Day 41, Gainesville to Palatka, 61 miles

Today was our last full day of riding.

We left Gainsville before seven and soon found the connector to the Gainsville-Hawthorne Bike Trail.

The connector bike trail took us south of the University of Florida and we were soon out of the city and on the beautiful trail that led us to Hawthorne. The trail was spectacular with us going through swamps. Luckily we did not see an alligator but did help a turtle cross the trail.

In Hawthorne we reconnected with Mary and George who are cycling in the Southeast. Their final destination is Savannah.

We cycled with them until our stomachs told us to stop for lunch. We did find our favorite place and bought sandwiches for a picnic in a nearby park.

With a little drizzle we quickly cycled into Palatka where we are spending the night in a motel along The St. Johns River. Many sailors are gathering for the annual Mug Race to Jacksonville.

How are our bikes? We do not want to jinx our good fortune but our bikes have now gone three thousand miles without any major difficulty. Ruth had two flats and Mary Jo's odometer stopped working in Louisana. Both our bikes are road bikes not touring bike. Ruth rides a Trek Pilot and Mary Jo rides a Fierte Serrotta. Before the trip our bikes were completely overhauled and we both had new Continental Ultra Gator Skin tires put on the bikes. Because we did not have to carry camping gear, we were given the small Arkel bags by our children and these small bag worked well for our meager belongings protected by ziplock bags. We brought only the essential tools - tire irons, a small hand pump with a guage purchased through Adventure Cycling.com, a multi-tool kit, a universal rivoli chain tool, an extra chain link, a fiberax spoke repair kit, a small bottle of prolink to lube and clean the chain, and FIVE SPARE TUBES. Each bike has two cages for our water bottles. We have grown very fond of our bikes; they are our trusty steeds.

Mary Jo's bike

Ruth's Bike

How are we feeling? We do not have anything that hurts but we are doggone tired! If we had to ride more days we would but we are really looking forward to giving our bodies a rest.

" A Bicyclist's Ode to Subway Sandwiches"

"Cycling 'cross America really takes its toll,
But yummy Subway sandwiches play a mighty roll,
In powering the body to make the wheels roll.
It takes much more than sports drinks to achieve this mighty goal.
Wanna stop to eat there? There's no need to cajole!
A sandwich for the body and a cookie for the soul!" - Ruth L. Morley

Day 40, White Springs to Gainsville, 90 miles

After eating a delicious breakfast of French Toast and scrambled eggs cooked by our hostess, we started riding west to rejoin our route.

We enjoyed seeing our shadows in front of us but we were not paying close attenion to our route.

After riding seven miles we noticed the same tomato field that we saw yesterday.

Luckily a lady was there and she told us that we had missed our turn five miles back. Despite adding ten miles to our day, the morning was pleasant and it was the perfect day for two good friends to ride. We cycled back the five miles and turned south on route 137 and crossed I10. This is only the second time that we have missed a turn in nearly three thousand miles.

(Mary Jo by the tomato fields, YESTERDAY!)

Down the road we saw the Whistlestop Deli. We purchased sandwiches for our lunch and could not resist the blueberry scones and a quick jig with the chef.

At noon we stopped at the Ichetucknee Springs State Park. While eating our sandwiches we watched a man swimming laps across the pristine natural pool formed by the spring. We both had the same idea and quickly changed into our swimsuits and took a quick dip in the seventy-two degree water.

During the afternoon we cycled through beautiful pasture land and through the town of High Springs.

We were now approaching Gainesville. We followed the tree lined route 232 into Gainesville. There was a clearly marked bike lane and it made our cycling into the city less nerve-racking then cycling into Tallahassee. We cycled passed the University of Florida and found the Super 8 Motel.

Tomorrow we are taking a bike trail out of Gainesville and will cycle to Palatka. It will be our last full day of cycling.

Day 39, Monticello to White Springs, 78 miles

After our last few days of hard cycling, we slept in and did not have breakfast until seven. We enjoyed chatting with our hostess and then started east again on state route 90. We enjoyed the wide shoulders and light traffic and the shade of the trees. All was forgiven for the heavy traffic in Tallahassee.

We sooned arrived in the lovely historic village of Madison. We took a little cycling tour around the courthouse square and ventured down some side streets to view stately victorian homes. As Ruth was taking her last picture, she realized that her front tire was flat.

