Cycling Ellen

94 miles today
2763.8 total

There are a lot of elements that make for a challenging ride. Today had many of them. It was an early start (the alarm went off at 5 a.m.), it was basically 90 miles on US 90, the road was usually straight with just a few long gentle ups and downs and there was a constant headwind. The heat was in the 80’s with high humidity levels. We went through several towns: Mossy Head, DeFuniak Springs, Argyle, Ponce De Leon, Bonifay, Chipley, Cottondale, and our destination, Marianna. Most of them consisted of a gas station, at least one church and not much else. The lunch stop was a peanut butter sandwich I made this morning with a bottle of chocolate milk from a gas station.

There was one scenic detour in De Funiak Springs, which was a delightful ride around the lake there. This was a site for Chappaqua, which was an intellectual colony started in New York state and a second site was established here. There were Victorian homes and little cottages around the lake – a nice respite from US 90.

So, at the end of this long ride, I took a refreshing dip in the pool and a shower. In a few minutes, we’ll finally have our state line margarita party that the hotel last night wouldn’t allow in their parking lot. Last night at dinner, Sandra made us all laugh with her tips for re-entry into the “real” world next week. These included such things as not to take our bicycles into our bedrooms (like we do in every motel) and to remember not to pull up a white plastic chair, sit in our driveway and expect dinner to be ready. We have started making plans for our final picnic in St. Augustine and arrangements to ship our bikes home. Hard to believe that a week from today, we’ll be at the Atlantic Ocean!