Tuesday, April 21, 2015

I made it!!! 2,685 miles.  It feels good and it feels strange. Til the next adventure.

Monday, April 20, 2015

This was the road into Gainsville. Great pedaling.

This was a common sight along the road. Who knows what lurks in the green slime!

One of the birds in the wildlife santuary.

Yes that is an alligator. Too close for this guy.  I walked away quickly. Doing GREAT. Til later.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

The riding has been great. On the way into Gainsville the countryside reminded me of pictures of horse pastures in Kentucky. Huge deeply lush pastures, with fancy fences. Some great roads leading into the city. And then lots and lots of bike lanes and bike paths.  I stayed with Tom and Martha who have a great house and 5 acres in the woods. I took an outdoor shower while staring down a green spider with orange/red eyes. Great chorus of birds, lots of lizards, and a suspenseful trip to a preserve close by. Tom took me to see a preserve that is really a huge sink hole with some interesting wild animals.  Loads of birds again. But it also included wild horses, buffalo, and wild alligators. There were warning signs on the way in that emphasized that this was NOT a zoo. The animals were wild and the visitors needed to be very cautious. We didn't see any buffalo, but we did see wild horses and several alligators. The path was situated between two ponds/ watery areas. We were on the lookout the whole time for lurking alligators. One key was to not be so intent on looking for lurking alligators that we would step on fire ant nests.  Most of the alligators were sunning on the other side of the pond, but a few of them started swimming(looking for food). The closest ones to us came within 30-40 feet,which was a little too close for this novice alligator watcher.  It was a unique experience. My hosts were fantastic. Lots of interesting discussions, fantastic food, and warm fellowship. I slept really well after an exciting day.  Getting close. I'll be home before you know it. Doing really well. Til later.

Friday, April17, 2015

The theme continues to be the weather. I try to gauge and watch the weather, but it changes really quickly - both in a good way and in a bad way. The riding has been really good. Today especially was great. Very rural, almost no traffic, really good roads. Lots of trees. Yesterday at the end of the day 4 cross country bicyclists ended up staying in the same motel. It was fun to talk weather, places to stay and the like. Today I rode with two of them for a while. Then they took a different route and we split up. Later in the morning another cyclist came and rode me me for about 20 miles. He lived just off the route and saw me go by. He wanted to find out more about cross country riding, so he caught up with me and we had a good time talking bikes and rides. Time and miles go quickly when engaged in a good conversation. Ended up going about 60 miles both days. Am about 20 miles from Gainsville. The forecast is still rain for at least two more days. I'm trying not to get too focused on the rain, but it is a challenge. Looking forward to getting back to normal life. I should be home in a little over a week. Doing well. Til later.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

In Monticello, Florida. I got lost today. But only about 3 miles off course. It was very nice to have the smart phone gps. It pinpointed where I was and which roads to take to get back on track. Getting through( mostly around) Tallahassee wasn't too bad. The country roads were really nice. Trees, birds, croaking frogs, and really good roads. Part of the route included a great bike path. Ran into three riders from Minnesota who did half of the route last year and are finishing the route this year. They started in Key West and are headed to Louisiana. The real story today was rain (again). I went 50 miles with only sprinkles, but the last 10 miles were ridden in a deluge. Got very wet. I'm trying to dry everything out tonight. Luckily I still have a few dry things. Same forecast for the rest of the week. Mentally challenging. Still doing well. Til later.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

It was a very good day on the bike.  This picture captures what I have been riding through the last couple of days.  The first day I couldn't see it very well through the rain, but today, the rain held off.  It is very green.  Wide swaths of grass next to the shoulders and lots and lots of trees ( my favorite).  Kind of like riding through a park or a wide boulevard.  Very peaceful and not too hilly( although there were a few today).  I am just west of Tallahassee.  Tomorrow I tackle riding through the city, which is always an adventure.  Rain in the forecase again, but one never knows when it will show up.  Another good thing about today is that when it came time for lunch, I was right by a Pizza Hut.  Great salad bar as I have mentioned before.  My lucky day.  Officially in the Eastern Time Zone, so phone communication might start to get a little tricky.  I go to bed really early.  Oh and you can tell - my camera started to work all of a sudden.  Yeah!  Doing great.  Til later.

Monday, April 13, 2015

So, I had two very wet days.  Sunday was also exciting for other reasons.  It turns out that one of my bags fell off of the bike.  It was the bag with all of my tools and spare parts, including extra tubes.  I'm surprised I didn't notice when it happened, but I didn't discover it until 15 miles down the road or so.  I came out of a convenience store ( still wet even after taking a break and eating something) and I noticed the bag was missing.  A real sinking feeling.  I didn't notice the bag was missing until I came out, so I thought maybe someone grabbed the bag and stole it while I was in the store.  Nothing I could do, so I just kept pedaling.  It turns out someone found the bag and looked to see if they could find the owner.  Inside the bag was a notebook with lots of phone numbers.  One of them was for the people I was to stay with on Sunday night.  The person who found the bag recognized the number as being fairly close in Florida, so he called that number.  It was for my hosts. So now we have a possible bag belonging to me, but no me and no bike.  That raised some worries.  Nancy ( one of my hosts) tried to call me, but it was raining and my phone was tucked away.  I rode to my destination ( about 50 miles for the day), took out my phone and noticed a lot of activity.  I ended up calling Nancy.  She and Nita came and got me and took me to find the person who found the bag.  I had gone over in my head if I needed the stuff in the bag, but what convinced me that I needed to retrieve it was that I had tucked my watch into the bag, away from the rain and wet.  Long story short.  Nancy and Nita were kind enough to take me back all of that distance and retrieve the bag.  Quite an adventure.  Nancy and Nita were great hosts.  They live in a very nice area, with lots of trees and fairly close the the Gulf and beaches.  Most of the other parts I came through were way too developed, but their area was really nice.  They took me to dinner and we had a great time.  Thank you Nancy and Nita.  It did rain most of the night, with a lot of lighting and thunder, but we got up and they took me closer to the route. The Lightning went away, and the rest of today was just pedaling  mostly in the rain. Similar forecast for a few days. Wet, but doing well. Til later.