Post tour thoughts #1

I've been meaning to say this for a while, but before I forget: We are living lives of enormous luxury! After you're out there on the bike, with nothing but your own energy to get you places, camping, etc. you come to realize that "normal" life is quite luxurious. All of our needs get fulfilled with very little effort on our parts. You won't believe this, of course, but its true! I think this leads to the next observation, which is that people have an innate need to complain or be dissatisfied with things. The better off we are, the more trivial the things become, but we still *feel* the same sort of dissatisfaction. Studies show that if you make a million dollars a year, you will still feel unhappy if you think your friends are making two million a year. That makes a kind of psychological sense, of course, but from an objective viewpoint, its silly. And... its a sad (but also wonderful) aspect of human existence that we are anything but objective!

Day 58, Wed. March 10, 2010: Silver Springs to Ocala, 6

Odo 5882.8
I got up, and rode very slowly into Ocala. Its a pretty big city, so I spent a fair amount of time finding the motel we had reserved for that night. I got there about noon, and spent the rest of the day just lazing around. After sitting around for an hour or so, I start feeling even more tired. Thursday, I felt just as tired, or maybe more so. Friday, I started feeling better. The way I felt friday was much like the way I would have felt if I had ridden 100 miles the previous day in normal circumstances. The next long tour I do, I am taking more rest days!

Day 57, March 9, 2010: St Augustine to Silver Springs 86.60

Odo 5796.1
Actually, this is from Anastasia Island to Silver Springs. Details can be so pesky, don'tchaknow?

I felt better, and I think the accomplishment was finally sinking in to me. I was pretty tired after riding so many days straight, and in fact, I had not taken any rest days since Feb 12th, when I resumed the eastern part of the tour from the Blanco picnic table. Well, ok, there was one day where I only rode 25 miles, but I don't think that is as restful as not riding at all! Anyway, it occurs to me that I'm probably a lot more tired than I felt, and I do feel tired. I decide that maybe I can make it to Ocala, which is where I'm meeting up with Sara, who has driven from Austin to pick me up. Then I can just rest the next day, having arrived a day early. The only problem with this plan is that its about 90 miles to Ocala. I take a more direct route down the coast and then inland back to Palatka, where I stop again at Angel's diner, and have another one of those wonderful chocolate milkshakes! After lunch I realize that I have about 45 miles left to get to Ocala, and about 2.5-3 hours left to do it in. I figure its doable if I am diligent. Its very pretty going through the Ocala National forest, and I make pretty good time, however, it gets dark when I have about 5 miles left to go, so I stay at a motel in Silver Springs.

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.

Day 55 (Mar 7): Gainseville to Palatka 65.5

facilities on the bike trail!


Odo 5675.8

The route out of town quickly went on to a bicycle rail trail for about 16 miles, and my opinion of rail trails has definitely changed for the better. It was very pretty, and there were lots of cyclists. I talked to a woman for 5 to 6 miles until she and her boyfriend took another path. When we came to a stop sign, she stopped completely by putting her foot down. She told me that police actively ticket these intersections because of serious accidents in the past year. The fine for running a stop sign on a bicycle is $200. I can readily understand how these accidents would happen given that the visibility at these intersections is usually not very good compared to regular streets.

I stopped at a convenience store in Hawthorn. They have a one inch thick piece of steel painted like a bullseye. There are two 50 caliber machine gun cartridges on each side, and a hole through it with a bullet protruding from one side. The lady running the store told me that she bought her husband a 50 caliber single-shot machine gun, and it shot through the steel without noticeable damage to the bullet. This was evident when she pushed the bullet out with her finger and showed it to me. She said if you missed the target, the bullet would travel 2 miles before it would stop unless it hit something or someone else on its way. She also had the regular boiled peanuts and (ta-da!) Cajun boiled peanuts.

I stopped at Angel's in Palatka, which is Florida's oldest diner. Loads of charm. There were 3 boys (tweens, I guessed) seated at the counter, and three more came in. One of the waitresses said, "Oh, Lord, save me." The waitress's concern was on the mark. One of the boys said, "Hey, I'm ADHD," like he knew he was going to need an excuse for something. He needed the excuse; they were pretty rambunctious. I had a black bottom sandwich, which is scrambled egg, bacon and hamburger meat all formed together into a patty. It sounded better than it tasted. The chocolate shake was very good, though, so I ordered a second one. They use real whipped cream. Yum.

Continued on to St. John's Campground where the office was closed, so I picked a spot and set up. The sunset was beautiful. I would have paid up in the morning, but they were closed. This seems to be Motorcycle Week, as there are lots and lots of 'em on the road.

Day 54 (Mar 6) Ichetucknee Springs to Gainesville 56

Odo 5619.4

I don't think I have any ticks, so I made the right choice.

I left late from the Springs because I knew it would be a short ride to Gainesville. One thing I've been noticing is that boiled peanuts are a big thing here. Nearly every convenience store has a sign offering them. I should probably try this local delicacy.

I've been wondering at the numbered streets in the countryside. I've seen them up to 50 miles outside Gainesville. Many roads have three names: the country road number, a street name, and a city number, e.g. County Road 232, Wheeler St., and NW 153d Ave. This seems to be an extension of the Gainesville street system; still, it's strange to encounter 50 miles outside of town. It's similar to the area around Phoenix, which our cousin, Benny Corchine, said was to accommodate future growth. Gainesville seems really spread out for a city of 100,000. Certainly, it seems larger in area than Tallahassee.

Day 53 (Mar 5): Suwanee River to Ichetucknee Springs 60

Ichetucknee Springs
Odo 5559.2

There are a series of about six springs here which produce quite a lot of water forming a river. I stayed at the Ichetucknee Campground. I was looking at my map at a convenience store near the entrance to the Campground, and the guy who runs the store came out and said, "You're on the right road."

I said, "Yeah, I figured that. I just wanted to see if I should try to make the next campground."

He said, "Well, it'd be nice if you camp here. I've got plenty of spots, and there's no one else here. You can name your own price."

I said, "The going rate's about $10," and he said, "OK."

And then I said, "I've got about an hour and a half left, so I'm still trying to see if I can make it to the next campground."

He replied, "It's about 10 miles further down the road to the blinking red light. Then you take a right. And then, a mile or so further, the entrance to the park is on your left. But they have ticks in their campground, and I have a tick-free campground."

I was sold. I liked his sense of humor. I told him I'd go look at the springs, and then return to sign in. Apparently, Florida has more springs than any other state because it sits on limestone full of holes. Usually the water goes underground and stays there for about 40 years before coming back up.

I went to the little store to register, nuke an extra large cheeseburger, and dine like a king. The king of a very small, somewhat impoverished land. We talked about knives in China over his stock of literature extolling the wonders of our land. There was a big sign outside the store saying, "No fertilizers." Apparently, fertilizer gets in the springs and causes algae. The guy said he'd had the sign up for 30 years.