November 23 - Official End Of The Tour

November 23 - Wednesday; St. Augustine, FL to Altoona, IA
I slept well at the Anastasia Inn and enjoyed a nice continental breakfast before being picked up at 8:45 am by the Airport Limo. It was raining in the morning but cleared up before we arrived at the Jacksonville airport. The driver had two other pickups at Flagler College also headed for the Jacksonville airport; two first-semester freshmen co-eds going home for the holiday weekend; nice ladies - one from Boston and the other from New Hampshire. We arrived at the airport around 9:30 am and I quickly had my boarding passes and was through airport security. I noticed that one of the Jacksonville early morning TV shows was broadcasting live from the airport anticipating a high volume of holiday traffic with long lines at security. Also, when the driver pulled up he commented how very crowded the airport was and how long it would take to get through security. The Jacksonville airport is really pretty small and there were maybe a twenty cars dropping off/picking up in front of my terminal - not really much of a crowd. It took me five minutes to clear airport security - that's about the same as any normal day at the Des Moines or QC airports - maybe less. So, it seemed to me a lot of fuss by the media over nothing - but perhaps more than they are used to in Jacksonville.

The flight from Jacksonville to Minneapolis left on time at 1:40 pm and was very enjoyable and relaxing. We arrived in Minneapolis on time at 3:50 pm. The flight from Minneapolis to Des Moines also left on time at 5:40 pm and arrived in Des Moines twenty minutes early at 6:15 pm. Susi picked me up at the airport. It was great to see her again. I worried a bit after leaving so soon after her surgery. We had dinner at El Azteca in Pleasant Hill on the way home from the airport. When we finally arrived home, our daughter Jessica and her husband Matt were here. They are celebrating Thanksgiving with us tomorrow. Friday, Susi and I will drive to our hometown (Winchester, IL) for the weekend to visit with family.

The bicycle trip is officially over now. I still have to clean up two bikes, wash/clean all the gear and return Al's Burley Nomad trailer. All the equipment that was shipped from Houston arrived shortly after I left to rejoin the tour. I inventoried it last night and reassembled my Co-Motion Americano touring bike. Performance Bike in Houston did a very good job of boxing it up and protecting the bike frame and pieces/parts. Thanks to Susi's cousin Barbara for getting everything back to me from Houston. The Trek 1200 bicycle and gear I used to complete the tour should be here next week.

November 22 - Last Day In St. Augustine

November 22 - Tuesday; St. Augustine, Fl
Today is my last day in St. Augustine. After a restful night we had pirate pancakes for breakfast again at the Pirate Haus Inn (see photos below - cute). There are two families with young children staying at the Pirate Haus and the cook made them each a pancake with their name in it. They were delighted of course. I couldn't check in to the Anastasia Inn until after 12:00 pm so I hung around with Gary, Dan, Adrian and Ray during the morning. We walked around the old town some more and through Flagler College's Ponce de Leon Hall which used to be a the Hotel Ponce de Leon. This building is magnificent and must have been a stunningly beautiful hotel when it opened in 1888. After lunch I said goodbye to Ray who left early this afternoon. I then headed across the Bridge of Lions to my motel. After checking in I walked back across the bridge and signed up for a harbor cruise that started at 2:45 pm. The cruise was nice though it clouded up during the last 1/2 hour. We saw a number of dolphins near the inlet from the ocean. After the cruise I caught up with Dan, Gary and Adrian at the Pirate Haus. Another touring cyclist was staying in their room; John Gayford, a native Australian who has lived in Toronto Canada for the last 30 years working as an engineer for Ford Motor Company. John and his wife recently bought touring bicycles and John is out on a 3-day tour to learn the ropes. John and four others spent 117 days at sea sailing a 46' sailboat from Canada to Australia and New Zealand via the Atlantic and southern oceans raising $22,217 to fight cancer. We went for a beer before heading to dinner at the Italian restaurant where we dined the first night in St. Augustine. There was lot of good conversation over dinner then I said my farewells to Adrian, Dan and Gary. They were terrific riding partners and I really enjoyed their company during the tour. Special thanks to John for picking up the tab - you really shouldn't have done that. It started raining while we were dining so I had to walk back across the bridge in a light rain. I'd taken my rain jacket for the harbor cruise so I was prepared.

The airport shuttle picks me up at 8:45 am tomorrow morning for the ride to Jacksonville Airport. My flight leaves at 1:40 pm and is scheduled to arrive in Des Moines (via Minneapolis) at 6:25 pm. It will be great to be back home.

I'll likely spend some time adding photos to earlier blog posts and rearranging the blog entries sometime after getting home. I'll also make one more post with reflections/thank yous etc..

A few photos from St. Augustine today:

Pirate pancakes.

Flagler College's Ponce de Leon Hall - originally the Hotel Ponce de Leon built in 1888.

Inside Ponce de Leon Hall - beautiful woodwork (was renovated in 1994/95).

