The last big hurdle has been cleared.  Crossing the USA on a bike is like running a gauntlet. You have to make it over the mountains, through the desert, across the chip seal of Texas, dodge the crappy roads of Louisiana, over the terrifying bridge to Dauphin Island, through the over-developed parts of Florida, and then those 4 exhausting days in a row of long mileage and Florida hill country!  Check it all off — we expect clear sailing for the next two days, and right into the Atlantic Ocean!

What a day, what a ride!  We ride with SAG team members Rose, Murph and Hans for the first 18 miles.

Start city: Live Oak, FL
End city: Gainesville, FL
Miles: 81
Total miles to date: 2836…less than 100 to go!
Miles in Florida: 410
Pedaling time: 5 hours, 6 minutes
Avg. speed: 15.8 mph
Feet climbed: 1300
Fatigue factor: 7 out of 10
Wind: SE 5 mph, a cooling breeze
Road condition: 5 out of 5
Temperature extremes: 60 at ride start, 86 at ride finish
Florida: Home of the “hanging chad” during the 2000 election

The ride gets even prettier during the next segment.

Live oak canopies provide excellent shade.

And puffy clouds too!

A visit to High Springs brings back memories of Spring Breaks with our son, Elliott.  And to continue our blast from the past we have lunch at the The High Springs Diner.

With less than two miles left in the ride, a big while SUV pulls up along side of us, opens the windows to talk to us and take our picture.

It turns out that (tandem) friends  Jane and Dave from Atlanta, who happen to be in Florida have been “stalking” our progress on our tracking bug, and figured out that they were very close by. They intercept our route and give us a big surprise!

Tomorrow: As Grammy Boots says, “the fat lady isn’t singing, but she’s in rehearsal.”

Be like Jane and Dave. You can follow us as we approach the Atlantic Ocean: www.tinyurl.com/rogerandeve