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Friday, 4 May 2012
Moving Through Florida - Midway 61.2 miles
Lovely sleep in motel with cooling air-conditioning and no bugs. Bliss. Funny, though, feel more tired with easy cycle rides and good nights sleep than when conditions were difficult. Another warm day but more overcast which made for pleasant cycling, quite a strong headwind and a few steep hills. I usually cycle on my own, in fact we all mostly cycle alone, and some days I cover 40 miles without seeing another cyclist. I like an early start as by lunchtime my feet are swollen and hands tingling. Then I usually head into a cafe for an ice-cream milkshake and more importantly to cool down in their air conditioning. We are now in Eastern Time so moved our watches forward 1 hour. The UK is just 5 hours ahead of me now. In the USA there is Eastern Time, Central Time, Mountain Time and Pacific Time. We ate out again tonight, I had a chicken salad, couldn't face another cheeseburger, I have never known a country to have so many fast food joints. Some of the men never stop eating but that is another story! Following on from last nights post, if oranges are the states largest export, tourists have to be the number one import. Tourist levels are the result of activity that dates back to the early 1880's. Then, two rival tourism promoters, Henry Flagler and Henry Plant arrived in Florida and
were shocked by the primitive hotel accommodation. Both began building in St Augustine, Miami and Tampa Bay. To get people there Flagler bankrolled the railroad to construct along the eastern seaboard. It was the beginning of an influx of travellers from the North. Of course in the 1970's, Walt Disney, rewrote the book on Florida tourism, he purchased Florida swampland at 185 dollars an acre. When the swampland was drained and the Disney plans announced real estate values in the neighbourhood soared to 300,000 dollars an acre. Lucky for some. The days are definitely numbered now, plans are being discussed for last night and last day so ....I'll keep loving it while it lasts....
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Thursday, 3 May 2012
No More 'Tent' or 'Cooking'. Marianna 63.2 miles.
Last night was our final camping night. As we are under budget, Dave has decided that it is Motels and eating out from now on. Farewell to a damp, smelly,hot, humid, bug ridden tent and sleeping bag. No more lying, listening to frogs, ducks, birds, snorers, tent zips going ziiiipppp, ziiipppp, ziiipppp and assorted other noises, all night long. No more rolling up a dew drenched tent at an ungodly morning hour. No more crawling out a tent backwards, fumbling for torch, stumbling, getting lost enroute to the toilet. No more gazing at the wondrous stars in a blackened night sky as I stagger back to my tent. I shall miss it, it has been my sanctuary, my own private space. I didn't sleep well, my mind kept going over aspects of our journey so I was tired when I set out at 7.00 am. Immediately I heard a 'whining' noise coming from Spike, that's what I get for cleaning him yesterday. My nephew, bike specialist, Matt says 'if there is a noise coming from the bike, something is wrong'. I thought it was the cranks, so stopped and gave them a good lube. Whine, whine continued. I couldn't stand it, so eventually found a shady spot, turned Spike over and lubed the cranks again. All quiet, sorted, great. Very hot and humid again today but some relief from clouds and tree shade. We travelled Hwy 90, all day, passing through Ponce de Leon, Westville, Coryville, Bonifey, Chipley, Cottondale then eventually Marianna. The Motel has a swimming pool which was fantastic after such a hot cycle. For much of the ride we were back in rolling hill countryside but the last 10 miles was along a busy road, with no hard shoulder, which I didn't enjoy. In 1513, Spaniard Ponce de Leon landed in Florida and named it such. He landed during Spains 'Feast of Flowers' and called the land Florida meaning 'flowery'. He also intoduced oranges; all ships had to carry orange seeds and trees as a protection against scurvy and other diseases. Centuries later oranges blossomed into Florida's leading agricultural staple. Just thought you might be missing the history lesson..... still loving this journey......
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Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Restful De Funiak Springs, Florida.
The noise of the camp woke me at 7.00am. We made breakfast, sat around chatting and laughing till 9.00am, then set off, in the van, to the local Walmart. A lovely, relaxing start to the day. Dee, Merv and Robert C had aready departed, on their bikes, to a nearby cafe for breakfast. At Walmart I bought a new bigger bag, as one of my bags had started ripping at the seams. I have been buying a few souvenirs en route, so eventually the bag said, with only 10 days to go, enough is enough. We enjoyed a Fried Chicken lunch back at camp then headed out to nearby springs for a swim. We were all so hot the water at 68 deg felt bitterly cold. It was wonderfully refreshing though and chrystal clear. Spotted 1 turtle and loads of little fish. No alligators, guess it was too cold. Back at camp I cleaned and lubed Spike ready for our final week. He is looking in remarkably good shape considering the mileage and terrain he has coped with. In the evening, over dinner, Robert M asked us all 'what our next big adventure would be'. It ranged from 'going back to work' to Dan cycling, this July, from Russ ia to Portugal. Robert M then asked us 'if this trip had changed us in any way.' I said 'no, but my first cycling tour in India had changed me'. It had given me confidence and courage in my ability to cope with demanding challenges. He then said 'I was Queen of the Hills' which I liked. We had good, hysterical fun over dinner and I am going to greatly miss the comraderie of this group. We have come through a lot together but musn't get maudlin, we have another 7 days cycling to complete and a 70 miler in the humid heat beckons tomorrow....still loving it....btw the frogs are still croaking and bugs still biting. Aaaahhhh
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Hot and Humid, De Funiak 55.3 miles.
Well I really wish my tent had air conditioning as this is the most uncomfortable weather to date. It cooled down a bit during the night but still very muggy. Left camp just after 7.00 am, numerous grey squirrels about, scampering up trees, at the roadside, quite unafraid. By 8.30 am it was very hot but as long as I keep moving I can cope. There was no shelter from trees etc as our journey was mostly on busy roads between towns. At least there were plenty of convenience stores to pop into and cool down. Some of the locals were complaining about the heat which actually made me feel better. Jon said it was 95 deg, our hottest and most humid day yet. Over the past week, I have noticed that I have started to lose weight. Probably something to do with cutting back on the pancakes so first stop was a Waffle House. I had a delicious waffle with grits, didn't like the grits, just a corn gruel made with water. I had heard it mentioned a lot so wanted to try it. It was an uneventful cycle, just felt I wanted to arrive and get out the sun. We are staying at Juniper Lake Camp Site tonight, so once again, now night has fallen the wild life are in full voice. There are huge bass and turtles in the lake and we watched the owner giving them their daily feed. Day off tomorrow which is nice, our last rest day of the trip. We are all, bikes and cyclists beginning to suffer a bit wear and tear but I suppose that is to be expected after 7 weeks constant cycling .....don't care....am still loving it....
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Tuesday, 1 May 2012
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