Inside Ponce de Leon Hall

Harbor Cruise - St. Augustine Lighthouse

Harbor Cruise - Atlantic Ocean

Harbor Cruise - Dolphins

November 21 - St. Augustine, FL

November 21 - Monday; St. Augustine, FL; 1 mile.
I slept soundly last night probably because I didn't have to worry about getting up at any certain time and being on the road. The guy running the Pirate Haus Inn fixed "pirate pancakes"  for breakfast by first using one type of mix for the eyes/eye patch/smile then when that had browned, pouring another type of mix over the top. Cute - I'll take a picture if they have them again tomorrow. We also did laundry. I left for the bicycle shop and shipping store around 11:00 am. I should have read the sign on the door of the bike shop yesterday when we rode by on our way to dip our wheels. Anyway, when I got there this morning, the sign read that the shop would be closed Monday and Tuesday. I rode to the next block where the shipping store was located and the owner didn't think they had any bicycle boxes left since they had shipped five bikes last week. I left the bike and trailer at the shipping store and walked to the rear of the bike shop hoping to find an empty bike box. There was one there and I carried it back to the shipping store but was sure it was too small - and it was. However, by the time I returned, the shipping store owner had found one and it worked perfectly. I disassembled and boxed the bike. The owner let me bring the trailer inside to unload and disassemble it. Once I had everything in a pile, he packed a few more things inside the bike box then taped it shut. He then studied the pile of gear and trailer parts, scratched out a few figures on a sheet of paper and returned with a box that was about 48"x12"x12". It needed to be long for the trailer parts, tire pump and tent but I couldn't see how he could get everything into it - especially with the trailer wheels - but he did, and the last item in filled it up completely. The guy was good!

I walked back (this felt weird - no bike) to the Pirate Haus and arrived about 12:30 pm then called Gary to find out where the rest of the group was - hoping they were still eating lunch - I was a little hungry and very thirsty. I met them at Mehan's Irish Pub and satisfied by hunger and thirst with a juicy burger, fries and a (what else) Diet Coke. We met up with RJ and his wife just after lunch. He had grown a beard during the tour and was told by his wife that it had to go - and it was gone. After lunch we walked around the Castillo de San Marcos Fort then I walked all the streets of Old Town taking in the sights, reading the historical signs and shooting a few pictures. We're going out for one last group dinner tonight, then everyone starts leaving; RJ, Vicky and Ray tomorrow - the rest of us on Wednesday. We met Shirley (of Grant and Shirley who we rode with and met a number of times during the tour) after walking around the fort. They had just arrived and are staying until the 28th but will be spending Thanksgiving with some friends who live in St. Augustine. I also met a cycling tourist, Alphonso Eusantos, who is "taking life at 10 mph" and has been touring for 17,000 miles. His next destination is Central America by was of the Gulf Coast and Austin, TX where he hopes to convince a friend or two to join him. Good luck Alphonso!

RJ - without the beard!

A few photos of St. Augustine:

Statue of Juan Ponce de León (sorry for cutting off your hat Juan)

Oldest Wooden School House

Oldest House

Pirate ship tour setting sail

Dolphin swimming near the municipal docks

November 20 - Palatka to St. Augustine, FL

November 2 - Sunday; Palatka to St. Augustine FL; 36 miles.
The End!!

Tour-ending Atlantic wheel dip.

Fred reaches the Atlantic.

We had a nice stay at the Sleep Inn in Palatka and a nice continental breakfast before heading out around 8:00 am. We had studied the ACA map and Google Maps and decided to take a more direct route to St. Augustine - FL207. This route was 4-lane and had more traffic than the map route but had a wide shoulder - and by this morning, we all just wanted to get to Anastasia State Park where we would dip our wheels in the Atlantic Ocean. The day was sunny and warm with little wind. The ride was going well until about 5 miles out of East Palatka when RJ ran over a staple causing a flat rear tire (it's always the rear - the hardest to fix, especially with racks and panniers). We all stopped and helped as we could but as we pulled out, Adrian ran over a staple and had a flat rear tire too. While we were helping Adrian fix his flat, we noticed large staples everywhere. After about 1/2 hour total delay for both flats, we were again on our way. Shortly, Dan narrowly escaped a flat when he herd something hitting his fender. When he stopped, he had indeed run over the same type of staple but it did not go through the tire. He pulled it out and we were again on our way. All went well for several more miles as we approached Hastings when Adrian had another flat. RJ, Gary, Dan and I rode to a convenience store in Hastings for a  break and waited for the rest to arrive. After another short break we rode into the St. Augustine city limits and stopped for a break one last time at I-95 before riding to Anastasia State Park. We took photos of the wheel dipping ceremony and congratulated each other on a most excellent adventure. We headed to the Pirate Haus Inn (Hostel) where we'll be staying the the next two nights. After cleaning up, we headed for a local brew-pub for refreshments. We later met RJ and his wife at a very nice Italian restaurant for dinner. Dan treated us to ice cream at a nearby ice cream/chocolate parlour. We're back at the Pirate Haus for the night.

Getting ready to leave Palatka for the final ride.

