Across America

Well, that is that. I've ridden my bicycle from sea to shining sea. Over 2,700 miles in 39 days. About 70 miles per day. A few days above 100°, maybe one day below 50°, a few rainy days, and many sunny days. Highs and lows. The first week was very challenging. During and after day one, I wanted to quit. Day one, caught me so off guard and hit me so hard, that was scared, scared of failure. Quitting after day one? How would that look? How would people perceive me? Quit after one day, after spending a year+ planning this out. Well, it wasn't out of the question. Day one broke me. It took a few rides that first week to rebuild the confidence within myself. Once I rebuilt that confidence again, I was back to my old self, laser-focused on the goal at hand. To rebuild that confidence, I leaned on my support, family, friends, and mentors. They helped convince me I could complete this when I didn't know if I could. Thank you for that. All of you know who you are. Little by little i

87 miles (fin) I slept pretty well in the hotel. My actually fell asleep watching TV. What a life! Woke up around 6:00, hit the breakfast with a hard! I mean hard. Two pieces of toast, three little pastry things, three waffles, a little bowl of cereal, and some milk. The forecast said it was supposed to rain till 9:00 a.m., so I thought I had some time for that to digest. But when I finish breakfast around 6:45, the rain had cleared up. I realize I had to jump on the bike as soon as possible. I rode the first 80ish miles running only on the breakfast I ate! So the rain had stopped, or at least the storm was moving. So basically the whole day I was right behind it. I followed it right now Jacksonville. So I was pretty much always riding on wet roads. Passing trucks and cars with kick up a bunch of water. Even though I didn't get rained on a lot, I did get wet because of that. One thing I noticed here is that there are a lot of correctional facilities. Jails. I probably passed three

107 miles Had a delicious omelet and some bacon for breakfast. Thank you Rick and Deborah!  Got on the road around 6:45. Made pretty good time all day today. 15 plus miles per hour pretty much the whole day. There was a thing I forgot to add in the last post. Florida is not flat. That is a big misconception. Near Tallahassee it is extremely hilly. My ride getting into Tallahassee had many small hills. But those small hills add up fast! Today I went up and down 2350 ft of elevation. First cycling folks, you know that's not nothing! And it was over 2,000 ft up and down for my ride into Tallahassee.  This can actually be compared to some of the riding I did in Texas. Not quite as bad, but much more hilly than Minnesota/Wisconsin. Go figure Today I was also able to reconnect with an old friend, US 90! In fact I will be following US 90 all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. I think that is kind of neat. I got on this road back in Texas where it started, and I'll be taking it to the end.

I was fighting it over last night and this morning, and I decided to stay another day in Tallahassee. Rick and Deborah are fantastic hosts so I needed to stay another day!  I am not really in a hurry anymore, as my flight is on Friday and I got about 2 days of riding left. I am on track to get to Jacksonville on Tuesday so I will have plenty of time. Staying was a great decision. The weather was good all day so that was the only downside. It was a good day for riding. But a little rain won't be the end of the world. Did some work on my bike and got to see the Florida state capitol. From a view from a distance it looks a bit strange. I rested up the whole day. Great movies and and TV shows.  Good conversations about life and bike touring. To make things better, the food they made was 10/10! Rick and Deborah said it was there goal to be the best possible hosts and they are up there!

110 miles When I went to bed it was supposed to rain in the morning. By the time I woke up the rain was out of the forecast. Breakfast was corn flakes and bananas. Left around 6:15. Today I was also leaving the coastline. Which made the riding a little less scenic. Made a quick stop in a town 30 miles from my start. Within minutes of being back on the road, I had my first flat tire. Well overdue. I ran over this thick piece of wire that found the thin spot in my tire.  A flat tire is really not a big deal, and it happens to most tourists many times on tours. I got the tube changed out and reinstalled within about 25 minutes. After that back on the road. Really not a whole lot of scenery today. Just a good day to pound out some mileage. I did have some pasta mid ride from the night before. Good food I also changed time zones today I made it to my hosts', Rick and Deborah, and was welcomed with open arms. Rick and I talked about bike touring and future/past adventures. One notable th