Sidney Lanier Bridge
Yesterday I faced what may be the biggest climb of my trip, the Sidney Lanier Bridge. The bridge carries US 17 across the Turtle River south of Brunswick GA. The road is about 200’ above the river, and the bridge itself is about 1.5 miles long. The grade reaches about 6%, so with my heavy bike, I was traveling quite slowly as I climbed. As I got near the top, I met a pedestrian walking towards me. He yelled at me over the crosswind, “It’s good to see you again. You are making good headway.” As I looked at him with a puzzled expression, he said, “We met yesterday at the Harris Neck refuge.” It turns out he lives in the area and likes to walk across the bridge for exercise. One of the things I am enjoying on my trip are the fun conversations I have with such a wide variety of people along the way.
My trip yesterday started off on a relatively quiet road heading east towards the coast before bending south. While there was no shoulder to ride on, there was also very little traffic.
The costal area of this part of Georgia is comprised or rivers, islands, and deltas.
My first detour was out to the landing for the Sapelo Island ferry. There I was greeted there by this Brown Pelican.
Looking north, a Royal Tern was diving for food in one of the estuaries.
After a nice 15 minute break at the ferry landing, I got back on the road and headed to my next mini detour, the Tolomato Causeway Pond. Here I found a flock of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks which were a new species to add to my life list. Unlike the Harris Neck WMR, at each of my stops yesterday, I only saw a small number of species. However, each place offered somewhat different species with their differing habitats.
I crossed the Butler River south of Darien. The weather was in the low 80s, but there was intermittent cloud cover so it did not feel too hot. As I bicycled into a headwind, I realized that I had made a strategic error in my planning of this trip. During the spring, the prevailing winds are from the south, so I will tend to face headwinds as I make my way to the Florida Panhandle. If I had travelled from New Orleans to Savannah, I could have had tailwinds. Of course, a cyclist will never admit to tailwinds, but rather will either complain about headwinds or say straight faced “Wow, I had strong legs today!”
I ran into my first navigational issue as I made my way south towards Brunswick. The road I was on, US 17, became increasingly busy. While there was a lane width shoulder, I do not enjoy riding on heavily trafficked 4 lane roads with 55 mph speed limits. I constructed my route taking advantage of the American Cycling Association’s east coast route. In many places, it follows the East Coast Greenway (ECG) which someday hopes to be a cycling and walking route from Maine to Florida. As traffic got heavier, I noticed a sign showing that the ECG split off on a side road. I stopped and was able to find a map of the ECG on my phone. It appears that this section was completed quite recently and the ACA has not yet updated its route to take advantage of it. It definitely looked like a better way to get to the Sidney Lanier Bridge than riding on US 17. As I rode along this newly paved path, I was very happy with my decision. Eventually, I did get back onto city roads, but they were still much better than US 17.
As I cycled along the ECG, I came across a Black Vulture picking from the remains of a (truly) dead opossum likely hit by a car.
After crossing the Sidney Lanier Bridge, I paused by the Turtle River to watch for birds. This is a Forster’s Tern heading straight towards me.
I will end my post with this photo of a Double Crested Cormorant as a tribute to everyone who has had a bad hair day.
Today, I head southwest away from the coast and towards the Florida panhandle. The ride is a bit under 50 miles, but I was not able to find any birding hotspots along the route. I am making one small detour near the end of my ride to a river with the hopes of finding some birds there. Unless there are some pleasant surprises today, I am planning on skipping my blog entry tonight and instead using the time to catch up on emails and do more culling of my bird photos.