Day 4 -Florida 2013

We got up early and walked across the street to a Cracker Barrel.  It was freezing, and the wind was howling.  We both had on bike shorts and almost froze coming back to load up.  The wind was blowing out of the north west and we were headed south east.  That was the good news I kept telling Susan; because as we loaded the bike we were starting off straight into the wind.  And it was 38!!  We only went a block and turned and the wind was blocked by buildings along the road.  It was much more bearable.  As we rode by downed trees, power lines and damaged buildings we realized how bad the storm had been.  As we left town we made that next turn that gave us those 20 mph tailwinds.

We cruised along at 16-17 mph for the next hour or so.  The temps finally got in the 50s.  The 50s! This is Florida for goodness sakes.  It was suppose to be in the mid 70s.  Florida hates us because we use to live here and we left.  That is what I think.

At the elevated cruising speed we made great time.  It was a sunny day and the temps did finally make it into the high 60s.  It was a great riding day and we pulled into Gold Head Branch by early noon.  Since it was nice and we believed the temps were an anomaly we decide to camp one last night.  We had a nice air mattress and real pillows so we knew we would sleep good.  Plus we had no clue the temperature was suppose to get back down in the mid 30s.  Remember those summer sleeping bags?

We setup camp and I hooked up the pump to the mattress.  We had purchased two bundles of firewood so I laid a fire while the mattress filled up.  With it completely pumped up I made extra sure the valve was closed tight.  We ate supper, lit the fire,  had coffee, and decided to head to the tent about 9:30.  The mattress is soft.  What the heck!

I pumped it back up and this time I made super duper extra specially sure the valve was tight.  The valve was tight.  The mattress, it seems, had a hole in it.  By 12:30  I was touching the ground.  By 2:00 we were on the ground.  The very cold ground.  The rest of the night we cuddled up and shivered.  I finally gave up at first light and built a roaring fire and got coffee water going.  Susan took my sleeping bag and covered up with it and slept for another hour or so. 

As we ate breakfast with the sun climbing in the sky and the temperature rising I was reminded of an old saying.  I’m not sure where I first heard it, but I have often thought of it on some of our bike trips.  “The difference between an adventure and an ordeal is attitude.”

OK.  I have probably thought of that on a lot of our bike trips, maybe even most, but all said; we had fun.  The two long biking days were great and the rainy one was short.  How many 60 mile bike rides do you get with a tailwind?  I can barely think of sixty miles total of tailwinds out of all the miles we have ridden, and this trip we had three days of tailwinds!

Now to get through the freezing weather in St Simon.   And all I brought was shorts.  Attitude, attitude.

Check that tailwind,...and jacket, and long pants, and glove liners in my fingerless gloves

I don't think there has been a train over this in a while

The bike trail to Gold Head Branch SP

Home for the night

supper, pasta, chicken and bread

Day 3 -Florida 2013

The rain continued the rest of the day.  That night we woke to blowing rain against the windows and roaring wind.  Our bike was locked outside and I was worried what it was going through.  The next morning the rain was still coming down so hard we couldn’t leave the hotel.  We were told two tornadoes had touched down during the night.  The bike looked OK, and with 80% rain forecast for the day we were still stuck.  It was obvious that Florida hated us and we needed a new plan.

We decided then to rent a car.  We would load everything but the tandem.  Drive back to our truck.  Come back and get the bike.  Drop off car and head to St Simon.  It would only be about 120 miles round trip and it beat sitting in a hotel.  Plus we were tired of Florida.  Great plan; one problem.  It was Sunday.  In Lake City both car rentals were closed.  Hertz was closed.  Enterprise was closed.  Avis just didn’t try that hard because they did not even have a place in Lake City.  It looked like another rainy day in a hotel.  At least it was warm.

The sun came out around 3:00.  The wind was blowing but it felt great walking around in the warm sunshine.  Tomorrow we ride.  We decided to head for the truck and laid out a new route.  We were 60 miles from the campground and it was straight down hwy 100.  It was sunny and warm and tomorrow looked like a great day to ride.  It even looked as if we would have a tailwind.

storm damage

Day 2 -Florida 2013

After freezing a good part of the night I was ready to go.  By the time we packed, dealt with the truck parking and biked out of the park it was 10:00.  For the next 7 miles we rode on a bike trail to the town of Keystone Heights.  We ate at McD’s and got our last real time weather report.  It looked good for today, but things were looking bad the next two.  There was one bit of good news; a tailwind.  We so rarely have a tailwind it was heaven.  The wind was just 7-8 mph but still.

Our hope was to have a dry day, sleep with no rain and pack up dry.  A big hope, but we always go big.  The day was dry with just the lightest sprinkle as we pedaled  the 56 miles to O’Leno State Park, so we counted it dry.  It rained for the shortest period during the night, but the tent was dry when we got up.  Still good.  We cooked breakfast, packed.  Just as we started to pull out another camper came over to give us a weather update.   Tornado watch, 80% possibility of severe thunderstorms and possible hail.  Well,  that was scary.   We pulled out and the rain began as soon as we started to pedal.  It was light at first but soon became a rain.

