Monthly Archives: September 2021

By David Freeze

  I can smell the ocean!

    Today has been fun, fitting for the last almost full day of riding. Things came together after some worry late last night that rooms would be very tight for tonight. I went to sleep in the High Springs Country Inn with a route plan but no idea where I would sleep. A couple of no vacancies and couple more nearly full had me worried. I had plenty of time to analyze the situation while riding today.

    I wanted to leave just before first light, and opened the door to find a foggy mist shrouding a dark everything. I could sit down and wait or ride by flashlight. That, of course, was what I did.

    I rode south on US 441, passing through an interstate exit town, mostly motels and convenience stores, in Alachua while still fogged in. I could only feel the hills ahead because I still couldn’t see them.

    Then headed to Gainesville on a light traffic morning, I wondered how things would go in a city of 130,000 plus. I wanted to split from US 441 and take SR 20 for the trip through town and farther. Not much smaller than Tallahassee, Gainesville sure got it right. Bike lanes, and plenty of signs to keep me from wondering kept me from stopping to only ask directions once. I didn’t have to, but this walker was so cute, so I stopped after she waved at me  to confirm where SR 20 was going. Not a big, traffic crowded intersection, seemingly always on an uphill in sight, like those that happened time and again in Tallahassee!

    Staying on SR 20, I passed through Hawthorne as the sun came out. SR 20 had the same four lane layout and big bike lanes, just like US 441 and 90. I must admit that Florida’s roads are even better than the last time I rode through headed toward Key West.

    Next was Interlachen, just a smattering of stores, and then into Palatka, where I am tonight after 66 miles. How I ended up in the Sleep Inn makes for a good story that developed as did my bike ride today. Noting that most lodging places seemed more full than usual, I did get two more nearly full that mentioned what they thought of my request for a non-smoking room. One had none, the other had one. Two more already confirmed to be full, so I looked at the list available and remembered that Sleep Inns sometimes gave good deals. I called the number and got a price only $20 higher than the smoker/non smoker places. I took it, rode a short mile out of the way but with a Publix grocery nearby, and have been happily excited about the little planning required tonight. That is one celebration moment of these trips, the next to the last day when the planning is virtually done. Most people probably don’t realize that I plan ahead for 60-90 minutes each night. I learned long ago to keep my eyes open and not miss an opportunity to see something special.

    On tap for this evening is a trip to Publix where I bet they have cut up watermelon and just taking some easy time. My sleep has been sorely lacking lately.

    Then tomorrow, I will ride to Crescent Beach, just south of St. Augustine Beach, a distance of about 20 miles from here. We’ll make the final photos somewhere near the intersection of US 90 and AIA,  possibly eat breakfast and head for home hauling a tired bike. Interesting is that I passed this exact location on the Maine to Key West ride in 2014.

    Places to revisit include Gainesville, named the healthiest city in America in 2003.

    I will have the tire dipping photos and final thoughts on this challenging west to east ride across the southernmost United States available tomorrow. We’ll celebrate together then!

By David Freeze

An even better day gets us closer to St. Augustine!

Late last night, I was still trying to figure out a good place for tonight’s lodging. There was a list of towns ahead with nothing, and one well ahead that might work. I was doing all of this when I should have been getting closer to bed, but I called the Deerwood Inn and Campground. I spoke to the owner, Celina Adam who gave me some good insight. But I had several challenges, but should never let that be a reason not to take on a good adventure.

    My room last night at the Seminole Inn was so nice that I wanted to get to bed early, but that didn’t happen. I figured it would take 103 miles to get to Deerwood, just over six miles south of Madison, Florida, making the total 109. Also, today was the first day on Eastern Daylight Time, so I lost a riding hour. And I had to ride right through Tallahassee.

    My only other option was a Bed and Breakfast in Monticello. Only problem was the owner didn’t really want me. I would have to get up too early and might bother others, she wouldn’t let the bike inside plus she made the price too high, especially since I would not get the breakfast. I probably made her happy by not calling back.

