Day 26 - gainesville

Sat 12/25
Well, I made it to gainesville. Sorry for the blog delay, I ate christmas dinner and then crashed out early. I was really happy to get here, especially when it started pouring rain last night.
The ride was definitely a grind. I had wanted to leave early but didnt really get to. It was mostly flat but windy (again) and progress was slow. I was just beat from 70 miles the day before. I stopped for lunch after 30 miles at itchatucknee springs, the headwaters of the itchatucknee river. It was pretty and clear and blue but I didnt stay long and kept riding. I would be there later than I wanted already.
Jake had been at his parent's house outside of gainesville with the family, and he came back to meet in town. I showered up and we went back out there for dinner and amusements. There was family singing and a tree with all the trimmings. It was a great way to acknowledge the christmas season, which I sort of spent on a bike. I missed my family, my usual christmas companions, very much.
Im hoping to post some more ramblings from the ride and otherwise as they occur to me, so keep checking back.

Day 25 - white springs

I can't believe I'm only 70 miles from gainesville. this trip has gone by so fast. it really seems like just the other day that I was rolling out of austin. being on the road is lots of fun, but ill be really glad to be among friends tomorrow.
Before I set out, Oona made a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon and bagels. There was also fresh oj, a  probiotic smoothie and blueberries in the cottage fridge. It was amazing! Oona and Zef are great people who have a good instinct for doing what makes them happy. Theyve cast off the shackles of the workaday world in favor of a simpler life. I think thats why we got along so well.
Before I left their property I went to go check out an old family cemetary with a couple of c.s.a. markers in it. Once I hit the road, the first 40 miles were on highway 90. It was more rural and prettier than it had been in the preceeding days. I just tried to settle into a rhythm. After 30 miles I stopped for lunch and made sure to hit the open grocery store for a food resupply. I didnt want to be caught out on christmas with no lunch. It was still relatively busy, even on the smaller roads. I stopped frequently, but didnt take too many pictures. Mostly it was pine trees and farmland.
I crossed over i75 and turned into lees country campground, my last stop of the tour. Mostly they do rvs, but there was basically  no one here so I had my pick of the spots. Christmas eve dinner was mac n cheese with cookies for dessert. It felt like a treat to me. I guess it's all a matter of perspective. I'm definitely feeling a little more alone tonight, but I just keep reminding myself ill be there soon. I talked to my family and to jake, and really felt loved.
I wish that I could provide some comprehensive insight to wrap up the whole trip, but it hasnt come to me yet. Probably because im not quite done. Ive really enjoyed writing blog though, because it helps me organize and categorize my thoughts. Look for some pictures tomorrow of the grand arrival. I cant wait to see everyone!

Day 24 - Monticello

Thurs 12/23
Today was fun. Now that Im so close I'm really savoring my remaining miles. Even though I've been feeling a little tired I wouldnt rather be doing anything else. I can't believe I'll get to gainesville in just 2 more days.
I left martha and vince in tallahassee and headed out of town south, despite my destination being almost due east. I took the flatter more rural longcut which started off on a city/rails to trails bikepath. I love bikepaths. I found a perfectly orange under a bridge and ate it. The bridge orange was good but not as good as the gas station orange I bought the day before. Florida, go figure. Anyway, I even saw someone else on a bike. He was stopped behind a bush drinking a 40oz malt liquor, but he was still astride his bicycle. I did actually see a couple other riders also (pedaling, not drinking). Once I got to roads it was scenic pine hills but there was holiday traffic. it just seemed like more traffic than there should be for a regular thursday. I stopped and checked out a few little spots that caught my eye, mostly ungated forest roads. They burn the underbrush here so it's not uncommon to see trees that are charred up to about 5 ft. I guess it doesn't hurt the trees.
I made sure to take another dirt shortcut on my way to monticello. Theyre fun, but my hosts live out past the pavement so I was guaranteed to have some dirt anyway. About 25 yds from their house the packed sand road finally gave way and I could ride no further.
I was greeted right away by Zef, who was working outside. He showed me to the cottage where im staying, which is basically a guest house. His wife Oona got back a little after me. they have several acres and it's really pleasant. after drinking a couple beers and chatting, another friend came over and we ate dinner. It was a very tasty lasagna.
I've got about 140 miles to go to gainesville. Its definitely 2 full days. I need to make sure to stop for groceries during the day tomorrow because everything will be closed in the evening and on christmas. Ill be having a christmas eve campout.

