Upcoming Tour of Faith:

Necessary Disclaimer:  I am the route designer.  I like the routes we have developed for this ride.

About the Routes:  We had several goals in designing the routes for the Tour of Faith.  First and foremost, we wanted a safe, mostly rural, scenic ride, generally low in traffic.  Second, we wanted to make the routing as gentle as possible.  (Any long ride in August is plenty challenging, we didn’t feel a desperate need to make this into a “climber’s party.”)  Finally, we wanted to make it as easy to navigate as we possibly could.

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Johan here:  Bah!  Flat!  Gentle!  Fah!  Where are the cobbles?  Where are the mountains.  Ja, the weather, it will be hot.  I am asking, so what?  Are you a group of little mices?  I am thinking this is not for…

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Shut up, Johan.

Sorry folks, sometimes my Belgain friend gets a little carried away.

Self Grading: 

On the Safety and rural/scenic issue, I give this route an A-.  We worked hard to keep away from the city, and pretty much succeeded.  The minus is a result of four highway crossings along the way.  Exercise due caution and good judgement, and you will be fine.  There are long stretches of undeveloped rural countryside, with some really good vistas, interspersed with some good tree and forest lined sections.

On gentle riding condtions, I give us an A.  Nothing around this area is truly flat, but the routes minimize hilly sections, and there are long stretches of very nearly flat road.  I brag that this is the flattest century course in the Atlanta area.  This is especially true for the 100 mile option.  It shares much of the beginning and end with the other distance options, but it’s middle section contains very little elevation change, and few sections with more than a 3% grade.

The 65 mile loop also shares a lot in common with the shorter options.  It does have a couple of hills that the others miss, but none is severe.

The 30 and 45 mile loops are arranged to avoid long climbs, but they are more local to Peachtree City, so they are a bit hilly.  Nothing severe is encountered on these shorter loops, and they too, contain long relatively flat sections.

On Navigation:  Here, honestly, I think we get a solid B.  We went out of our way to keep the number of turns to a minimum.  All loops have a short “out-and-back” section in and out of the first rest stop.  This can be a little confusing, but it is well documented on the cue sheets, and extremely well painted.

One caution:  Once you decide on a route to follow, stick to it!  The various loops converge and diverge several times.  Jumping from one to the other will not save you distance!  It can get you lost, and it will only add to your distance from the end.

The 100 mile loop has it’s own navigation challenge in Hollonville.  The loop is basically a figure-8, and it crosses itself there.  The best rule is “follow the cue sheet, and the paint on your side of the road.”  If you haven’t reached the Zebulon rest stop, you are still going OUT.  Once you have passed through Zebulon, you are going IN.  (I mention this because we’ve labeled the road paint through Hollonville.  If that helps.

A few words on road paint:  We don’t believe that paint does any good in the can.  We use a distinctive stencil, a small church with the steeple-cross pointing the way.  Our usual marking standard is to put down three blazes before every turn, and two confirming ones after.  If there is something tricky about the turn, or the intersection, we use more paint. We usually don’t paint if there is no turn.  So if you come to an intersection, with no paint on the road, go straight. That said, we don’t do “confidence” painting.  There are some long stretches with no turns.  Don’t look for paint on these to tell you that you are still on course.  And again, stay on your route color.

Weather:  This is a rain or shine event.  Likely, it will be warm, and by mid-afternoon, quite warm.  Drink lots of water.  Douse yourself.  If you find you are starting to overheat, slow down.  Take advantage of the shade. 

Most of all, enjoy the Summer conditions, and have fun out there!