RJ's flat on FL-207. I think this was his 11th of the trip.

Adrian holding the culprit after his 2nd flat of the morning.

Getting close - 9 more miles.

Entering Anastasia State Park

Tomorrow I'll take my bike and gear to the shipping store to be boxed and shipped home. Later I plan to do a walking tour of the historic St. Augustine old downtown erea. The group is having dinner together again tomorrow night. RJ will probably be gone and maybe Vicky as well. Ray leaves Tuesday and the rest of us leave Wednesday.I'll make blog entries the next few days until my adventure is finally over when I arrive at home on the 23rd.

November 19 - Hawthorne to Palatka, FL

November 19 - Saturday; Hawthorne to Palatka, FL; 36 miles.
I survived the stay at the Ranch (nicknamed the "Roach") Motel and Campground in Hawthorne. The group met up at Diane's for breakfast and then we were off to an 8:00 am start. It was overcast all day today but there were only a few sprinkles. RJ skipped breakfast and headed for Palatka. Dan left the rest of us shortly after we started off from Hawthorne. That left Gary, Adrian, Vicky, Ray and me to ride together. We did so at a very leisurely pace stopping for the first time in Melrose (10 miles). After a short break there we headed to Putnam Hall then on to Florahome (20 miles) where we stopped for a little longer break as we only had 15 miles to go and it was only a little ofter 10:00 am. A bit after Florahome a man in a small red pickup truck parked next to the road asked us if we were riding the Southern Tier. We shouted that we were. He then passed us and again was parked next to the road. This time we stopped to talk. He is an Adventure Cycling Association member and recommended a section of a brand new trail that paralleled FL100. We took his advice. While only a short section, the traffic on FL100 had been very heavy and it was nice to get off the road for a while. The trail brought us back to FL100 where we continued the remaining distance to the Sleep Inn & Suites in Palatka, FL arriving at about noon. Ray had booked each of us their own room. Especially compared to last night, the accommodations are terrific. After doing laundry, Ray, Dan, Gary, RJ and I walked across the street to a Sonny's BBQ restaurant for a late lunch. The group will go to dinner together later.

Tomorrow's ride is it! We should arrive in St. Augustine by early afternoon, do the Atlantic Ocean wheel dip then head for the hostel.

L-R: Vicky, Gary, Ray and Adrian riding the unnamed rail-to-trail near Florahome, FL.

November 18 - Ichetrucknee Springs SP to Hawthorne, FL

November 18 –Friday; Ichetrucknee Springs State Park to Hawthorne, FL; 65 miles.
After dinner last night we had Smores. Adrian from the UK had never had them and we didn’t want him to return without having some. He (all of us) really enjoyed them. This was the first and only campfire of the whole trip if you can believe it. It was a very nice night camping with the temperature getting down to 41 degrees. After breakfast we headed to the Blue Hole inside Ichetrucknee Spring State Park. It was only about ¼ mile up the route to the park entrance and another ¼ mile to the parking area but about ¾ mile hike to the spring. The water was crystal clear but in the early morning light, not very photogenic. We were back on the main road and on our way at around 9:00 am. It was sunny all morning and partly cloudy in the afternoon with the high temperature of only around 70 degrees. I peeled off layers as the day went along but it was only about the last 1-1/2 hours that I was down to just a short sleeve biking shirt. Today’s ride took us first to High Springs 22 miles out. While sunny, the wind was swirling and occasionally in our face which made the going a little tough at times. We had second breakfast at a diner in High Springs then were off to Alachua then to Gainsville. There was considerable urban riding in Gainsville; population 95,000. We stopped most of the way across Gainsville at a convenience store for a short break then headed to the Gainsville-Hawthorn State Trail. The 16 mile ride along the trail was very, very nice and we took it at a leisurely pace making it even more enjoyable. About 4 miles from Hawthorne, we had to help each other lift our bikes over a downed tree. I figured Ray would bunny hop it but he said when we slowed, we took his momentum away – otherwise he would have. We arrived at our destination, the Ranch Motel and Campground just south of Hawthorne, at 3:50 pm. RJ and Dan were already here and sitting in front of their room with the door open. It was obvious from their expressions that the accommodations were questionable. Vicky would not stay in her room but said she would camp one more night. I rode across the road to a Catholic church and got the OK to camp in the grassy area in the back. Ray had already paid and the guy would not give him his money back. Adrian had thrown his tent away this morning thinking there was no more camping. After much discussion, Ray, Adrian and I decided to stay in three of the rooms and the others are camped behind the church. See the photo below for how I have the bed set up. Susi talked me through how to check for bedbugs and I did not see any. I don’t want anything to do with the bed linens so I have my tent ground cloth over the bottom sheet and I’ll sleep on my sleeping bag and use the liner if I get cold. After dinner at Diane’s, a reasonably good BBQ restaurant, I debated moving over to the church and pitching my tent – but at this point, I guess I’ll take my chances. I’m starting to itch already – psychological?