We had already changed our plans for the night and we headed for a hotel in Lake City 22 miles away.  Again the winds were favorable and we made good time.  The rain even lightened up a bit and we were feeling we might make it without getting too wet.  We pulled under the portico and the bottom completely fell out.   As we holed up in our room we were just happy to be dry.

 waiting out the rain

Day 1-Florida 2013

We arrived at Gold Head Branch State Park around 3:00.  The plan is to spend the night, and load the bike and head out tomorrow.  We unpacked the truck and put up the tent.  After setting up camp we drove in to town for supper and came back and built a fire to knock off the chill.

The low was supposed to be in the forties tonight but warm-up the rest of the week.  We headed to the tent around 9:00 with a definite chill in the air.  We both have lightweight summer sleeping  bags and we are glad it is no colder.  It got colder. Susan in her down filled bag didn’t notice too much.  It is rated to 30.  Me, on the other hand in a flannel bag, rated to 70, maybe; froze.  The bright spot though, we brought our big queen size air-mattress for the first night.  It is way too big and heavy to haul with us and it would stay with the truck in long term parking.  But tonight it would be our last good bed.

 Now this air mattress is 10” of air cushioned bliss.  I really sleep good on this mattress, unless it leaks that blissful air.  I didn’t get the valve closed tight and by 5:00 my butt was flat on the cold ground.  I was glad to see the sun rise. 

 unloading the truck the first night

packing to start the adventure

 packed and loaded, the Beverly Hillbilly look

taking a break along the road

Day 3: A change of plans

We got up this morning with no sense of urgency. Today was only going to be a 27 mile day. We cooked up some country ham we brought with us and some cheese grits. If we just had some eggs it would have been a perfect country breakfast. Well, less the biscuits, and jam, and butter and cold drinks, but still OK. After a leisurely cup of hot chocolate I decided to call the campground. Bad news, they are full. Nothing. And there are no hotels. We pull out our maps and start rethinking a route.


We decide to bike into Lake City. It’s big enough to have hotels and it is only 25 miles down the road but in the other direction. As we look at the map we realize we can continue from there to our next campground with no problems and less a few miles. A good plan is adopted and we start out.

We are going into the wind but we would not expect anything else. All bikers understand how this works. It is always a headwind. We arrive in town and eat at a locale place that is good and we met a few locale folks as well. After lunch we pulled into America’ Best Inn, or something like that. The good news here is they are not, I repeat, they are not America’s Best Inn. They are not even close. They are better than a tent. Maybe they should change their name to ”America’s Inn, we are better than a tent”. We did enjoy the AC.

The next morning we start out but things begin to go south quick. Nothing big, just little things; a knee causing trouble, a swollen ankle, the brakes beginning to drag bad again. We were reaching the edge of town and there it was. Enterprise Car Rentals. I swerved in just to check if they had a one way rental to Gainesville. They did. We got it. And within an hour we are back at our truck. We loaded the truck up, dropped off the rental and headed for Manatee Springs State Park. We wanted to see this park so we decided to camp there for the night. We picked up some steaks on the way in and had a great meal. Steaks cooked over hot oak coals still taste great. We even saw some manatees. Tomorrow we head for St Simons Island. The great thing about a bike trip is flexibility. If one route gets to tough you just head the other direction. It is an adventure after all, and a vacation. Got to remember that vacation part cause if isn’t fun Susan becomes unpleasant.

Country ham breakfast

On the dock at Manatee Springs

Deer in camp at Manatee

They followed us everywhere.  I don't think they thought we would make it.

Manatees

 

Day 2, Gold Head

It rained during the night but was only cloudy when we got up around 7:00. Today we had more miles to do than yesterday so we were determined to get an earlier start. After a quick breakfast we loaded up a wet tent and started out by 9:00. Dup! It’s daylight savings and we lost an hour. It’s 10:00! Another late start. We headed out back the way we came, east. Back into that wind that was coming out of the NE. Ten miles later we turned to a more westerdly direction. What a relief that was. First thing you notice is how quiet it is, and then the respite on your legs. The road twisted and turned so the tailwind was sporadic but at least it was not a head wind. As we pedaled through the Florida pine forest we saw our first “Bear Crossing” sign. Not a very comforting sight. Susan asked me if we could outrun a bear and I told her “No, but I thought I could outrun her”. She never did quite get it thank goodness.

We stopped in Starke, Fla. at Mama Mia’s for lunch. It was a nice break and a good lunch but it was 2:00 when walked out with 40 miles still to ride. The road direction had changed some too and we had a tough cross wind but we pedaled on.

