Going back a day to last night and our special speaker, Mrs. Elesta Pritchett. She was a neighbor and friend to a young Ray Charles. It was a special night listening to her recall her youth and the items they used as toys when growing up poor. With some prompting from Bubba, she also shared how she persevered with her own education. She dropped out of high school before her senior year, but after her own children became school age, she earned her GED. She didn’t stop there – she went on to receive a BS and then a Masters degree. She started teaching at age 35, using the degrees she earned, and continued teaching for 38 years. She is currently 88 years young. As mayor of Greenville, she was instrumental in the acquirement of the Ray Charles statue that we saw in Greenville, FL. It was an honor to meet her.
Today Janet, Queenie and I carried Dave’s luggage tag. Dave was unable to continue the ride out of Marianna, FL – just five days short. We were all crushed for him. Dave had a medical issue that just wouldn’t allow him to continue riding, so like we did for Bobby, several riders each day are carrying his luggage tag. We took several pictures throughout the day and sent them to Dave. I think Queenie’s brought a chuckle for him as she placed his tag inside a beer cooler at our first SAG check in.
Otherwise, today’s ride was uneventful with good roads and headwinds (as usual). Our lunch stop was in High Springs at a restaurant called “Great Outdoors.” Another eatery with delicious food choices. If you noticed, food has been important on this tour! We did get sprinkled on near the very end of the day, however, it was a welcome relief. Tonight, we are staying at the North Central Florida YMCA in Gainesville, FL.
Stats from the day:
Start city: Live Oak, FL
End city: Gainesville, FL
Miles: 80.80
Total miles to date: 2836.49
Pedaling time: 5 hours, 48 minutes
Avg. speed: 13.9
Feet climbed: 1,430
Fatigue factor: 5 out of 10 (10 is the worst);
Wind: start: NE 6 mph; end ENE 13 mph
Road condition: 4 out of 5 (1 is the worst)
Temperature extremes: 61 at ride start, 78 at ride finish
Mrs. Pritchett receiving a plaque of our entire group when we were in San Diego on the beach.
A selfie that Janet took where we are "in the flowers with Dave."
Texas has bluebonnets and Florida has fields of wild phlox.
Our lunch spot today.
This sign was inside the restaurant where we had lunch.
One of the gorgeous roads that we pedaled on today.
I snapped a photo of Dave "ending today's ride" at the YMCA.