    I was determined to make Celina’s Deerwood and the big miles before dark. It’s been said a few times that I got a double bag of determination early on. Leaving Sneads, my first town was Chattahoochee where I hoped to see Lake Seminole, but couldn’t. Then on to Gretna where I got two egg and cheese sandwiches that were terrible. I threw away the second. Next came Quincy with not much traffic for a town of 8,000.

    The state capital, Tallahassee was next. With about 200,000 residents and part of my ride past Florida A and M, it took a little more than a very hard hour with constant hills and heavy traffic. Tallahassee rivals El Paso for hilliness, but what saved me was the nearly constant bike lanes or the symbol that cyclists could take the whole lane. I never got a horn or a bad comment.

      Then was the challenging ride to Monticello, my favorite town of the day. I met Tina Dollar at the Shell Convenience Store. She at least made me think of chunking the very challenging day by telling me about their motel. But you knew I wouldn’t and did not. Monticello was the prettiest small town of the whole trip so far, with lots of beautiful older homes and a stately courthouse that sits in the middle of a traffic circle. I got several friendly waves before leaving. At least 10 miles of sparkling new asphalt made that segment very enjoyable and fast.

      Next two towns were Greenville, where I fueled up and then Madison, a beautiful town where I turned off US 90 East for the first time in several days and took SR 53 to I-10 where Deerwood Motel and Campground are located. I got a great room in a busy place and pasta meal from Celina when she said she made too much!
  The day was perfect, with only a slight headwind, helping me to make 109 miles by dusk. Darn near the way I planned it and a lot of prayers went into it.

    For tomorrow, I will join up again with US 90 and figure it out from there. Sometime during the day tomorrow, I will put together a plan to likely finish on Monday in St. Augustine.

    Thanks again for following along! One question today, how many rides over 100 miles have I had? I will look it up for sure, but I think around 20 after today, spread over all the rides since 2013. Every one is special!

      See you back tomorrow for the next update!

By David Freeze

Most productive day so far!

    At least it felt that way. I wanted a bigger mileage day to offset some of the hurricane delays. It is quite enjoyable for me to follow one road for several days and we’ll continue on US 90 East for at least most of tomorrow.

    I left the Crestview Inn after an especially good sleep while a big series of thunderstorms rolled through. The room was perfect and I got the right price. Best WiFi yet!

    Rolling early, I got a quick start because there was no reason to stop in the first 30 miles and the terrain wasn’t bad. I did stop at Defuniak Springs and get some fresh cookies and a couple of small tacos, nothing like the ones in New Mexico.

  The early towns were Argyle, Ponce De Leon, Westville and Caryville, which just happens to be the Worm Fiddling Capital of the World. Who knew?

    The next set were Benifay , Chipley and Cottondale. All of these early towns were easy but then I had to roll through Mariana with about 10,000 people. All of them seemed to be out driving at the same time on US 90, which didn’t have a bike lane through town. That was tough.

    Then the final set of towns included just a small stop in Grand Ridge, where 3 friends had hassles with their lottery tickets in the store. It took forever to get them out of the way, before I could roll into Sneads. This is a great little town, on Lake Seminole which I will see in the morning. It is apparently is huge and the funny thing is that Georgia is just right over the trees from my motel window. I am still in the northern part of the panhandle.

    I am in the Seminole Inn, one of the few motels I have used from the Adventure Cycling suggestions. The Seminole Inn is perfect, very roomy, clean and has a Piggly Wiggly close by. Since I am almost sure that the ice cream sponsorship with the Y Service Club is good as long as the ride goes on, I let them pay tonight for Blue Bunny Premium Double Strawberry Whirl, a quart and a half size. Great stuff and already eaten. I also got four of the remaining 10 bananas. Still can’t find cut up watermelon in stores.