Day 24 - Continued

Day 23 - Tallahassee

Weds 12/22
No pictures today! I am such a slacker. I swore I took some, but they must be on the other camera. I thought about stopping more but I had such a nice tailwind that it didnt seem necessary. The last couple days have really been a nice respite. Im not sure if its the hills or just 1200 miles in 3 weeks but im feeling a little road weary. Earlier in the trip I would feel soreness in my legs at the end of the day, but it would be gone by morning.  Now its there pretty much all the time.
I saw two west bound tourists today, sarah and walter, who started in the catskills and were headed to san diego. Ill be back in austin by the time theyre there, so I told them to look me up and come stay.
The environs of tallahassee were noticably more affluent than the surrounding areas. All of a sudden I started seeing shiny black bmws and cadillac escalades with some big plantation style homes to match. Some years ago I imagine they were country houses and farms for the florida statesman, but now theure more like suburbs.
Tallahassee is probably the hilliest place ive been yet. I had to use the loweat gear on my bike for the first time climbing up the hill to the house where I was staying. My hosts, martha and vince, lived for many years in the hills of west virginia, and picked tallahassee partially because they liked the elevation profile. Theyre both very gracious hosts. They made delicious spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and we were joined by their adult son nick. They even let me wash all my dirty clothes.
Im looking forward to the ride tomorrow. Part will be on a bike path, which is always nice. Im going to be staying in a little cottage in monticello. There will definitely be pictures of that, so dont worry! More later...

Day 22 - continued

Look out for gators!

Day 22 - chattahoochee

Tues 12/21
it was nice to get a bit of a rest today. I took my time getting ready, and on my way out went to go look at the highest waterfall in florida. It was really just a little trickle cascading down into a sink hole. the mild acidity of the water wears through the limestone over time, occasionally collapsing into caverns below. This forms the sinkholes. There were lots of other ones besides the one with the waterfall. Presumably they all had water flow at some point.
I only had about 50 miles to do before my next stop, so I took it easy. This was helped dramatically by my first tailwind in days. It was really nice to get a little help from the weather. Tomorrow should also be favorable. I took a few more dirt shortcuts and got off the highway for a little while.
My favorite sign from today was the one advertising "pistol ammo, guns, ice, cold beer, bait, cheap cigarettes, hunting and fishing licences". Why shouldnt you sell all those things in one place? Its better than superwalmart. Im also really close to the time zone boundary so all the signs say either cst or est. My phone also keeps jumping between hours.
Three rivers state park is pretty pleasant. Its right on lake seminole, which shares a border with georgia. I saw another nice moon rise over the water and got to sleep early. Tallahassee is my stop tonight, itll be nice to be in a house!