Now we were truly on our own-no husbands, no Evelyn, no other cycling groups, and no bike store until Gainsville, a hundred miles away. We calmly got out our tools and directions on how to change a tire. We methodically followed the directions. Twenty minutes later the tube was replaced, pumped up tp 100 psi, and the tire was back on the bike. We were ready to go again.

(proud tire changers!)

We bought a picnic lunch at a nearby grocery store and headed for Suwannee River State Park. Upon entering the park we met other cyclists who are going from St. Francisville, La. to Savannah, Ga. via St. Augustine. They told us that we would have the park to ourselves and we truly did. The view of the river was spectacular and the day was perfect for a picnic - tempeature in the low seventies, low humidity, and a slight breeze.

We were now off of ninety and cycling along real backroads with no traffic. We passed groves of timber, cattle and horse farms, peanut farms, and tomato farms. The locals call this "the other Florida."

Then we saw towering signs for McDonalds and gas stations. What was ahead? It was I-75! Cincinnati is just up the road. Mary Jo desperately tried to turn north but Ruth distracted her by buying McDonald's milkshakes.

We headed into White Springs and are staying at a B&B.

We ate dinner at the local restaurant whose name did not appeal to us. The pork dinner was better than the Odwalla bars fermenting at the bottom of our panniers.

Tomorrow we head to Gainsville; we only have about two hundred miles left to reach the coast.

"Way down upon the Swanee River,
Far, far away,
There's where my heart is turning ever,
There's where the old folks stay.
All up and down the whole creation,
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for the old plantation,
And for the old folks at home." - Steven C. Foster

We are longing to see Bill and Don. We can't wait for Saturday. Ruth & MJ

Day 38, Marianna to Monticello, 100 miles

Today was long and we discovered the hill country of Florida.

Early in the morning we cycled on rolling roads passing horse farms and tree farms. Most of the trees lining the roads were live oaks dripping with Spanish moss.

After crossing the Apalachicola River we finally entered the Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

We ate lunch at a local buffet and headed towards Tallahassee. Towards the center of the city our trusty bike lane ended and luckily there was a good sidewalk that we could ride on. We reached the east end of Tallahassee and calmed our nerves by having some yogurt.

We also stopped at the Higher Ground Bicycle Co., Florida's highest bike shop, at an elevation of 201 feet. The staff pumped up our tires and even gave us free tshirts. We now are riding with three shirts, two cycling shorts, one pair of regular shorts, one wind jacket, and one rain jacket.

We only had 26 more miles to reach our destination of Monticello. There was no tailwind and the skies were threatening. Then it happened; the skies opened and the rain came in buckets. We waited to the side of the road and became drenched. After the rain subsided we continued riding but we had some steep hills before arriving at our very comfortable B&B - Averaclarke.com

For supper we found a little restaurant that served spinach salads and had fresh vegetables-our reward for a hard day.

Day 37, Milton to Marinna, 120 miles!

That's right we rode 120 miles today! Today our maps took us on route 90. The road surface was smooth, there was little traffic, there was a wide shoulder, and the westerly winds were still at our back.

We had planned to end the day at DeFuniak Springs. However, we arrived at the town at 11:30 am. We circled the perfectly natural round lake and admired the victorian homes on Circle Dr. See below for waffle geographical features.

We found a bustling restaurant and realized that we both had the same thoughts, "Why stop now and waste this tailwind?"

We studied the maps and Ruth made phone calls to change our lodging for the next few days. The new schedule worked out beautifully. Instead of cycling over 100 miles to finish at St. Augustine on Saturday, we now will only have forty miles to cycle to reach our final destination. We fortified ourselves with frozen peanut butter pie and headed back to our windy road heading east.

We made a quick stop at the small town of Ponce de Leon and MJ drank a few drops of water from a fountain. Who knows? Maybe this fountain has the same qualities as the one in St. Augustine?

We had the good fortune to cycle through Caryville(population 218,) the worm fiddling capital of the world. Participants in the festival rub objects on posts in the ground to force worms to the surface. Most of the winners are women and since we were feeling victorious today we regretted missing the festival.

We pedaled and pedaled with the wind behind our backs and sailed into Marianna. We are staying at the delightful Hinson House B&B .

Maybe MJ has taken John B.'s advice about pedaling back to youth and drinking special waters too seriously.

"I thought of that while riding my bicycle." Albert Einstein