St. Augustine, The End of Our Journey

Tailwinds blowing us to the beach here on the other end of the route. My odometer reads 3150 miles. The panhandle of Florida surprised the both of us. Very bike-friendly roads, trails, clean shoulders and very little in the way of rough pavement, in fact we went off route and stumbled onto a great new bike path for at least 10 of the last 40 miles. Sunny and warm, light winds, time to get working on breaking down our gear for shipping.
Overall, we are ready for a break, yet we know as time goes on and we have time to reflect, the trip has taught us a lot and both of us are very fortunate. We know. I hope the blog wasn't too painful to read, thanks for all the great comments and support from friends and family, see you soon.
Happy Trails!

Reflections

Josh and I are at our final camp on The Southern Tier route outside of East Palatka, Florida. Another wonderful day riding from Gainesville to here on some awesome dedicated bike rails to trails, and smooth roads with wide and clean shoulders. Our last day of riding is tomorrow and is only about 40 miles. We plan on staying one night in St. Augustine to pack up and ship our bikes and gear. That should be 53 total days including rest days I think. We have been pleased with our execution of the ride, certainly a culmination of putting together a lot of our outdoor experiences over the years. In fact, looking back, we had zero mechanical issues with our gear that caused any more than an hour of problem-solving. That's rewarding for Josh and I as we are rolling on 1980's bikes with upgraded wheels, etc. Still, we are pleased to use our collective experiences to have a success rather than throwing tons of money into gear.
More reflections tomorrow!

Less Than 100 miles to Go

In Gainesville, Florida after coasting downwind for an easy 73 mile day. No kidding, it was actually easy because the terrain was flat, the roads smooth as silk, no humidity, temperatures in the 70's, and a strong tailwind. Don't get too many days like today.
Anyway, safe travels to our friends we left this morning (Chuck, Bob, Harry) as they head west on the Southern Tier. The trio are an inspiration not only because they are doing the trip but also because of the vitality they are showing at their ages. This trip was not a beginner trip! Good luck men! And we are also finishing the trip with another retired long-distance cyclist, Jim, from Northern Georgia who soloed the route with a BOB trailer.

Way Down Upon The Suwanee River!

Yes, we are in Suwanee River country, where the song originated from. Amazing riding today after the lightning scare yesterday. Big tailwinds pushing us eastward to White Springs, Florida. This is the HQ of the Suwanee Bicycling Association, where we ended up meeting Bob, Harry and Chuck, great guys starting off on their own Southern Tier adventure westward. We were treated with a place to stay, food, beverages and great company.
The temperatures have cooled off considerably and the next several days are forecasted to be sunny!

Yikes! Lightning!

We shoved off pedaling easily out of Tallahassee on a great bike trail, especially after packing in the calories at Waffle House, home to the All Star Breakfast. We knew we were racing a line of severe thunderstorms to a KOA camp, sorry, Kamp, about 50 miles. Well, we basically beat the storms. And just after we got under a shelter, a line of lightning/thunder came rolling in, with a bolt striking a medium-sized tree about 50' away. We saw the bolt hit the tree, then send splinters of wood out, while we huddled in "lightning-safety" position. We both agreed it was our closest encounter with a lightning strike.

Tallahassee

We have landed in Tallahassee. Great city, met some guys who run "The Bicycle House", very similar to Aggie Blue Bikes at USU. Anyway, a very bike -friendly city and even with the traffic, we saw many cyclists.

New and Final Time Zone

We are officially in the Eastern Time Zone. That's 4 time zones we have crossed. The panhandle of Florida is pretty nice riding, small rolling hills, swamps, pine forests, and small towns every 15 miles. Been seeing a lot of cool road kill snakes. We are camping tonight in Georgia next to Lake Seminole. Didn't know we were going to get to Georgia!

Still dodging rain storms, got a little wet last night at camp, nothing compared to what it could really be like I am sure!