About ten miles down the road we stopped to take a break. We got off the bike and sat in the grass to relax a minute. I was watching the flags on the bike and trailer blowing in the wind when all of a sudden the bike blew over. I could not believe it. We struggled to get it and the trailer upright and then checked for damage. It had snapped Susan’s mirror off but beyond that I did not see anything else wrong. We moved my mirror to her handle bars and we rode off, but not until we had spent 15 extra minutes fixing the bike.

The wind and miles began to take their toll when we finally pulled over to take a break. As we stood by the bike I noticed the rear wheel was really hard to spin. A quick check and I discovered the brake was dragging. I mean like, “the brake was on” dragging! Biking uphill dragging!


Well, I started adjusting the tensioners and nothing worked. All of a sudden one snapped off. It broke! In the middle of freaking nowhere it just decided to pop off and fall on the road. While standing there with a look of shear horror on my face, I notice the quick release on the back wheel was flipped open and the rear wheel was about to fall off. I’m now thinking more than the mirror got dinged in the fall. I reset the wheel but with the broken tensioner the brake was dragging for sure now. I backed off the brakes, not the best situation when on a tandem puling a trailer, but at least we could pedal. It was also very obvious that brakes had been dragging bad, because as pulled off the bike felt like it was 50 lbs. lighter. Well, at least ten lbs. lighter.

Around 6:30 and another 70 miles we pulled into Ocean Pond campground. We set up the tent but again we were too tired to cook so it was more fruit cups and bread. At least with daylight savings we didn’t eat in the dark. Tomorrow was a short day so we knew we could relax. So after a short walk around the campground we turned in knowing tomorrow would be easier.

Breakfast toast.  It's really good.

Morning coffee thinking of those miles to do.

Panniers moved to the front.  A story all their own.

A wet tent.

Paynes Prarie to Gold Head

Pre-packed

Day one

We arrived at Payne’s Prairie around 6:00 Friday night, much later than we had expected. We got the tent set up and baked some potatoes and grilled a couple of steaks. We ate around 7:30 in the dark. After supper we settled into the tent wondering what the following days would bring.

A heavy load.  Check that front tire!

We got up and cooked eggs, grits and ate leftover steak. It was a great breakfast. It was also the best part the day. There was some real struggles ahead of us and it started by being a very late start. We had to checkout and then get the truck checked into overflow parking. By the time all that happened it was 10:00 before we started out. Today was a 63 mile day, but like all campgrounds the camping is a couple of miles from the main gate. By the time we hit the road we already had 2.5 miles on the computer.

 

Our route was a north easterly direction into a NE wind. It started out mild but quickly became a constant drag. The other challenge was completely unexpected. The road was very rolling the further north we rode. Wind and hills, a bikers nightmare.

About twelve miles down the road we biked through Cross Creek. Many years ago I went fishing there with an old friend and we saw bald eagles flying overhead. As we biked along three bald eagles came swooping over us, white tails and heads just a shining in the sun. We stopped and watched then for awhile as I thought about my friend. I haven’t seen him years. Hope he’s doing well.

As we rode on, the wind became more of an issue and our goal just became the next line on the queue sheet. We finally stopped for lunch around 2:00 and we still over thirty miles to go. Our next goal was just to get five miles down the road and then get five more and then five more. Finally with 6 miles left we turned to the west and a tail wind. It was a great way to finish but not enough to lift our spirits too high. It was 6:30 when we pulled in and it was getting dark. By the time we pulled into our site we had ridden 70 miles. A long day with a head wind.

We got the tent up just as the sun went down. We were too tired to cook so we ate a couple of cups of peaches and some French bread. By the time we showered we both just collapsed into the bed. Day one was done and so were we.

Susan's favorite sign!

Cross Creek

Those are some big horns!

Breakfast

Annual Bike Trip-gitt'n ready

Two weeks of bad weather and a bad cold have kept me off my bike. I made my first commute this morning in 27d temps. As I was biking to the office with my fingers and toes going numb, I was beginning to think this morning met the “bad weather” definition. It didn’t help that Susan literally heckled me when I biked out of the driveway for being a dummy, but we are leaving for our annual bike tour shortly and I need the training. I’m just hoping it will be raining on the way home tonight. Nothing prepares you like training in realistic weather conditions. Maybe a headwind and a little lightning and thunder to make it more real.

This trip is going to be different. No, no, we still expect the weather to be awful. No, it’s that we are headed to Florida. A new state for us. Also I did not come up with the route. I found it on the GORP web page. It was called the Florida Springs tour. You can find out all about it here: http://tinyurl.com/7qf2dcn. It looks like fun, but it does mean camping.

No hotels. No B&B’s. Just a tent. Little air mattress. Light weight sleeping bags. Spam singles. Ramon noodles. Instant grits. No TV. No heat or AC. 60 mile plus days. I mean, how great is this! It just oozes adventure. Can’t wait! Of course I haven’t heard Susan say any of this but I know she’s going to love it. Nothing says fun like a damp sleeping bag on a rainy night. No really, it’s going to be great. The wind won't be too bad.  You’ll see.