Mariana FL to Tallahassee FL

 Thursday Apr 28


Last nights Campground was on a Bayou/Lake.  There were fisherman out there when I got up today at 5 AM.  


We had a short stint on a Parkway that charged a fee for vehicles, but since that toll gate was unmanned it was free for bicycles.  I did keep my head down when going under that thing, so no photo of me. We are staying in a Quality Inn tonight, which just converted to a Red Roof Inn.  Each room has A/C, and a shower and toilet, amenities that we have missed for a long time.  Todays ride took a toll on most everyone, normal headwinds and dealing with several shoulder-less roads once we approached Tallahassee.  Today was probably the second most difficult ride, surpassed only by that day in Texas ending up at Seminole State Park in a dust-storm. And we are now back on Eastern Daylight Savings time. The last riders arrived as we were sitting down to dinner at 6 PM.  Mileage was 86 miles at an average speed of 13.5, climbing 2,705 feet and burned 3,354 calories.  





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Casa Grande to Catalina State Park

Image
  Saturday March 19th Today is our eighth day straight riding without a “holiday”.  Fortunately tomorrow is a rest day at the Park Campground.  Not a long ride today but the wind was coming directly into our face from the Southeast.  And no wi fi at the park.  I can get a weak cell signal if I walk away from the camp, hold the phone over my head and look toward the heavens.  Hot and Sunny, but no Interstate 8.  I believe I-8 ended around Casa Grande and sorta merges with I-10.  So slow going, most of the morning spent in my small chainring averaging 10-11mph.   Lunch stop was in the town of Marana, another little Mexican roadside restaurant.  After a giant, hadda be three pound bean and chicken burrito, and a quart of Dr Pepper we started the final assault uphill into the foothills to Catalina State Park. The last few miles were on the Tucson bike path, a very impressive route in and around Tucson. We stayed here 2 years ago, very clean best in class showers and bathroom.  It is Saturd
Read more

Countdown till March 9, 2022

Image
 This will be my 2nd attempt to ride my bicycle from San Diego to St Augustine FL.  The first attempt in March 2020 was abruptly halted in Tombstone AZ on the 11th day due to the Covid Pandemic. My bike ships from Geneva NY to San Diego on February 15th.  I will fly from Florida to SD on March 9th and the ride starts from Ocean Beach San Diego on Saturday March 12th.  We will follow essentially the same route as 2020 with minor tweaks to take us to different sleeping locations, as the “Ride management” has been taken over by a different business. I believe that there will be 40 riders, including some of us that were together in 2020.  Training ride to Naples Florida yesterday.   Its flat but thats all we got in Florida.  So just over 1 month to go.   Still sorting out my belongings, trying to keep to a minimum of 3 reasonable carry ons. Using the spare bedroom as my staging area. 
Read more

DeRidder LA to Mamou LA

Image
 Saturday April 16th A good nights sleep in a hotel helps get us going in the morning.  Forecast is the same as the last few days, possibility of showers, and thunderstorm's after noon.  All of the creeks and small rivers that we crossed today are running over their banks.  Makes sense as I have read that the lower Mississippi is at flood stage.  Maybe we will get lucky and have a campsite flooded out and be forced into another hotel night.  These are crawfish farms/bogs.  There wasn't a lot of activity, the season is winding down.  Next I believe they plant rice, then when the rice is harvested, switch back to crawfish for the fall/winter-season. I rode about 25-30 miles with crawfish ponds on both sides of the road.   This is the crawfish harvester.  That big wheel at the rear rests on the bottom of the bog and propels the machine thru the bog, somehow scooping up the crawfish.     Apparently our leader made a change in our schedule so we are staying at an RV park in Mamou Lo
Read more