Day 21 - continues

Day 21 - falling waters state park

Mon 12/20
today started off early. mark leaves for work at 630, so that's when I left too. One of those pictures is actually sunrise over his private lake. after the blueberry smoothie and a ride back to the paved roads, I was already pedaling before 7 o'clock. However, I soon made a pit stop at waffle house to warm up and top up on calories. 2 eggs, a waffle, hasbrowns, bacon, toast and 3 cups of coffee got me ready for a long day.
because I had such an early start I was pretty sure I would make my destination, it was just a question of how long it would take. literally the entire day was spent on highway 90. fortunately, i-10 parallels 90 much of the way and diverts a lot of the truck and through traffic. it generally has a good shoulder and is the flattest route by far, but there are still plenty of cars. On days when I know I won't see much nature, i usually look for funny signs, like the one announcing caryville, fl as the worm fiddlin capital of the world.
At some point around pensacola I lost the key to my bike lock. I stopped at a welding/sheet metal shop whose door was open to see if anyone could cut the lock portion and free the cable portion. A man who introduced himself only as cowboy gladly obliged. Now I can just get another padlock.
After stopping at the piggly wiggly in chipley, I made it to falling waters state park. Its the site of the highest waterfall in florida, and the actual campground sits on one of the highest hills in florida at a whopping 327 ft. The climb up the road was EASILY the steepest all trip, but not too long. Its very pretty pine country. I guess there are snakes too!
The full moon that rose was probably the brighest ill ever see. sunlight from the other side of the world being reflected almost directly back, so straight that in another few hours the shadow of the earth would block out the moon completely. It was like a day with two sunsets.  My vantage point high in the hills with clear, dry air was a perfect spot to watch. I went to bed at 8 to make sure I wouldnt miss it. I took lots of neat pictures, but not on this camera, sorry readers.
I only have 45 miles to chattahoochee tomorrow so ill probably check out the falls before I leave, and maybe find some more rual roads.

Day 20 - Baker FL

Sun 12/19
Today ended up a little longer and harder than I expected. The good thing was that I had company for 40 miles and a wheel to sit on. After making some great biscuits this morning, randy set out with me around 9am. I was in for a surprise. Eastern pensacola is a lot hillier than I thought! Once you get away from the gulf, this area is basically the very southern appalachian foothills. I know randy was going slow for my sake, but I still probably rode harder this morning than most other days this trip. At one point we caught up to a group of 5 racers he knew and we rode with them for a while. My bike probably weighed as much as all of theirs combined. Eventually the group went a different direction and randy and I headed on a rails to trails path that led towards the blackwater state forest. We wound our way back towards hwy 90 and randy turned back rowards home. I kept going east, and made it to my destination after almost 70 miles.
The most interesting part of the ride after randy left was the 5 miles of dirt roads to get to my host, north of baker, fl. To call them dirt would actually be a misnomer though. Really they were sand roads. I stayed on the well packed sections but there were a couple places where it got pretty loose. Having ridden it one way, I think ill get a ride back to pavement in the morning. Dirt is great for riding - sandy silt not so much. The color of it was amazing though. It was the reddest dirt ive ever seen.
My host here farms blueberries in addition to working for the aforementioned forest. There was homemade banana bread and homemade candies, as a sampling of some of the highlights. I think I might do 80 miles tomorrow, if I can manage it. Now that im all done with the clinics I can be more flexible. We'll just have to see where I end up.

Day 20 - continued

Day 19 - mobile mechanic pensacola

Sat 12/18
After each clinic is over, I always think to myself "gee, i wish I had taken more pictures!" Today was no different. The good people of pensacola came out in great numbers to show support for jake and to get their bikes worked on. The event was at ever'mans, a natural food coop, and was another big success.
My host, randy, took me to a pensacola beach staple for breakfast, where I had some very filling biscuits and gravy. It was a good thing, because I didny get much of a break once I got the mobile mechanic all set up. Evermans is really involved with lots of community events here and did a fantastic job with promotions. They had flyers all over the store and a sign out front. People stopped by steadily all day to wish jake well. People here were very well informed about holistic medicine and knew how much the right food can contribute to healing. Lots wanted to make sure jake knew about raw and macrobiotic foods and were glad to hear he had already taken that step. People were also aware of how important it is to stay positive, and how focusing mental energy on healing can make all the difference.
After it was over, randy and his wife sunaree had arranged for some people to come over to their house for delicious homemade pizza.  Mostly they were friends from the west florida wheelmen bike club, and people shared bike stories long into the night. I think when it was said and done randy and sunaree had made 7 pizzas. I took care of at least a whole one, no problem. It was really a fun stop, and everyone at the pizza party agreed that I lucked out on finding such great hosts.
Im on the homestretch now, and I cant believe ill be in gainesville in a week. Only 370 miles to go!

