Day 47: Wednesday, 4/22/15 Marianna, FL (55º at 6:00 am CDT) to Tallahassee, FL (84º at 3:00 pm EDT) 76 miles, elevation changes: +2409/-2433.

Theme for the day:  I feel that I am truly back east. At mile 35 today, I passed into the Eastern Daylight Savings Time Zone when I crossed the Chattahoochee River. Again it was a day with exceptional weather! I started at 7am. We had breakfast a half hour early, 6:30 am, anticipating losing the hour traveling into the EDT zone. 60% of the trip was on FL State Route 90. The remainder of the ride were on roads used to pass north of Tallahassee. It was a day of many turns; 21 to be exact. It was also a day with more hills; see the elevation gains and losses listed above. It was much like the rolling hills in Maine. I saw my first real farm along FL 90, a tomato farm. All the vegetation is green and lush from all the rain. It is a HUGE change from the western deserts five weeks ago.

Bike stats: 75.6 miles ridden in 4 hours and 57 minutes of actual biking averaging 15.3 mph with a maximum speed of 33.4 mph.

Highlights of the day:

• Passing into the Eastern Daylight Savings Time zone and feeling that I am now truly back east.
• Enjoying another gorgeous day while riding on a smooth road. There was a 3 - 5 mph tailwind that helped a little. It was another cloudless day.
• Seeing my first true farm, a tomato farm along FL 90. All I have seen are cattle ranches since the Imperial Valley back in AZ.

The tomato farm along FL 90. This picture doesn't do it justice. It's at least a half mile long and quarter mile deep. Whomever drove in all those tomato stacks worked really hard at a very boring, redundant job.  I can't imagine how long it will take to tie up the tomato branches.

Looking north from the bridge over the Chattahoochee River. The dam creates Seminole Lake that borders GA and FL. Georgia is just on the other side of the dam. I passed into the Eastern Daylight Savings Time Zone when I crossed the bridge.

Looking south on the bridge over the Chattahoochee River down the river. It has rained a huge amount in this area the last week. The water is tearing down the river from the dam. The river is overflowing and flooding into the woods.

Make it a great day!

John

Day 46: Tuesday, 4/21/15 DeFuniak Springs, FL (54º at 6:00 am with dew point of 49º) to Marianna, FL (73º at 2:00 pm with a dew point of 48º) 70 miles, elevation changes: +1393/-1525.

Theme for the day: Glorious weather! The cold front came through last night taking out the humidity.  It was an exceptional day to ride with the dew point in the high 40’s. Moisture actually evaporated off our body. That hasn't really happened since we were in TX.

We were again on FL State Route 90 for all but 7 miles of the route. The asphalt was the smoothest we’ve experienced on the trip with a very safe bike lane. There still wasn’t much to see except for a detour off FL 90 through DeFuniak Springs, FL with a visit to the oldest library in FL, founded in 1886.

Bike stats: 69.9 miles ridden in 4 hours and 36 minutes of actual biking averaging 15.2 mph with a maximum speed of 31.9 mph.

Highlights of the day:

• Enjoying the gorgeous weather while riding on a smooth road with average elevation gain. There was very little wind that didn’t affect the ride.
• Visiting the oldest library in FL, founded in 1886 in DeFuniak Springs.

Today’s view along FL State Route 90 on which we rode 63 miles today. Note how smooth the asphalt is with a generous bike lane. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

The  front entrance of the DeFuniak Springs library, founded in 1886, the oldest library in FL.  Look at the size of the oak tree in the yard. It has to be as old as the library.

The interior of the library. It has a great sword collection around the top of the room into which you enter from the front.

I decided to add an action shot of me biking just so that you can believe that I am really doing this trip. This picture was taken by fellow rider Jeff as I rode onto Dauphin Island last Friday, 4/17. Big Blue is a monster bike able to do the job in all weather and road conditions.

Make it a great day!

John

Day 45: Monday, 4/20/15 Milton, FL (72º at 6:00 am with dew point of 71º) to DeFuniak Springs, FL (73º at 3:00 pm with a dew point of 66º) 55 miles, elevation changes: +911/-842.

Theme for the day: 54.7 miles that are needed to get to St. Augustine, FL one week from today. We rode for 50 miles on FL State Route 90, the same route 90 that we rode on for 5 days in TX. FL 90 is very smooth with a nice wide bike lane. There was very little to see along the route except houses and trees.

Bike stats: 54.7 miles ridden in 3 hours and 26 minutes of actual biking averaging 15.9 mph with a maximum speed of 31.6 mph.

Highlights of the day:

• Enjoying a gentle ride on a smooth road with little elevation gain.
• Eating a great lunch: a barbecued chicken sandwich with fries and coleslaw at the Simply Good Country Cooking BBQ Restaurant.
• Staying at the Sunset King Resort RV Park with excellent showers, a clubhouse, a pool, a hot tub and a lake.
• It is laundry day. I don’t think I’ve told you that our laundry is done every three days. We put our laundry in bins in the morning and it is waiting for us clean when we finish our day’s ride. I haven’t lost any clothes in the laundry during the whole trip.

The view along FL State Route 90. We rode 50 miles on FL 90 today. It was smooth with a nice bike lane, but very little to see.

We are now in the central panhandle of FL. There is little to see as you bike along except trees and houses. We did pass a farm with cattle coming into the Sunset King Resort RV park.

Two shots at the RV park.

Make it a great day!

John

Day 44: Sunday, 4/19/15 Dauphin Island, AL (72º at 6:00 am with heavy rain and a dew point of 71º) to Milton, FL (79º at 5:00 pm with a dew point of 68º) 87 miles, elevation changes: +1163/-1037.