There are only two more cycling days left and since we went 16 extra miles to Hawthorne today, each is  only around 40 miles. Baring bad weather, the next two days should be very leisurely and enjoyable – a fitting end to a most excellent adventure.

Enjoying Smores over our only campfire of the trip.

At the Blue Hole in Ichetrucknee Springs State Park.

Riding the Gainsville-Hawthorne Trail (Adrian F-L, Vicky F-R, Ray R-L and Gary R-R)



Fred riding the Gainsville-Hawthorne Trail

The night's accomodations; note the tent footprint on the bed with sleeping bag on top.

November 17 - Suwannee River State Park to Ichtrucknee Springs State Park

November 17 – Thursday; Suwannee River State Park to Ichetrucknee Springs State Park; 55 miles.
From the heavy rain last night the tent fly was soaking wet inside and out. The tent itself and the ground cloth were surprisingly not that wet. It was still pretty humid and mostly overcast as we started riding at about 8:30 am. Today’s ride had very few hills and those were small so it was a very flat ride and we made good time. With a tail wind much of the day we were riding 16 mph much of the day and occasionally at 18 mph with little effort. The roads remained very rural with little traffic.  There were also very few placed to stop which combined to get us 55 miles down the road before 2:00 pm. From Suwanee River State Park we headed towards Wellborn, the only town on the route today. We stopped for refreshments at a convenience store when we crossed US 129. See the photo of the “organized” pickup truck cab below! The driver could barely see over the junk on the dashboard. From US 129 we headed towards Wellborn thinking that there would be a restaurant, but the only one had close only a couple of months ago. There was another convenience store on the far edge of town so we stopped there and ate sandwiches. We also unpacked our tents while eating lunch at a convenience store to dry them out. The skies cleared considerably in the afternoon and the ride to our campground was very pleasant and leisurely. We are the Family Ichetrucknee Campground next to the state park. There are only 3 bicycling days left and this is the last night of camping for the trip – motels/hostel the rest of the way. NO MORE CAMPTOWEL - YES!!!!

Well organized and practicing "Safety First" - NOT!! The man could barely see over the dashboard.

Cotton bales.

For days we've seen large oak trees all along the route. Really pretty with the moss hanging down.

Last night of camping. Thanks again to Al for lending me the Burley trailer.

November 16 - East Tallahassee KOA to Suwannee River State Park

November 16 – Wednesday; East Tallahassee KOA to Suwannee River State Park, FL; 53 miles.
It misted during the night so things were a little wet this morning, not terrible though. After a continental breakfast at the KOA we headed for Monticello then on to Greenville. Greenville is the birthplace of Ray Charles. There was a statue erected in his honor in the town park. We had hoped to eat a second breakfast but the only option was a convenience store. After a short break we were off to Madison and arrived at lunch time. We ate at a BBQ restaurant and celebrated Dan’s birthday. After grocery shopping, we headed to Lee then to Suwannee River State Park. Yes, this is the river made famous by the song “Way down upon the Swanee River”. I haven’t researched why the name is spelled different in the song. Today’s riding was enjoyable but it was overcast all day and is threatening rain tonight. The humidity is about 95% and it is extremely uncomfortable in this tent – like a sauna. I’m sweating like crazy. [Later – It rained heavily from 10:00 pm until about 3:00 am but I stayed dry in the tent – though there was a small puddle near my right shoulder.] Only tonight and tomorrow night remain for camping- the rest of the nights are either in motels or the hostel in St. Augustine. Double hurrah for that!

Bronze statue of Ray Charles in Greenville, FL where he was raised.

Way Down Upon The "Suwannee" River - near Suwannee River State Park, FL

November 15 - Tallahassee to Near Monticello, FL

November 15 - Tuesday, Tallahassee to KOA Near Monticello, Fl, 42 miles.
Last night's stay at the University Inn & Suites near the Florida State University campus was very nice. We were up and going about 7:30 am this morning. Since the motel was off the map route we had to take an alternate route to get back on track. We stopped for breakfast at a cafe we'd seen on the Google map of the alternate route. It was vegetarian. Those of you who know me also know that I am about the farthest thing from a vegan that there is. I had a bagel with cream cheese, iced tea and orange juice. [I was reminded of a line from the movie Jerimiah Johnson where Robert Redford had the Indian squaw and the crazy woman's son who he called Caleb. They were trying to eat food the woman had prepared and Jerimiah finally spit it out and said to the Caleb - "take notice of the traps and go fetch some proper food"]. Too bad I didn't go with my instinct and hit the McDonald's across the street from the motel - though I'm not a big McD fan either - but I could at least have had pancakes. We were back on the map route shortly after leaving the cafe and rode about 10 miles on the very scenic and very nice St. Mark's Trail; a rails to trails path. I took a couple of photos over my shoulder of some of our group. We exited the trail in Woodville and tried to find a "real" restaurant for breakfast but there were none so we stopped at a convenience store for a short break. The road leaving Woodville was very nice with hardly any traffic. I think we were passed maybe 12 times in 20 miles. It was overcast and very humid which detracted a little, but it was very wooded, remote and very flat. Speaking of flat, Tallahassee itself was pretty hilly in contrast to the relatively flat miles before and the miles after. Anyway, we stopped next in Wacissa at the only place open; another convenience store (and a pretty rundown one at that). We ate a lot of what we had packed for lunch yesterday and bought a few other items to munch on. Then we were off to Waukeenan where we stopped at another convenience store and bought groceries for dinner tonight; a concoction of mac-n-cheese, sloppy joe mix and green beans. We arrived at the KOA about 1:15 pm and set up camp. I had to dry my tent as it was very wet from camping two nights ago. Then showers and laundry and more snacking in the KOA recreation room. Dinner was sort of good. The sloppy joe mix did not have meat as we had thought so we bought some hot dogs at the KOA store. Gary and Vicky cooked and the mac-n-cheese with hotdogs was good. However, on my first bowl i added the sloppy joe/green bean sauce on top - bad choice. The second helping of just mac-n-cheese with hotdogs was pretty good. A photo of tonights chefs is included as is one of "The Royal Order of the Third Eye" (seemed funny to us, but probably one of those thinks where you had to be there...).