  Worth visiting again will be Defuniak Springs where the whole town is historic and many of the buildings are placed right along Lake Defuniak which is the center of town. Marianna might be fun to see what everyone was rushing too.

    Today was my first century ride on this trip at 107.6 miles and easier than some big mountains and super hot areas out west. Tomorrow, I am headed for Tallahassee, the State Capital of Florida. Afterwards, only Gainesville remains as a large city. I certainly like the small towns best.

    Earlier I mentioned USBR, the United States Bicycle Routes. Both those of Adventure Cycling and the USBR are posted through this area and I am staying on US 90 E as long as I can, which the USBR likes best coming up.

    I met James Dempsey tonight here at the motel. His wife is a traveling nurse, so they are staying here while she works. James loved the idea of my trip cross country and says he will follow it the rest of the way. The bike draws attention!

    Time for a shower after a hard day. Let’s keep going and finish this thing our strong! See you back here tomorrow!

By David Freeze

Another good day, but still a lot of pedaling to go!

    This was a day that I winged from the start! I got up before 5 to be ready ahead of first light. I had to add air to the back tire for the third straight day and made plans for that too.

    I headed out the door, rode out to the highway and turned right and started riding. Within about 3 miles, I pulled over because there were no US 90 East signs. I asked Siri and she told me to go back to town and get on 90 West. That was sort of dumb, because as it turned out, all I had to do was just keep going according to the Google Assistant. About 5 miles into the ride, I had the sign, the right road and a nickname for 90 East listed as the Old Spanish Trail. That started a whole day of riding the same road and will see it more as I head east.

    Most of the Alabama portion of 90 East had rumble strips but I rode in the lane because traffic wasn’t heavy. About 20 miles into the day, I found the “Welcome to Florida” sign. The area was beautifully landscaped, the bike lane widened and the rumble strips vanished. Very soon, I-10 intersected the area and it became very busy. Miles and miles of rolling hills and a great bike lane.

    I entered Escambria County and crossed the river by the same name. My first big goal was the town of Milton and the Truly Spokin’ bike shop. I had asked Matt to take a look at the tire and tube and see if there was still some metal or glass in it. They found a wire, likely the kind that comes from steel belted tires, and pulled it out. A tube change, a few adjustments and I was back on the road.

    My challenge for the rest of the afternoon was to find lodging for the evening and ride another 30 miles. I got both, the final 30 miles of an 81 mile day and a room in the Crestview Inn in Crestview. I did ask for a WiFi check and to see the room first, and all turned out well.

    I have been asked what I eat out of convenience stores when they are the only option. As an example tonight, I got two Breyer’s  ice creams, usually about half the price of the others. I get something like egg salad and chips, plenty of ice or water and a couple other snacks. Tonight, the clerk rang up the sandwich and a big Smart Water at way too much. I pointed out her error based on shelf pricing and she fixed both cheerfully.

      Now back to where we stand on the overall miles remaining. As of tonight, there are 440 miles remaining and more than 2,600 complete. Like a reader said the other night, we can’t ride a straight line to get to St. Augustine. I am still 28 miles from finishing off the last map of the sixth series. All 409.5 miles remain on the complete seventh series. My goal is about 5-6 riding days remaining.

    By the way, I have already eaten all that food, easily. I will still have more and I am drinking water and lemonade in great quantities.

    Milton is a town that I would like to see again. It was incorporated in 1844, ahead of Florida becoming a state the next year. Milton was involved in shipbuilding until the end of the Civil War and survived but the railroad and lumber both evolved into agriculture as the top industry. The US Navy maintains Whiting Field from which I saw several flights this afternoon. There are lots of historic older homes in town too!

  Other communities I passed through today were Pace and Holt, all of this on US 90 East. I will be back on it tomorrow.

    Enough hills kept me honest today, but the upcoming flatter terrain will be welcome. I’m hoping for a big day tomorrow and closing in on Tallahassee and a town right before it called Midway.

    Keep riding along, there’s more excitement in store!