Theme for the day: Arriving in FL, our 8^th and last state of the trip. I woke up at 4:45 am hearing thunder in the distance. It began to pour at 5 am with continuous thunderstorms until and by 6:45 am. The majority of the campground became a lake. Luckily T4, my tent, was on a high, sandy spot. Others were flooded with several inches of water filling their tent. Our 5” high air mattresses were the savior of many being able to keep their belongings afloat on them and somewhat dry.

The second big event of the day was taking the ferry from Dauphin Island across to the mainland, a 40-minute trip. At 7:30 we were all lined up waiting for the 8 am ferry. The skies opened up again and it poured for 45 minutes until the ferry left. I was totally soaked getting on the ferry. Luckily, it was a warm morning. Once we we began to cross the bay, the rain let up. We did get a few more rain showers, but by 11:00 am, the rain ended. As I write this at 6 pm, the sky is clear and the air is drying out. Many Coasters have lots of soaking wet clothing. I am lucky; I have none. Packing my things in plastic bags inside my duffle bags was very important. 

Bike stats: 87.0 miles ridden in 5 hours and 29 minutes of actual biking averaging 15.9 mph with a maximum speed of 30.6 mph. It is very flat along the coast, and we had an tailwind of 10 - 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. 

Highlights of the day:

• Surviving the early morning rains and riding 87 miles.
• Crossing into FL, our 8^th and last state.
• Yesterday, on our rest day, visiting Ft. Gaines and riding 14.5 miles round trip to the west end of Dauphin Island. 

Waiting for the ferry in the pouring rain.

On the ferry about to leave Dauphin Island.

Fort Gaines taken from the ferry.

Oil rigs that we passed on Mobile Bay.

Here I am with big blue on the ferry just before we arrived on the mainland.

The "Welcome to FL" sign. The 8th and last state of the trip.

On the rest day, I visited Fort Gaines. I recommend investigating the importance of the defeat of Ft Gaines that is located at the entrance to Mobile Bay by Admiral Farragut helping to lead to the end of the Civil War.

On the rest day, I rode big blue to the west end of Dauphin Island. Dauphin Island is a barrier island. It is only about 4 feet above sea level where the last house is built, the second picture below. Note that the houses are all built on silts to hopefully withstand hurricanes. There are hundreds of houses on Dauphin Island built on stilts. To me, it is a disaster just waiting to happen. There is only sea grass as the vegetation on the long sand spit that makes up the west end of the island.

Make it a great day!

John

Day 42: Friday, 4/17/15: Ocean Springs, MS (72º at 6:00 am with a dew point of 71º) to Dauphin Island, AL (77º at 2:30 pm with a dew point of 71º) 82 miles, elevation changes: +1418/-1442.

Theme of the Day: Riding into our 7^th state, Alabama. It is VERY humid in MS & AL. It was partly cloudy when I began to ride at 7:10 am. At 11 am, just after crossing into AL, it began to rain that lasted an hour, until lunch.  It was enough to get me soaked. The sun was out by 1:30 pm. I finished at 2:30 pm treating myself to a half rack of baby back ribs when I arrived on Dauphin Island.

I love being on an island in the Gulf of Mexico. It is very Cape Cod like. The wind was the same, about 15 - 20 mph from the SW, the humidity was the same as many Cape summer days, and I loved seeing the boats in slips. We are going to have our boat, “Hooray for Another Day” in a slip this summer. It goes into the water on May 1.

Bike Stats: 82.3 miles ridden in 5 hours and 27 minutes of actual biking averaging 15.1 mph with a maximum speed of 30.1 mph.

Highlights:

• Crossing into AL, the 7^th state on the trip. I have been to AL before, thus not a new state for me.
• Again riding on some beautiful country roads in MS and AL. I truly love biking on these less traveled, back roads. It was really lovely today.
• Arriving on Dauphin Island in the Gulf of Mexico. The causeway we rode out to the island on reminds me of the Sanibel, FL causeway. I love seeing all the boats. In two weeks our boat will be in the slip at Brewers Fiddler’s Cove. I am very excited about being able to experience the entire Cape Cod boating season May 1 until October 31.
• Eating a half rack of baby back ribs. They really hit the spot at 2pm after having to eat a grilled McChicken sandwich, fries, and two hot apple pies for lunch. Our lunch SAG stop was in McDonalds. I was cold and soaked after the hour of rain, and I needed to eat. I truly don’t like eating at McDonalds.

We crossed this river in MS before crossing into AL. It rained again very heavily last night. All the rivers and streams in this area are over flowing and flooding the surrounding land. Look how high the water is along the banks. You would be able to canoe into the woods.

The beautiful tree lined road in MS. The pavement was smooth, there was no wind, and it was a pretty gentle up and down hill day. This picture was taken with my iPhone mounted under my fairing while I was riding. With all the rain, the vegetation is very lush.

Crossing into AL. The rain started about 10 minutes after this picture was taken.

Three of my fellow bikers and me outside McDonalds after lunch. We are all soaking wet. I haven't shown you many pictures of members of our group. From left to right: Cecil, me, Joe and Tom.

Shrimp boats as I ride toward Dauphin Island.

The causeway leading to Dauphin Island. It is about 7 miles long. Look for the hump of the bridge way in the distance.

After about 5.5 miles, getting closer to the bridge. You can see Dauphin Island.

Looking back toward the mainland where I had just come from taken on the top of the bridge.

From the top of the bridge looking toward Dauphin Island.

Boats in slips, note that they are all on lifts that keep the boats out of the water.

The Welcome to Dauphin Island water tower.

The beautiful Dauphin Island Park Campground where we are staying for two nights. Tomorrow is a rest day. No blog tomorrow!

Make it a great day!

John