Day 38 - Tallahassee - Lake City

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.


Made it about 3 and 1/2 hours, and then I look behind me and saw the rain coming. Unfortunately I was in between two towns.


So last night, the forecast was about 50-50 all day. Once I woke up it said I was good until 2ish. However the storm came out of nowhere and hit around 10:00.


Like I said I was in between two towns, so I put on my waterproof stuff, and rode in the rain. It wasn't coming down too badly, but probably not what I want to ride in. But I needed to get into town.


Thankfully, towns are only 15 mi apart, so I made it within a half an hour. Got some shelter outside of gas station. I stayed there for about an hour. Which wasn't too bad. The thing that kept me there was the lightning. Every time I thought the storm was ending, there was another shot of lightning. I'm pretty sure it's not smart to ride with lightning, so I didn't.


Anyway I got rocking and rolling. Pretty uneventful riding after that. The last hour was kind of a drag. Other than that good day.


There are not a ton of campgrounds in the area, so I had to go with a hotel. This is definitely not where I wanted to be sleeping my last night, but there is quite a bit of rain in the forecast. So I think it'll work out.


Basically since I've gotten here, I've just laid in bed and watched TV. Livin' the good life


Tomorrow is the final push

Popular posts from this blog

Epilogue

Image
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
Read more

Day 0 - Flight to San Diego

Image
 I packed up the bike yesterday (5/11), moved out of my room today, and jumped on an airplane and went to San Diego.  During the fight I sat next to the wonderful Jessica and Katie.  Once I landed in San Diego, things started happening very quickly. My warmshowers host, and my new good friend, Steve pick me up at the airport and took me to the ocean. There I set up the bike and dipped the tires in! A wonderful start to the trip. Already met many great people. You know who you are! Tomorrow morning will mark the start of the trip.
Read more

Day 2 - Jacumba Hot Springs to Holtville

Image
52 miles I left the Desert View Tower at 5:45 and started with a 3500 foot decent. Essentially, 12 mi of straight downhill going 40 plus miles an hour. After that road in the desert for a little bit with a slight headwind. The roads were a little rough. The last hour and a half was in more rural land. They were bailing hay! There was a much heavier headwind. 15 miles per hour. Arrived in Holtville around 9:30. So about 3 hours and 45 minutes total. Pretty easy day. By the time I quit at 9:30, it was already 84° Once I arrived I set up shop at Holt Park, and stayed there for about 9 hours! I sat in the shade, and was finally able to enjoy the 15 mph wind! It got up to 99°, and stayed there for several hours.  
Read more