Aside from not being sunny (until shortly after we finished riding for the day) it was another very nice bicycling day!

St. Mark's Trail - Gary (forefront), Vicky (rear left) and Ray (rear right).

St. Mark's Trail - Dan (left) and Ray (right)

Tonight's chefs - Vicky and Gary (nice hats!)

Royal Order of the Third Eye (this seemed really funny at the time!?)

Tomorrow we ride to Suwanee River State Park - about 53 miles. After tonight, there are only 3 more camping nights before the end of the tour. I've always enjoyed camping but had never done it so much at one time. On my next tour, I'll likely plan to stay in cheap motels a little more often and use WarmShowers wherever possible too.

November 14 - Marianna to Tallahassee, FL

November 14 - Monday; Marianna to Tallahassee, FL, 71 miles.
Dinner last night was delicious. We ate at a BBQ joint named Sonny's. I think it is a chain as I've seen similar restaurants before in the south. The full rack of baby backs was superb! It was a pretty nice night for camping last night. I think it only got down into the 50s. We were up by 6:00 am, finished with breakfast and on the road by about 7:30 am. Riding today was excellent with mild temperatures, sunny skies and very scenic roadways. We took backroads for the first 15 miles from Marianna to Grand Ridge; very rural and very scenic. As we neared Grand Ridge we spotted road kill and RJ, Dan, Gary and I studied it to try and figure out what it was. At first we thought alligator but from the pieces/parts finally decided it must have been a combination of an alligator making love to a muskrat in the middle of the road when they were run over by a something big. Actually it was probably a large turtle but that doesn't explain the fur? Anyway, we stopped at a convenience store in Grand Ridge for snacks then were off to Sneads and Chattaoochee. Just before Chattahoochee we entered the eastern time zone and lost an hour. We also had lunch at Jimmy's where they had a lunch buffet. I filled up on fried chicken and sweet tea. Our last segment took us through Midway and finally to the University Inn in Tallahassee. We arrived at 4:15 pm eastern time so we made pretty good time today. For dinner tonight we were met by Jim, a local Adventure Cycling Association member who has considerable touring experience - including the Southern Tier in 2009, who drove us in his van to an Italian restaurant. Before dinner, Jim drove us to a large, 300-500 year old oak tree known as the Lichgate Oak (photo). It was nearly dark when we got there but the tree certainly was impressive.

Today is Susi and my anniversary. Happy anniversary to the love of my life.

Tomorrow's ride is only 45 miles to a KOA in Waukeenah, FL.

November 13 - Layover Day in Marianna, FL

November 13 - Sunday; Layover Day in Marianna, FL; 6 mi.
Today has been a layover day in Marianna, FL. Last night everyone said they wanted to sleep in this morning. Being a weekend, the RV park is pretty full with campers and motor homes. About 5:30 am a couple of young boys started shooting their pellet guns right next to our tent sites. We were all up by 6:30 am. I woke up at 5:30 and laid in my sleeping bag until I heard others in our group up and about. A little annoying, but just boys doing what boys do. We all had our laundry done by 9:00 am and milled around for a while. I worked on the hitch to Al's trailer which had been making noise. We figured out yesterday that the plastic part that fastens to the trailer and to the bike-mounted hitch was squeaking twice with every pedal stroke. I was a little relieved because I was afraid my crank bearings were going out and probably would not make it very much farther let alone the 400 miles we had left to go. Being the engineer that I am, I decided to put oil on it but that made the movement worse and what had been a squeak turned in to a clicking noise with each pedal stroke as the bike surged back and forth and the trailer tried to keep up. After laundry I unhitched the trailer and removed the plastic piece. It is in good condition but there must be some wear at the hole where it attaches to the trailer and since it is round and the trailer part is square, also in this area. I cleaned all the oil off of all the parts with some wet-naps and studied options for closing some of the clearances. Gary had just replaced a tire tube and gave it to me. I cut some bushing material for all the parts and everything appears to be in very good working order now. I left about 11:30 am and rode to a CVS pharmacy to get a prescription filled and also picked up a few things I'd forgotten to bring along (sunscreen - who thought I'd need that in Florida the "Sunshine State"?!). The others, except for RJ, caught up with me about noon outside the CVS and we rode further in to town to a restaurant that served breakfast all day M-F. A couple had breakfast, but I had a cheeseburger that was pretty good. No one wanted to ride to the other state park that has cavers - we decided that if you've seen one cavern, you've seen them all. Not really true, but everyone is tired and this is supposed to be a rest day. I've found it best to stay off of he bicycle as much as possible on rest days. I must have lost a little conditioning because my quads are really sore today. On the way back out of town we stopped and purchased a few groceries for breakfast/lunch tomorrow.

