It's starting to seem odd that, after two months of riding, tomorrow will be my last day. I've been doing this for a long time, and you get into a rhythm. Waking up, packing, riding, eating.... Life is simple.
Most of my morning was spent planning. I have to find a place to stay tomorrow night (as well as tonight) and I need a good route to get there. Without the ACA maps, traveling through a city the size of Jacksonville can be dangerous. Maybe I should try I-10.
I also need to ship my bike back to Iowa, so I've been calling around looking for a bike shop that will box it up and mail it. Unless I find a place to stay that's close to the bike shop I'll need to rent a car. Once I drop off the bike (and it'll have to be tomorrow because everything is closed on Sunday), I'll be on foot. The car rental places close anywhere from noon to 3:00 on Saturday, so I'll need to take care of that early on unless I want to ride to the airport. (Perhaps I-10 goes there?) Depending on where I stay (and where I stay depends on how expensive), I might just be able to use a cab. Anyway, it's getting complicated, and NOT simple....
I'm also working on flying out earlier. I arrived in Jacksonville ahead of schedule, so I might be able to meet Heather in San Diego earlier than I had anticipated.
This morning I ate a full breakfast at the cafe before leaving, so it was around 10:00 when I finally left.
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| From mark on a bike 08 3 |
My route took me through White Springs where I saw this house and sign.
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| From mark on a bike 08 3 |
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| From mark on a bike 08 3 |
I also crossed the Suwanee river again.
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| From mark on a bike 08 3 |
Then to Lake City, where I briefly stopped for a late-morning break.
It was overcast all day and I had a strong headwind until I turned east in Lake City. Pedaling against the wind, as much as I've been complaining about it, isn't really that bad. Or perhaps I'm already becoming nostalgic. I rode against it today, not exactly with a sense of resignation, but perhaps an acceptance - having come to terms with it. Whether it's the wind, the rain, the cold, the heat... (perhaps not the heat)... you just keep riding. Turn the crank around once, then turn it around again. It doesn't matter how strong the wind is, turning the crank gives you a certainty that you WILL get there. If the crank is turning, you're making progress. Like I said... life is simple.
Still, I wondered how my three friends were doing, pedaling 80 miles against that wind.
Besides, who am I to complain about the weather? Do you remember how it rained in Silver City on my rest day? And how it rained in Fort Stockton on my rest day? And how the Norther blew in two minutes after I closed my motel room door in Lockhart? And how it began raining thirty seconds after I finished riding in Greenville? And you may not know that in two days, shortly after I finish riding, a cold front is supposed to hit Florida and the temperature will get down to the low 30s.
I stopped for lunch in Olustee, but left earlier than I had planned when a couple of women fired up some cigarettes.
Sorry, one more picture of a tree. I think they're really beautiful.
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| From mark on a bike 08 3 |
The rest of the afternoon was just pedaling and coming to terms with the fact that my trip is almost over.
Except when I was in MacClenny.
Occasionally, although much less frequently than you'd expect, someone will yell at me out the window of their car as they drive by. My usual response is to smile and give them a friendly wave, as if I misunderstood their intentions.
Today, as I was pedaling through the traffic in MacClenny, a young kid yelled out his passenger-side window, "RIDE ON THE SIDEWALK!" Unfortunately for him, the light ahead turned red and he was stuck in traffic.
I wasn't.
I breezed past all of the stopped cars and instead of going all the way to the front, I stopped right next to his window. By now he was feeling somewhat less vocal about his opinion of me RIDING on the sideWALK. I gathered as much because he had rolled up his window, and was now sitting with his hands folded in his lap and his face turned away from me. I thought about tapping on his window and talking to him, but instead I just pulled out my camera, took his picture, then pedaled away.
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| From mark on a bike 08 3 |
52.15 miles
13.9 average
23.9 maximum
3:44:32 time
2710.8 total miles
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