Day 56 (Mar 8): Palatka to St. Augustine 54.59

Odo 5796.1

It was a pretty day. I followed the route as best I could, but gave up during an intricate series of turns. I finally took the main highway into town. A woman in a pickup shouted to me, "Are you part of a group?" I assumed she was following a group, but had misplaced them. It was hard to stay on the route when the roads say 14 miles to St. Augustine, and you know your route will take you 25 miles.

It did lead me to the St. James River with some beautiful scenery. I met up with a couple who have just started and who seem very nice. Their blog is on crazyguyonabike.com, and it's called, "You're going to do what?"

Getting to St. Augustine, I crossed the Lion's Bridge to get to the beach. The sand here is very fine, like powder, and it was very hard to get the bike to the ocean. A guy with two kids snapped my picture as I stood watching helplessly as the sea washed over my shoes. "The waves hadn't been that high before," I thought. "Oh, yeah, the tide." Then I called Sara, and she and Joanna cheered for me.

Afterwards, I dragged the bike off the beach with the tires leaving six inch deep grooves in the sand. I checked into a cheap motel, but it was too cheap and a smoking room, so I checked out. Then I checked into the Sleep Inn. While checking in, the bike fell over and got a small dent in the top tube. I knew I would need a lot of beer tonight. I'm pretty bummed about it as I feel this has ended its life as a reliable bike. I knew it wasn't a very stable parking place.

I found the A1A Ale Works Brewery Restaurant in a tourist guide, and I decided to eat there. I had a seafood phyllo and a couple of beers - very nice. Sara is driving out here and will be meeting me in a couple of days, and we'll travel a little before going home.