Since the tour started in San Diego through the time I left the group in east Texas, though many dogs will bark and give chase, I'd only been chased by a few dogs that I thought might bite me. I carried pepper spray and used it twice. I didn't bring any with me for the rest of the trip as the airlines would not allow it in either carry on (obviously) or checked baggage. A few days before I returned to ride the rest of the way to St. Augustine our group was riding with the other "van supported" Adventure Cycling Association tour group - 14 riders in all. One of their riders was bitten and has had to undergo rabies shots. My group said that being chased by aggressive dogs became a regular occurrence in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. We were chased twice yesterday and once by a dog that really looked serious about biting - teeth bared!!! The owner of the other dog was outside and yelled to us that the dog would not bite. The downside to this is that, bite or not, a bicyclist will react to the chase and swerve away from the shoulder and into the traffic lane away from the dog. This is done instinctively and usually with no time for checking traffic. If this should happen at the wrong time, even though the dog does not bite, a cyclist could get hit by an auto. Owners really should keep their animals restrained! Today I found a Big Lots store that sold pepper spray so I bought two and sold one to Adrian. Now at least two of us have pepper spray available should it be needed. In the past we've tried to give dogs the benefit of the doubt as most bark but are not really serious about biting. Our mentality at this point may have shifted to that of spraying at the first sign rather than taking a chance and gettin bitten. Dan is especially vulnerable being on the low-riding recumbent as he is eye level with a dog giving chase.

Enough about the dogs. We're going to try to borrow a car again for dinner tonight. Tomorrow we are off to Tallahassee where we'll be staying at the University Motel. The ride will be about 70 miles. I think we only have 5 or 6 days of camping left for the remainder of the trip.

A couple of more photos of the lake at the RV Park where we camped:

November 12 - DeFuniak Springs to Marianna, FL

November 12 – Saturday; DeFuniak Springs to Marianna, FL; 64 miles
It was pretty cold again last night. Depending on who I talked to it may have been 26 degrees or it may have only been 36 degrees – either way, pretty cold for tent camping. It was sunny from the start and the fog on the lake next to where we camped was pretty. We started riding just after 7:30 am after a nice warm breakfast; instant oatmeal and hot chocolate for me. My feet froze right off the bat. We had to cycle 3.5 miles to get back to US90 and head east. Some of us stopped for  a second breakfast at 9:00 am in Westville, FL. I mainly stopped to thaw my feet. We had cycled through Argyle and Ponce DeLeon before breakfast. Then it was on through Caryville, Bonefay and Chipley where we took a break at a gas station/convenience store. We passed Adrian and Vicky at a restaurant in Chipley and Ray peeled off to ride with them.  RJ, Dan, Gary and I kept going on to Cottondale where we took another short break before heading on to Marianna. Arrowhead RV Park and Campground is on the east side of Marianna and is where we are camped for tonight and tomorrow night. It was another nice sunny day cycling in along US90 in Florida. There was little wind but there were a number of hills, but still very nice. Vicky rode the 21 miles from Chipley to Marianna then stopped for her sister-in-law to pick her up and take her back to Chipley for a visit with her brother. She’ll catch us on Monday as we ride from Marianna to Tallahassee. The woman working at the office of the RV park lent us her small KIA SUV to drive to a restaurant for dinner. There was supposed to be a BBQ place across the road but it is closed. It took two trips to get us all to Jim’s Buffet. It was pretty good. I had a catfish, fried clam strips and several different types of shrimp and did not walk away hungry. I used Pat Faircloth’s and my philosophy of; the second plateful is the “breakeven” course and the third is the “I got more than my money’s worth” course. And then there was peach cobbler and ice cream for dessert. There was also plenty of “sweet tea”.

Fog on the lake as we start the day in DeFuniak Springs. Cold - but pretty.

Gary and his shadow pedaling in the early morning.

Setting up camp on a lake outside Marianna, FL

Bog at water's edge next to our tent sites. And this is "Gator" country - safe?

Tomorrow is a layover day and we plan to ride to another nearby state park that has caverns.

