Saturday, April 15 - Madison, FL to Alachua, FL

 Madison to Alachua, Florida.  83 miles and the last of the 80+ mile days.  Two more days and the Southern Tier Cross Country Ride will be finished.  It was a hot day today.  The hottest of the trip, near 90 degrees.  The morning brought a surprise where Shelly and I had visitors from Florida Bike Safari, which is beginning right now.  We knew these folks from previous rides together.  It was nice to see each other.  We then followed the route through pretty flat country with lots of fields, cows and flowers.   It was nice not to climb as much as the previous few days.  The heat came in the afternoon, and it was the first day I used both water bottles between rest stops.  I like warm days, but it was different.  It also was the first day since New Mexico that we didn’t have a headwind to fight.  Simple things that make us happy. We ended the day in Alachua, Florida, meeting my family there for the first time in 6 weeks and going for supper and afterwards ice cream.  A good day and a good evening.

Friday, April 14 -Midway, Fl to Madison, FL

 Midway to Madison, Florida.  Another 77 miles toward our goal, St Augustine.  We rode through Tallahassee to start the morning and rode through the campus of Florida State University. Saw their giant football stadium and student housing.  Then as we headed east, we rode through tunnels of live oak trees with sphagnum moss hanging down and giant plantation homes that looked to be antebellum.  Most of the day followed with small quaint towns.  We had lunch at mile 57 at a park in Greenville, FL which was the home of Ray Charles.  We took some pictures with his bronze statue in the park.  We ended the ride at DQ where Shelley would visit every night if given the chance. We all followed her today without having our arm twisted.  It was a hot day.

Thursday, April 13 - Chipley, FL to Midway, FL

 Chipley to Midway, Florida.  77 miles and I think it is midway across the state.  4 more days to go, yay!!  Today was a a much harder day than advertised.  It goes to show that this is a mental endeavor more than physical.  I think I let down from having done the century ride yesterday.  It was hard to get my mind into it today.  We did take a 1/2-mile detour at mile 49 to nab the Georgia state line sign.  I know it doesn’t make any sense but when you are that close you want to say you did it, ha. We crossed the Chattahoochee River and we all started singing the Alan Jackson song later.  We have seen lots of swamps but no alligators.  But I doubt they would be out and about, but we all look.  Pizza finished off the evening when we got in and now it’s time to go to bed and start again tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 12 - Ft Walton Beach, FL to Chipley, FL

 Ft Walton Beach to Chipley Florida.  Today we left the Gulf area and headed East.  It was our last opportunity (or maybe we are gluttons for punishment) to do 100 miles.  It was either 86 or 100, so not that very much difference.  We rode by Elgin Air Force Base in the morning and there were many airplanes out front with historical significance through the various wars.  I could have spent several hours looking, but we had to get going.  I included just a few below.  Today the terrain was rolling but not too bad, but it was gray with another day of headwinds.  We only have 5 days left and tomorrow is more of the same.