TCTrek, I did the same ride today--45 miles on the Up the Creek Without a Pedal. This is the longest ride I've done since I started biking again about a year ago. It felt so good, despite the downpour about 3 miles from finish. Saw some really cool Thanksgiving-style turkeys (I think they weren't really impressed with bikers), saw a couple of really-big dead snakes in the middle of the road, and met some incredibly nice people. The dogs were well-behaved, as were the motorists in this part of GA. All in all, this was a really close-to-perfect ride for me. Lots of encouragement from experienced bikers, as well as from the community.