Saturday September 6, 2015

Madison, FL -> Tallahassee: 60 miles

Average speed: 12mph

Time on bikes: 5.09hrs 

We ended up not camping outside the fire station in Madison. We were in our tent about to go to sleep and a fireman came outside and said that we should sleep in the front office because a bad storm was coming. That was super nice of him & we had to pack up everything we had just unpacked so it wouldn’t get wet.  Lets just say we slept very well all thanks to the Madison Fire Department.

The day pretty much consisted of pedaling. Just keep rollin, rollin, rollin. We stopped by a farmers market and got scuppernongs, peaches, & a banana and it was so delicious!!  The peaches were amazing.  For a snack we usually just eat cashews,  a granola bar, or beef jerky that our friend Trey made for us (thanks Trey!!).  But it was nice having delicious juicy fruit for a change J I think the only other place where we stopped was a dock that I saw people fishing off of. It was so pretty I wanted to take a photo break.  See below J

Then we finally got to Tallahassee…whew!! I did not know that there were hills in this part of Florida, or in Florida in general.  With that being said I will probably not be biking through Tallahassee again. That city is one giant hill.  We happened to be biking into the city the same day there was a big football game so (Joe is now writing the rest of this post) that was fun! We ended up tailgating with my friend Jason Cook’s friends that he got us in touch with. As we were waiting to meet up we met some other locals that we had some food and drinks with as well. The entire tailgating experience was pretty fun. A storm started coming up on us pretty quick so we rushed out of the stadium area a bit abruptly to find the warm showers place we were staying. We found it just before the rain and the hosts were more than welcoming. The guys were all avid cyclists and have done and were planning their own bike tours. Also college students at FSU and worked at local bike shops as well as did bike delivery for Jimmy Johns subs. They made us a delicious dinner as well, home made mac and cheese and steamed broccoli. Exactly what we needed! One of them was working that night doing deliveries from 11-4:30AM! Cycling! So he was extremely generous and let Devon and I sleep in his bed. He figured we would be up only an hour after he got home any way. He was correct. 5:30 AM our day started again.

A Joe & Devon

Itchetucknee -> Madison, FL: 74.18 miles
Average speed: 12 mph
Time on bike: 6hrs 9 min

We woke up at 5:30 am and got on the road by 7:00. Being the first night camping we are still perfecting our pack up efficiency. We knew we had a long day ahead so we wanted to get moving before it got hot. The first stop was in Wellborn and the main priority was to make a stop at the post office to unload some inevitably unnecessary items. We got rid of a pound or two! Now we're ready for some hill climbing. Florida is surprisingly hilly. The day went really smoothly and pretty easy excepting the final 12 miles or so. It was really hot by then and we were ready to be off the bikes. Our legs are getting back in shape and aren't really sore anymore. The butt and shoulders haven't caught up yet. A few more days and I bet 75 miles won't be nearly as bad. When we got into town (Madison, Fl) we stopped by the local fire station and scored a free place to camp and shower! Booyah! The guys at the fire station were more then welcoming. We had coffee and afternoon snacks at a great coffee shop. The owners we really friendly! Maybe we will have to get a late start and fuel up! Tallahassee tomorrow!

Great lunch spot! 

Great coffee shop & great people! Madison Coffee Co. Madison, FL (check them out on Facebook)

Thursday September 3, 2015

Gainsville, FL -> Itchetucknee: 48.5 miles

Average speed: 12mph

Time on bikes: ~5hrs (we’re not too sure)

So, Joe and I have this planned out pretty well.  Our timeline is to bike through Florida -> Texas around end of summer/fall. Then be biking through the southwest region just before winter so we don’t hit the mountain passes in snow.  BUT no one told us that it would be hot in Florida now. Just kidding…but seriously its HOT.

Today we started slow, once again, but started with a delicious breakfast from Martha & Tom! Martha had to escort us through their driveway/bike trail through the woods. We mailed some stuff to us this morning using general delivery. General delivery will save us this trip- it’s a service where you can send mail to anyone to be picked up at a post office.  We also gave the bikes a quick tune up (topped off the tire pressure, oil chains). We met some nice men at Starbucks that told us we HAD to stay at the springs, so we decided to cut our day short 20 miles (thank YOU J)  

On the way to the springs we had lunch at a local diner then stopped by a sinkhole that was pretty cool…I didn’t know that was something that people wanted to go look at. It was definitely beautiful though.  We got to the springs and the water was crystal blue!  We were so excited to go swimming, but the water was freeeeezing. Like ice water…realistically 72°.  It was awesome though & we met more nice people of course.

We ended up camping for our first night at a campground across the street from the springs (in Ichetucknee).  Sadly, we weren’t allowed to camp right next to the springs.  Tomorrow we shoot for Madison, FL.

Thanks for checking in J - Devon

Palatka -> Gainesville, FL: 55.49 miles
Average speed: 12mph
Time on bikes: 4hr 49 min

Today was beautiful!! We we’re mainly biking on paths through the woods and only got a little rain. We met a cool guy, Bill, who we talked and biked with for a while. It’s amazing how many people you meet when you’re traveling on a bicycle. Also really funny seeing people’s faces when we say we are headed to Vancouver…& we are only in Florida.

Anyways…just for a little insight, Joe and I are ready to camp everyday. We have our tent, sleeping bags, cookware…etc. However, there is this awesome thing called Warm Showers where cyclists offer their home for the night and tonight we have a place to stay! You can’t find Warm Showers everywhere, but tonight we have A/C, dinner, and great hosts! Tom and Martha just outside of Gainesville were nice enough to have us stay for the night. They have a beautiful house that is tucked away in the woods and a bike path very close by! Martha actually bikes to work everyday, which I think is just awesome. They cooked an awesome squash casserole dinner and we chatted about all the cyclists that they have had come stay at their house :) & now the alarm is set for 5:30am! Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings

St. Augustine -> Palatka, FL : 51 miles

We attempted to leave St. Augustine early in the morning, but of course we had to say our goodbye's to Joe's mom and dad. We also decided to add several miles to our morning and bike to the beach and dip our tires in the Atlantic Ocean! The day overall was quite hot, as expected, but it made for a slow going first day. We both need to get our touring legs back in shape.

We made it to Palatka for the night and ended up stopping at the local fire station to ask for good places to camp in town. The Fire Marshal, Mark offered for us to camp in his back yard. Mark and Jill, his wife, ended up being the nicest and most generous people ever! They gave us showers, a camper to sleep in, beer, and they fed us dinner! It was more than we could of ever hoped for. Thank you soooo much!!!

This will be my 2nd tour & Joe's 3rd. Last year we biked from Charleston, SC to Key West, FL. That was my first time ever doing something like that and I loved it! You meet so many people and see things that you would never see when driving by in a car. So we decided to do another one! September 1st is when were heading out! So stoked!!! This is our plan so far & it could extend back to Maine.

We're getting all of our gear ready. It's a TON to think about and looking at our long packing list you would never think all of that could fit on 2 bikes. BUT it can and every ounce counts. You have to start packing this early so you don't miss anything.