November 11 - Milton to DeFuniak Springs, FL

November 11 - Friday; Milton to DeFuniak Springs, FL; 60 miles.
It got down to around 32 degrees last night. While I was cozy in my sleeping bag, I had ice on the inside of the tent rain fly and frost on the outside. The bike and trailer were also coated with heavy frost. However, it was very sunny from the beginning and stayed that way all day. After packing the trailer I headed for the KOA recreation center for their continental breakfast which was excellent and the hostess extremely friendly and helpful. We were riding shortly after 8:00 am. The route today was entirely on US90 which yesterday had heavy traffic. Not so today; the road was great with a very nice shoulder and courteous drivers. All in all it was a very enjoyable bicycle touring day. We stopped in Holt for a short break and met and talked with quite a few locals interested in our trip. Then it was on to Crestview for another break and on to Mossy Head where we ate lunch at a small but very good restaurant. From Mossy Head it was only about 11 miles to our destination for this evening - the Jupiter Lake RV Campground a few miles north of DeFuniak Springs, FL. The owner let Ray and I borrow a pickup truck to go back to town for groceries and camp stove fuel. I showered after we returned while Dan cooked dinner; a concoction of Dinty Moore stew, canned green beans and rice - better than you might think. Adrian and I shared a washer and dryer to do a load of laundry before our map meeting. Tomorrow's ride is also entirely along US90 - hopefully with conditions similar to today. It is supposed to get down to around 30 degrees again tonight then begin a warm up over the next few days - back to 70s for highs and upper 40s/lower 50s for lows. It will be nice not to have to cycle with so many clothes on and wake up to above freezing conditions - hopefully for the remainder of the trip. Vicky's brother lives on the route tomorrow so she is going to ride all the way to Marianna (our destination for tomorrow night and a layover day on Sunday). Her sister-in-law is going to pick her up tomorrow afternoon for a visit on Sunday then return her to Marianna Monday morning where she'll catch up with us. Best wishes for a nice visit Vicky.

For those interested in how Susi is doing: She returned to work Thursday and worked again today. She sounded tired when I talked to her tonight. Hopefully she can get a much needed restful weekend at home. That'll be easier for her to do without me there. My older sister, Debbie, stopped by yesterday on her way back to Quad Cities after a visit with our niece, Jill, and her family in Tulsa, OK. Susi really appreciated the visit.

Fred

Lunch in Mossy Head, FL

Lakeside camping tonight. Beautiful spot. Took a while to dry out the tent from this morning's frost.

November 10 - Gulf Shores, AL to Milton, FL

November 10 - Thursday; Gulf Shores, AL to Milton, FL; 68 miles.
The Mictrotel had a small continental breakfast and after partaking we were off and riding at 7:30 am . It was about 48 degrees, overcast and pretty windy with the wind mainly out of the NNW. We were riding east so the wind was a strong crosswind and very gusty riding over the "strand" I'd ridden yesterday - very different than yesterday's pleasant ride. Once east of the strand there were buildings and trees so the wind wasn't as bad until we headed north (into the wind) going through the NE part of Pensacola. At mile 28 we stopped at one of the gas stations I'd stopped at yesterday. My left foot was completely numb from just behind the ball of my foot all the way to the toes. My right foot was fine so my theory is that is must have been windchill. In any event once feeling came back I didn't have any more issues. We left the gas station and rode another 4 miles to an iHOP for breakfast/lunch. The food was fine but the service slow. I think we were there about an hour and a half. This nearly bit us in the butt before we arrived at the Gulf Pines KOA 5 miles past Milton next to I-10. We didn't get here until 4:30 pm and there wasn't much daylight left. By the time I set up my tent and took a shower it was already dark. Back to the ride: Once we cleared Pensacola going north we followed US 90 east across a 3 mile long causeway. Traffic was very heavy but the shoulder plenty wide. Once across the causeway was Pace then another 8 miles to Milton. This stretch was very commercial and you didn't know when you left one city and arrived in the other. There was also heavy traffic but also a dedicated bicycle lane so, again, no real problems with traffic. It doesn't seem like Florida drivers have much respect for bicyclists as many don't move over even though there is plenty of room for them to do so. We ride US90 for much of the rest of the way to St. Augustine so I hope it gets a little more rural with less traffic. We walked to a Waffle House restaurant for dinner and just got back. My bike clothes were very sweaty and with no way to dry them, I'm doing a load of laundry while posting this blog entry. The KOA laundry room doesn't have soap but at least they will be rinsed well and dry when I'm finished. I don't think there is a laundry facility where we are staying in DeFuniak Springs tomorrow night so I figured I'd make sure I had something to wear the day after. It is supposed to get down to 38 degrees tonight so it'll be another cold one. I brought a little warmer sleeping bag with me for the remainder of the trip so that will help. While it will be a cold start tomorrow, it is supposed to warm quickly into the 60s so if the wind does not pick up, most of the day should be fine weather wise.

Fred enters Florida (where's the sunshine?!)

View looking out into the Gulf of Mexico from one of the bridges.

November 9 - On The Road Again!