Day 18 - Pensacola

Fri 12/17
I finally made it to pensacola. I only had about 40 miles left from gulf shores so it was a pretty easy ride. It was nice to have had 2 short days since dauphin island, plus the prospect of a day off tomorrow. I built a little wiggle room into my schedule, partially for my own benefit, but also so I could have my mobile mechanic events fall on saturdays.
Despite being at the beach, this has been the worst weather ive seen all trip. It was basically like being in a cloud. Standing still, it didnt really feel like rain, but when I was moving into the humidity I could feel little droplets accumulating. I saw 3 guys getting ready to go surfing and chatted them up a bit. One told me that the 2 ft waves today werent the best that they get around there, but he insisted it would still be fun. Youve got to love it to be out there on a drizzly 60 degree day, so kudos to them. They would probably say the same thing about the guy riding his bike 1300 miles.
It started to rain more seriously once I got into pensacola proper. At one point I stopped to take a picture of a neat old house. There was a guy nearby who told me it was over 100 years old. The guy, Chip, was tucked under the overhang of his sign shop watching the weather. We talked about the house, which had been moved from its original location, and he invited me to check out his shop. He made signs in the afternoons to pay the bills, but in the morning and evening he would make art. I didnt get any pictures with the
phone camera, but he had lots of painting, sculpture and mixed media stuff. He collected old shovel heads and would turn them into abstract little heads. Those were probably my favorites but it was hard to tell through the sensory overload.
I rode the last 5 miles to my host's house and got there before the skies opened up in earnest. I was safely seated at the bar for the rest of the afternoon watching randy make dinner from scratch. Short ribs over homemade polenta cakes with baked squash, fresh green beans and a delicious apple crisp for dessert. Mmm. His wife got home and we had a great dinner. Theyre really interesting people, and I know the rest of my stay will be lots of fun. Randy was also instrumental in organizing the event for tomorrow, which sounds like it will be the biggest yet. Im feeling very fortunate to meet all these great people, and I know itll only get better.

Day 17 - gulf shores

Thurs 12/16/2010
Today was a pretty uneventful day. Cyclist dan left early after saying goodbye, but I had a leisurely morning and barely made the 11oclock ferry. I was the only person in it! The crew members used a bike for riding up the pier to the gate on the fort morgan side. One of them was working on it during the ferry ride. I offered some tips but he politely declined.
Back on the road, I was snapping a picture when I saw miro, from slovakia, on his bike. He was going the other way, but he hit the ferry dock, turned around, and soon caught me. He was a high level amatuer racer who had a condo in gulf shores for training. We rode together for a few miles at a good clip, but I had to recuse myself from the tempo in order to save my legs. Ill bet his bike weighed less than the water I had with me. After maybe I made it to a bike path that went the final 8 miles into gulf shores. I really love not riding with cars.
Unfortunately, the guerilla mobile mechanic event in gulf shores did not pan out. Had it been july I could have tuned up beach crusiers to my heart's content. But, in the off season, there just wasnt anyone around. My plan was to set up shop by the bike path and target passerbys, but I only saw a few people out all day. Gulf shores had maybe the best bike infrastructure ive seen (paths, lanes, signs, racks etc), but no riders. Lots of signs for VRBO though.
I took the long way through gulf state park before calling it a day. I just have about 40 miles left to Pensacola, but its supposed to be rainy all day friday, and maybe into saturdau. Hopefully it will clear by 10 am, the time for the next mobile mechanic event. Its at ever'mans, a natural food store in pensacola. Should be lots of fun. Enjoy the pictures, im almost into the last week!