2017 11-12 Palatka to St Augustine (32 miles), to home (1074 miles)

I woke earlier than usual today, a bit restless for it is difficult accepting the fact that this is the last day of a fabulous trip and it will soon be over.  This trip has afforded me the opportunity to meet some new friends and together we shared the joys and trials of the Southern Tier, and saw America in a way that is only possible on two wheels and  at 12 miles per hour.  On the other hand, I'm also very anxious to get home and see my wife again.  It has been over two months since we parted company in Portland, OR.  This trip would not be possible without her continuing and constant support.  We talked every morning on the phone and hearing her voice gave me the energy to face the challenge the day would bring.  We also talked again at the end of the day, and her happy, joyful greeting would always relieve any pain that an exceptionally hard day may have brought.  It is now time to return home and see her smiling face again!

The ride to St Augustine was slow.  Not because of any bad road conditions, or traffic conditions, or weather problems, but because there seemed to be a need to savor the last thirty miles of the trip.  I was not to be disappointed as the morning provided me with a great sunrise, the site of which I will never grow tired and one which has been provided for me over and over again during this trip.  I also had the opportunity to cross more bridges with their special views of trees and water and wildlife.  The last section of the ride was on a pleasant, relaxing rail trail, a tree lined and peaceful retreat from the highway. 

My ride ended at the Hertz car rental office located at the St Augustine airport, the only location opened on a Sunday.  The panniers were removed from the bike,  the bike was quickly disassembled and every thing was loaded into the car.  Before I could start the long ride home, I needed to visit the beach.  What is a cross country bike trip without the ceremonial dipping of the front wheel into the ocean.  It started in San Diego with the dipping of the rear wheel into the Pacific and the trip would just not be complete without dipping the front one in the Atlantic.  Arriving at the beach, a short distance from the car rental pickup, I carried the front wheel to the beach.  The rest of the bike did not want to be disturbed from its comfy spot in the car.

And now for the long trip home.  The ride from St Augustine to my home in New York is over a thousand miles long.  It was already 11 AM but I felt good and had to get home, and there is plenty of driving time left in this day.  After driving for several hours and not feeling tired, I just kept on going.  The need to get home took over and after driving for 18 hours reached my home and my wife.  Now the trip is over and complete!

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Trip Home

2017 11-11 Cross City to Palatka (101 miles)

Ok, so it is a long mile day, I’m fighting a head wind the entire day, and I did say I wouldn’t be writing a blog, but once in the habit of doing something it is hard to stop.  The morning started out very pleasantly.  Across the street from the hotel was an entrance to a fantastic bike path that lasted the first 20 miles of today’s ride.  It is nicely paved, peaceful, and there is no fear of traffic.  Then to add a touch of calm to the morning, I was presented with a good sunrise.  Who could ask for more?

Laving the bike path, things changed.  The head wind, not as obvious on the bike path due to the protecting influence of the trees, was relentless.  The road had good shoulders and moderate traffic, but it was going to be a long day of riding into the wind.

Finally made it to mile 80 and there it is - another bike path that looks like it should take me to the end of the ride.  Jumped on the path and headed about 2 miles into it when, ouch.  Ugly black mucky water is blocking the path and it doesn’t look passable.  Turn around and head back to the road.  That is when I meet Juanma and Sergio, two brothers from Spain, traveling across America on a tandem, and headed my way.  We road together the rest of the day, stayed at the same motel and ate dinner together.  They are a very interesting pair.  Sergio is blind and has autism.  He is very content traveling with his brother, Juanma, who takes excellent care of him.  The two seem very happy with their journey.  I had a good time getting to know them, and admire both of them for their accomplishment.

Tomorrow I will ride 31 miles to reach a Hertz car rental facility in St Augustine, my journey will be complete and I will start my long car ride home.

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Map of entire trip

2017 11-10 Crawfordville to Cross City (98.3 miles)

My name is Joe and I have written from my point of view about the experiences and daily life of riding the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier Route with a group of fellow cyclists, and shared my images from as well as maps of each day’s ride.  I have enjoyed sharing this experience, not only in real time with the other members of the riding group, but also with all of you who have experienced and hopefully enjoyed our travels from the comfort of your computer room or easy chair.

Last night I made a decision to ride the remainder of the trip solo in three days, instead of the five days scheduled by the group.   Therefore all that is left is ‘me’.  My intend is to finish with two almost one hundred mile days and a third thirty-two mile day, which will end at the Hertz car rental office, where I will rent a car and start my drive home.  I am anxious to get home and should do so by the 14^th of November.  Since most of my ‘experiences’ in the next two days will be in getting in the miles in order to finish, there will probably be no more written posts to this blog, except for maps and an occasional picture to complete the record of my trip.  There will certainly be no way to report what is happening to ‘the group’.  I have enjoyed authoring this blog and hope you have enjoyed following the progress of the 2017 Southern Tier adventure.

