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Tuesday, November 10, 2026Nov 10
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Fort Oglethorpe small business owner reliving glory days, improving health through cycling adventures

Jack Goodlet, left, and cousin, Cliff Goodlet, stand at the southernmost point of the continental U.S. in Key West, Fla. The two North Georgia residents have been cycling across the region.
Jack Goodlet, left, and cousin, Cliff Goodlet, stand at the southernmost point of the continental U.S. in Key West, Fla. The two North Georgia residents have been cycling across the region. Jack Goodlet, left, and cousin, Cliff Goodlet, stand at the southernmost point of the continental U.S. in Key West, Fla. The two North Georgia residents have been cycling across the region.

By Mark Pace 3 min read

A Fort Oglethorpe restaurant owner is reliving some old adventures with his cousin while improving his health and promoting another local business.

Jack Goodlet, 68, had ballooned to nearly 260 pounds at the beginning of 2017. Years of not being physically active were beginning to take their toll. The owner of Park Place Restaurant was aging, and he wanted to avoid major medical problems. He was ready to take control of his health and ensure that he lived a long, happy life. For that, he turned to his cousin, Chattanooga State professor Cliff Goodlet – and cycling.

“I’m just trying to encourage people in my previous condition to lose weight and get active again,” Jack Goodlet said.

The cousins live on their family farm in Rock Spring, Ga., and began cycling in their younger years. They took a long cycling trip in the mid-1980s, traveling about 400 miles from their Rock Spring home to Hilton Head, S.C. The ride took nearly six days and was the first time Jack Goodlet had ridden more than 20 miles. He would take one more extended cycling trip, this time along the Outer Banks, but that would be it for over 30 years.

Over the coming decades, he continued to spend time working on his businesses but stopped focusing on his health while Cliff Goodlet continued to ride. Last year, Jack Goodlet knew he needed to take his health more seriously. To do that, he started riding again and reliving some of his old adventures.