalt). Each county is responsible for the upkeep of it's roads and I hoped the roads in South Carolina would be full of the smooth sort.