Day 49 - Tallahassee, FL to Live Oak, FL

77.1 miles today
2,583.1 total trip miles
13.8 mph average
2,158’ climbing
FF - 7
MP - Deacon Steve Przedpelski - I first got to know Steve as he mentored some of my daughters during high school.  We have since worked & prayed together on a variety of projects including Youth Outreach Trips & with the Franciscan Peacemakers ministry.  He truly models what it means to serve God by serving others.  I always look forward to his phone calls when he says “Jim, I have an idea”.

This is the first time I have started out a blog post with a picture & this T-Shirt says it all.  Bubba had these made up special for us & gave each rider one last night.  It will recall strong memories for each of on this journey.  The only problem is that he had it made a few days too early because this morning we had to delay our departure from Tallahassee because of tornado warnings.  Each coaster was given the option of riding or just getting moved forward in a vehicle.  If you decided to ride, the rule was you couldn’t start until 10 AM when the tornado warnings expired & it was expected that you would still be riding in the rain.  Daughter Laurie & I went to breakfast at a nearby Waffle House about 7 AM since she, her husband Keith and grandson Luka were staying at the same hotel we are at.  There was no tornado, but there was a heavy thunderstorm with strong winds.  I decided to ride because I had rain gear.  The bigger challenge was getting 77 miles in before dark.  Bubba set up rules - if you weren’t at the 2nd SAG stop by 2:30 PM, you had to take a vehicle ride in.  You also had to be at the 3rd SAG stop by 4:30 PM.

  

For me, the times weren’t as big a problem as the road conditions.  The storm had created a lot of branch & leaf debris, especially on the shoulder.  The surface was wet so I worried about it being slippery.  I purposely went slower than normal & didn’t take much time at the SAG stops.  The big Waffle House breakfast helped me not get too hungry.  Rain?  No, didn’t have much at all.  I started out with my rain gear on, but I get really warm in that costume, so after about 30 minutes I took it off. When I reached the last SAG stop, I went into the bathroom, got some water & a candy bar.  As I was eating that, the rain came down heavy.  So I got out the rain gear & put it on for the last 20 miles.  Almost as soon as I got back on the road, the rain stopped.  But by the time I reached  our destination, I was soaking wet from sweat.

Tonight one of our riders sent me some pictures she took when I was riding.  I can’t take a picture like this myself, but I thought you might be interested.

That blue tube you see going to my mouth is how I keep hydrated.  I have a big bottle mounted to the front boom of my bike & any time I want a drink, the blue tube goes in my mouth.  Works great for me, but most riders just use a smaller bottle that they remove from a cage to drink. 

We went through Greenville, FL which is the boyhood home of Ray Charles.  Here is a picture of me with his bronze statue in the local park.

I just realized that every picture today has me in it!  That usually isn't easy to do because I have to have someone else take the pictures.

WDYLT - ILT the weather forecast for the rest of our journey is sunshine and warm!  We all look forward to that, and kind of think we deserve it.