As usual on a Sunday, Beth led those interested in brief devotions. Beth challenged us to think about all that we accomplished on this bike ride – we RODE ACROSS the COUNTRY on A BIKE. She reminded us to be thankful today and every day; a good day for reflection.
Today our first stop was an unofficial stop at Starbucks. Many of us stopped there and ended up taking a photo on the steps of the old Gainesville Post Office.
We rode on the Guerry-Hawthorne Connection Trail as we left Gainesville. It was a gorgeous trail and it reminded me of the Withlacoochee Trail back home near Floral City and Inverness. We stopped at the Paynes Prairie Preserve to look for alligators near Alachua Lake (on the La Chua Trail) and we weren’t disappointed. We saw herons, egrets, ducks and a couple of alligators. Our last full SAG stop of the tour was in the trail head parking lot.
Along the route today, about 12 miles from the end, my friends Owen and Randy were alongside the road and took a few photos of Janet, Queenie and me riding in. They will be at the end of our journey to help us commemorate our accomplishment. I need lots of photos. We ended today’s ride at the Rain-Deutsch National Guard Armory. Tonight, we will have a special rider meeting where we will get our official Coast to Coast Jersey! Bubba will encourage each rider to share their feelings/memories of the ride. He called it our “Cumbaya” meeting. I will write more about tonight either tomorrow or when I get home. So, if you don’t see a post tomorrow after the completion of our journey, please stop back in when I write a prologue. Also, don’t forget to share your thoughts with me.
Stats from the day:
Start city: Gainesville, FL
End city: Palatka, FL
Miles: 53.60
Total miles to date: 2890.09
Pedaling time: 5 hours, 48 minutes
Avg. speed: 13.6
Feet climbed: 879
Fatigue factor: 3 out of 10 (10 is the worst);
Wind: start: E 7 mph; end ESE 13 mph
Road condition: 4 out of 5 (1 is the worst)
Temperature extremes: 67 at ride start, 76 at ride finish
We rode over some brick paving in downtown Gainesville on the way to Starbuck's.
My yellow bike spotted at the Starbuck's.
The Starbuck's Gang.
The old Gainesville Post Office.
A scene from the trail.
Along the La Chua Trail.
The first gator we saw.
The second gator we spotted swimming by,
Janet, Queenie and I.
Where we are staying tonight.
My last indoor sleeping spot.
