Day 48: Madison, Florida

We are in Madison...Florida.

Ah, short day today after sleeping in (6:30 AM) and a leisurely breakfast after a lovely night in a hotel.  We had about 47 miles to bike.  The weather was clear and would reach the mid 80s.

We rode with Udi and Ken.  Judy rode with her friend Bill and our staff person Rose today.  It was a nice ride, though Lisa had tire issues (rubbing on the frame) and a chain that jammed, but minor problems.  Jeff is changing the tire back tonight from the Schwalbe Marathons back to the narrower and lighter tire. (Side note:  Jeff found a wire in his tire, so ended up changing his as well).


The first SAG was at Tupelo's Bakery in Monticello.  Great food and an interesting shop with unique items.  They also have lots of dog items and obviously their logo has a dog.  We liked them right away!  Here is a little bit about the history of Tupelo the dog and the way they continue to honor his memory:  http://tupelosbakery.com/Advocacy.html

Our overnight is in Madison, FL, (we hold a special fondness for anything named Madison!) and we are staying in the fitness center at the local community college.  The Madison County Courthouse is located here and it was 100 years old in 2014.  It was the 4th courthouse built in Madison County, the other 3 having burned down in the past.  This courthouse is the only one in Florida that has never been added to or expanded.

On our way to Madison, we stop in Greenville, the boyhood home of Ray Charles.  We have a guest speaker tonight, whom we met in 2013, an amazing woman who grew up with Ray (or RC, as he was called then, and how she refers to him to this day).  We will write more about Miss Pritchard tomorrow. 

We also stopped by a beautiful area on the Miccosukee River.  It was extremely picturesque! Probably took the most pics there at any one place on the entire trip.  Guest speaker tonight is one of our favorite.  More on that tomorrow!

Day 47: Tallahassee, Florida

Seventy-five difficult miles to and through the city of Tallahassee, Florida.  If anyone mentions that there are no hills in Florida, they need to visit Tallahassee and Pensacola.  The hills were not long, but they were steep.

Jeff took off early and was probably at the hotel by 12:30.  Lisa started riding with our usual group, but after the first SAG, about 10:30 ET, broke off to ride on her own--that was not really the intention, but was hoping to find other riders along the way to ride with; unfortunately, that did not happen, so she rode by herself.  She was trying to get to the hotel by 3:00 for the interview linked below.  She recorded the highest average speed of the entire trip and was doing good for time...until those aforementioned hills and traffic lights in Tallahassee, not to mention the Florida heat (we started out in jackets with temps in the mid 50s). There were a ton of turns in Tallahassee, and unfortunately, the Garmin locked up, so she had to rely on the arrows put down on the ground by Ed and Joyce (bless you both!).  That and the route sheet in hand kept her on course.  No wrong turns anywhere, and thank God for no flats (she actually prayed for this very thing, so thank God, indeed!).  She arrived at the hotel at 2:50, and we got the call from Michelle Li, reporter from WISC-TV 3 in Madison, WI, at 3:30.  Whew!  Just enough time to down a diet Coke and freshen up the helmet hair in time to be on the air, though I think I looked visibly tired. We are grateful for the added publicity for Pedal 4 Paws and Custom Canines.

Thanks to Verizon, we were able to conduct a short interview.

Verizon sponsored us by donating an in-kind donation of a Sony tablet, Samsung Note 4 smartphone, both with hotspots and unlimited data for these 2 months of the trip.  It has all proved invaluable, not only to us, but to several fellow riders who used the hotspot to reach loved ones at home when no WiFi was available in the remote areas we were in.  However, have to say that Verizon had the most extensive and available network connections as opposed to their competitors.

Milestone:  Entered the Eastern Time Zone.  We gained an hour coming over the middle of the Chattahoochee River.

By the way, Lisa says it is not her favorite to ride alone.  She found herself singing songs from Bruce Springsteen ("Living Proof,"  "Thunder Road"), Stevie Nicks ("Landslide"), Garth Brooks ("Baton Rouge") just to pass the time and hear anything but the sound of traffic and the bike wheels.  It makes us again realize how nice it is to have a group to ride with and how much we help each other get through those miles each day.

Dam on the Chattahoochee

Day 46: Marianna, Florida

We spent last evening before dinner having Chandler and  Murph supervise Jeff putting on new chains on both our bikes.  Worked like a charm for Lisa.  Jeff's chain is skipping in the middle gears, most often used, of the cassette - just waiting for the chain to stretch.

After a home-cooked meal prepared by the residents of the RV park, which included a whole plate of homemade cookies for each table, we walked over to the fire pit for entertainment.

Sunrise in Defuniak Springs

After the entertainment, our air mattress went flat. It was about 1:15 am when I was struggling to get a fully inflated queen mattress through the door of the tent.  The tent crew blows up a couple extra mattresses every night and leaves them in an empty tent, so Jeff went and found a double size and we put it on top of our deflated one, so we were able to sleep.




 The route to Marianna, Florida was 68 scheduled miles with a one mile change/addition due to road construction before we began.  The weather was perfect.  I believe this was the first day without the threat of rain.  The sun accompanied us the entire way.

Ken joined us back today; he was the one who had to visit the eye doctor for a tear in his eye which was giving him flashing lights in his eyes.  The laser treatment seemed to work.  He was able to ride all 68 miles without issue and without making it worse. Before we got out of town, Jeff was called into service to replace Gail's chain that had broken and fallen off her bike.  Good thing she was carrying a spare chain.