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2017 11-09 Apalachicola to Crawfordville (54.1 miles)

Today started out foggy with a threat of rain in the afternoon.  The rain never came, but the fog prevented us from fully enjoying our last day along the Gulf.  We had a good day of cycling, but not a good day for pictures or memories.  The ride was short, about 44 miles for most of the group, who stopped at the Sopchoppy City Park to camp.  Joe and Tom decided to ride an additional 10 miles and stay in the comfort of a Best Western hotel.  As they past through Sopchoppy, the winds picked up and the sky darkened, the rain was all set to come, but it held back, and all stayed dry.

Yes, we left the Gulf coast behind today, no longer to see the water and all the lovely sights it presented to us these last few days.  There are only about 240 more miles left before we reach St Augustine, and this will take 5 more days of cycling.  The remainder of the trip should be pretty much routine; the sights will be mostly country roads, with occasional patches of civilization thrown in.  No more big climbs, no more water to enjoy (unless we get rain), just a few miles and the trip is over.  Then there will be time to reflect on all we have accomplished since our journey began on September 12^th.

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2017 11-08 Panama City to Apalachicola (61.6 miles)

This morning started out foggy, but thankfully it cleared before we really started to ride, and additionally cycling away from our hotel and out of town was stressful.  There was heavy early morning commuter traffic and a shoulder less road.  Fortunately this condition lasted only a short time before the traffic diminished, a shoulder appeared and the scenery changed.  What a beautiful ride unfolded for us the rest of the day, with plenty of refreshing views of the gulf, plentiful wild life and blue skies and warm temperatures.  It was a truly perfect day.

With so much of today’s ride in sight of the gulf, there were amply opportunities to stop at a beach and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the water, or as some did, to swim.  And where there is water, there are birds and other creatures commonly found near the water.  You will see from the pictures that we were provided quite a show today.   Some of us even took a route that added about 6 additional miles, just to be within view of the gulf a little longer.  

When we were within about six miles of Apalachicola, we cycled along a three to four mile section of route 98 that had the largest concentration of butterflies that could be imagined.  There was some low growing flowering plant that seemed to attract them, and as we cycled by the plants, the butterflies would take off in all directions.  What a beautiful display of orange and black winged butterflies was ever where around us.

With so much of nature to admire today, it is easy to miss the fact that we slipped into the Eastern Time zone this morning.  Among everything else, this event was just so Ho-hum.  

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2017 11-07 Destin to Callaway (Panama City) (59.6 miles)

After the usual morning ritual of eating breakfast, making a lunch and taking down one’s tent, we headed out to reach our lodging for the evening, The Days Inn in Panama City (actually the little town of Callaway out side of Panama City).  The ride today was sprinkled with glimpses of the Gulf.  It was a welcome change from yesterdays ride, and the views made the day relaxing and the time seemed to fly by.  Mid morning we stopped for a lunch break in the delightful little town of Santa Rosa Beach.  The food was excellent and the staff very friendly.  One of the waiters, Gary, was extremely interested in our journey.  He asked numerous questions about us, our trip, and our bikes.  He paid special attention to our table, we felt honored.

For dinner tonight we ate at Sonny’s BBQ restaurant, a very short walk from the hotel.  The ribs were tasty and the servings generous.   We are not sure why we have not put on a hundred pounds of extra weight on this trip.  This extreme eating will have to end soon.

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2017 11-06 Pensacola Naval Air Station to Destin (68.5 miles)

Today we were discharged from the Navy after having served our 2 day enlistment.  It was a wonderful time but we are happy to once again be civilians and free to come and go without an escort.  We left the camp as a group and headed over to The Oak Restaurant and Lounge, still on the base near the golf course, for a fantastic breakfast.  After eating more than any of us should have eaten (the pancakes where gigantic and the other food good too), we headed off in smaller groups to our final destination, Henderson Beach State Park.

This is the first day of riding off the official Adventure Cycling route, the object of which was to cycle more along the ocean.  With this goal in mind, a good 16 miles of today’s ride was to be along route 399, part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.  As we crossed over the bridge from Gulf Breeze to the start of the ride along 399 we got a group text message from Chris (remember, he is ahead of us because he did not stay on the Naval base) indicating that the route is closed.  Chris road about 7 miles along 399 before being turned around by a park ranger, and he saved us all from having to do the same extra 14 miles of riding he just did.  We turned around and retraced our ride back to route 98, which we took the rest of the way to our camp ground.  It was a sham we missed out on riding the National Seashore for it would have been absolutely beautiful.  We instead had to deal with the fast and sometimes intimidating traffic on route 98.  All reached the camp ground safely.

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