November 9 - Wednesday; Pensacola, FL to Gulf Shores, AL; 46 miles.
I didn't sleep particularly well last night anticipating the first time I'd be riding alone on a route I developed using Google Maps through a city I had never been in and finally having to rendevous with the tour group. The worry was for nothing. I ate a hearty breakfast at the MainStay and headed out at 8:00 am instead of my anticipated departure time of 9:00 am. It was easy following the Google maps I'd printed at home prior to leaving. Traffic was light and drivers very courteous. The bike and trailer performed very well (knock on wood!). The only hitch today was that my primary route ended up trying to take me through the Naval Air Station. When I saw that it headed directly to the base entrance I knew they wouldn't let me ride through and out the other side of the base - but I stopped and asked, then turned around and headed back to another route that I'd found last night while looking at the maps. I was originally going to take the other route but had made good time riding through Pensacola and since I'd left early figured I'd take the long (and by appearances more scenic too) route. The conversation with the base gate guard was short then I was back on my way to the alternate route (all total this only cost me 3 miles). Most the rest of today's ride was along a beach "strand" and, aside from the beach-front condos and resorts, was very scenic with wide views of the Gulf of Mexico. I made excellent time and met the group in Gulf Shores shortly after they had arrived at 1:00 pm. We're staying at a Microtel Inn and Suites in Gulf Shores, AL. We walked to an open-air seafood restaurant about a mile or so away for dinner. The place is named "Lulu's". It is owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister Luci. The food was great as was the service and there was live music. The waitress said Jimmy Buffet performs there several times a year. The place had a huge parking lot but hardly anyone was there tonight; off season and the middle of the week. We were told that during the summer reservations are required several weeks in advance. It poured rain while we were eating so we called a taxi to bring us back to the hotel. I've really enjoyed catching up with everyone from the last 13 days and am really happy to be back. These folks are the BEST. Susi is the SUPER BEST for allowing me to return to finish the trip. Tomorrow I'll backtrack with the group to Pensacola, FL and then on to Milton, FL where we'll be camping at a KOA tomorrow night. We'll see tomorrow how well my backside does with a different seat than I have been riding with. When I called Susi after dinner she said my "real" bike and the rest of my gear were delivered to our home this afternoon and everything appeared to be OK. Thanks to Susi's cousin Barbara for doing all that for me.

In case anyone is interested, here are a couple of links related to our tour. The first is a link to Vicky's SPOT transducer that will tell you where we are at any given time. The second is a link to Adrian's blog - very witty with cool links courtesy of his friend Frank.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=01cZnE995po2jr84o8plvFz0Tt6f1W4po

http://aaa-ss.tumblr.com/


Photos from today's ride:

Backwards from Florida to Alabama

One of the bridges over a Coastal Waterways channel.

November 8 - In Pensacola

November 8
After a 3:15 am wake up Susi took me to the Des Moines airport. There were no issues with checking the bike box and my duffel bag of gear and the plane took off on time at 6:00 am. The flight to Milwaukee only took about an hour and the flight to Atlanta didn't take off until 1:35 pm so I had a considerable layover. This allowed me to charge my iPod nano and listen to some tunes (slept through most of them). The second leg to Atlanta and the last leg to Pensacola were both on time. At the baggage claim in Pensacola the gear bag was on the carousel when I arrived but not the bike box. The carousel finally stopped but still no bike box. I was about to walk to the baggage service office when the carousel started again and out came the box. I wished I'd taken a picture of it before I touched it. All the hand holes were ripped wide open and a third of the bottom was torn open. I had packed two plastic bags of pieces/parts and dropped them in the box. It looked like the bottom got wet in Milwaukee (it rained all day). Anyway, I looked in the box and it appeared nothing was damaged and all the pieces/parts were still there so I dragged it upside down (the top was fine and TSA actually did a great job of re-taping the top after they inspected the box) to the taxi. It was a pretty short ride from the airport to the MainStay Suites where I am staying the night. I had to drag the box upside down to the registration desk then to the room. I unboxed everything, didn't find any damage and everything I'd placed inthe box was still there. I assembled the bike and rode around the parking lot to make sure everything was working correctly. Then I reassembled Al's bike trailer and loaded all my gear. Below is a photo of the equipment I'll be riding the next 11 days to St. Augustine. I'm planning to take off tomorrow morning at 9:00 am and riding to the Microtel in Gulf Shores, AL where the rest of the group is staying tomorrow night. According to Google Maps the route I picked is about 45 miles so I should be there by 3:00 pm. The first 15 miles will be urban riding so that will go slower than the rest. I hope the route I picked works! The guy at the motel desk said there are two bridges that are fairly steep. The Trek 1000 is not geared for much of a hill with the trailer so I may end up walking part of the bridges if I don't have enough "umph" to get to the top. I assume the Microtel will have WI-FI tomorrow night so I'll let you know how it went. Of course I have to ride back over these bridges the next day as we ride from Gulf Shores, AL to Milton, FL.

Fred

Fred's Backup Equipment - Trek 1000 pulling a Burley Nomad trailer.