Jeff and I took the opportunity to visit Partners for Pets (Marianna, FL) no-kill shelter in Marianna, which added 8 miles to our route, but well worth it.  We dropped off a donation and met a bunch of cute dogs, small and large.  We played with a couple puppies that had just been dropped off and a three year old yellow lab mix named, Trapper. Trapper had been tied to a pole and was nearly starved to death when someone brought him to Partners.  He is looking better now, but still needs some weight.  He took a shine to Jeff.  We thought maybe some time out of his cage would make him happy; unfortunately, he would not go back in.  The manager had to come out and pick him up.  She said he is in a cage with a roof because he tends to climb up and out of anything else.  Still no reason to leave him to starve to death. All the dogs have rescue stories more sad than the next.  A pup had many scars on him because he had fleas so bad he was itching himself to open sores and someone finally alerted these kind people to rescue him.  Two tiny pups were dropped off just minutes before we arrived, found in a crate on by the highway.  Spay and neuter programs are nonexistent.  It is a vicious cycle, but people need to be educated on how to treat a living, breathing animal humanely.  It happens everywhere, not just here.

Luckily these dogs have a better fate than those shipped out of the county - they will survive the week.  Unfortunately, more dogs are being sent to a shelter out of the county because Partners for Pets are overloaded and has no more vacancies, but it hard for them to turn anyone away.

Two years ago, while we are at the camp we are tonight, Arrowhead in Marianna, FL, a man dropped off a puppy with the tent crew and drove away.  Someone directed Bubba to Partners for Pets (facebook), a no-kill non-profit shelter here in Marianna.  We have followed them on Facebook ever since.  By the way, Debbie at Partners for Pets says the pup, Coaster, was adopted to a wonderful family and they love the dog.

Milestone:  Just one more night tonight in the tents, and then we say good-bye to them for this trip.

Day 45: Funiak Springs, Florida

Jeff noticed a flat before breakfast.  He changed it during breakfast and ate while others were departing. Bags were taken away before he was able to retrieve his rain jacket and wallet.

We had a guest rider on our little team today; Bill, who had done most of the 2014 C2C but had to leave, unfortunately, because his wife was in a car accident.  His wife has since recovered, and he wanted to finish what he started a year ago, so he is back.  He had a rough start yesterday, 4 flats and a crash requiring a trip for the bike to the bike shop for repairs, but he rode today without a problem and his shoulder feeling much improved.  Udi's wheel seems to be fixed.

Our camp dog, Cocoa Bean, is always our best greeter, so we like to snuggle her up whenever we get a chance.

We had a short mileage day of 54 miles.  Nice and cool with lots of cloud cover and a good tail wind for parts of the route made it a very pleasurable day.  Great BBQ for lunch in Niceville.

On the way to the first SAG stop we visited the "Animal Tree".  It is deteriorating, but was still a nice reminder from our 2013 ride. 

Another nice reminder was our camp site at Sunset King RV Park in DeFuniak Springs, FL.  The residents here make us a feast for dinner (tonight pork chops, baked potatoes, green beans, fresh rolls and topped off with a huge plate of homemade cookies).  They will make us another feast for breakfast tomorrow.  They also gave all the ladies handmade quilted purses in a biking-themed fabric.

The annual treat here is also live entertainment by a country singer.  I am amazed by how many country songs I actually know.  It is always a lot of fun as we sit outside around the campfire listening to the country western music.  Of course, an even more special treat is Chandler Otis singing "Bad to the Bone..." "bbbb-bad, bbbbb-bad..."  Love it.  Then there is the singalong of Bubba's motto, Live Like You Were Dying".  Enough said.

Our thoughts tonight are with our fellow rider, Woody, who went home a few days ago with loss of sight in one eye that we were all hoping was temporary.  Word came back today that it looks like it will likely be permanent.  This man has biked over 400,000 miles in his life and been cross country 9 times.  He is really an incredible inspiration.  My thought is this will likely side line him temporarily and then he will be back on his bike again.  We are also thinking about our riding mate who also had to see an eye doctor today.  I will not put his name in here just yet.  I will get permission from the source first. 

Day 44: Milton, Florida

We were awakened by the sound of thunder and rain pounding the tent as lightening illuminated our tent.  This is not the way to start any day, but especially not a day with 85 scheduled miles on bicycle.  The journey began with a 45 minute ferry ride across Mobile Bay from Fort Gaines to Fort Morgan.


We assembled to board the ferry just as the skies opened up and drenched everything in sight.  Bruce1 dropped his phone into the bay as an unintentional sacrifice to Poseidon.  It worked and the rains subsided for the ferry ride and stayed away for the remainder of the day.  As we approached the starting point for the bicycle leg of the journey, we were greeted by a group of Pelicans, a pod.

We didn't start pedaling toward our destination, 85 miles away,  until 9am.

About twelve mile in, Udi broke a spoke on his front wheel, an unconventional spoke.  Most of the group continued on to the first rest stop. Twenty minutes were spent trying to fix the problem before the mechanic decided to give us another front wheel to use and get us on our way.  He would fix the wheel later in the day.

The group was only back together for a short time before Jeff took off down the boardwalks.  He eventually rejoined the group, only to sprint by and tell Lisa, that he would meet her in Florida which was eight miles up the road.



 Milestone:  We entered our eighth and final state, Florida  -  only 8 days left

Some time after noon a big yellow ball appeared in the sky.  People reported that it was the sun.

It was a long ride and a late arrival. The group arrived home at about 5:30.

 

Pedal 4 Paws Sponsors #8 (with Cooper)

Day 43: Rest Day #7 - Dauphin Island

Rain in the morning

A few miles on the bike.

Snowball in the afternoon