Day 35 - Friday, December 26

Description: Finished the ride in Crestview Florida after a fast 96 mile ride. I told Carl last night that today's ride would be the toughest one yet. Carl quickly responded that tomorrow is always the toughest one. Oh, and YES, I have crossed into my final state (Florida) and entered the home stretch. Tomorrow, I plan to ride to Chipley Florida which is estimated at 68 miles.

Today was an outstanding day even though the wind gods frowned on us again. We all got up early, packed up, and hit the contentions breakfast in the hotel lobby by 6:30. I had peanut butter and jelly toast, yogurt, a danish, OJ, and coffee. We packed the van and we dispatched Sherpa Kevin to our lunch destination of Milton. The plan was for him to ride back to Pensacola to meet us and then ride back to lunch together. Theresa, Carl, and I rolled down the beautiful white sandy beaches of the Gulf coast including several big bridge crossings that provided outstanding views. There was a very nice bike lane all the way up the coast and through Pensacola. We left Alabama as we rolled through Pleasant Grove and just after the Pensacola Navel Air station. Florida has impressed me thus far as a biker friendly place with bike lanes, bike trails, wide shoulders, and mostly smooth roads. As Theresa and I road past the Navel base, a guy popped out onto the road just ahead of us on a nice racing bike all decked out with riding gear. He never acknowledged us and then put his head down to drop us. This was more than I could stand and after a quick shift to my big gear, I came out of the saddle on the attack (Slow Todd would be proud). I do not take kindly to being dropped plus I just watched Breaking Away last night and my pistons were itching for a fight. I quickly chased this guy down and when he looked in his rear view mirror, he looked shocked that this cross country tourist with a heavy steel bike, racks, and saddle bags has caught him. I got right on his rear wheel to see if he would make another attack. The dude did not even acknowledge my presence and appeared quite put off by my actions. I did not push the issue and pulled back to rejoin Theresa and to chuckle over the excitement. Theresa and I then rode into Pensacola which is celebrating it's 450th anniversary. Did you know this place was America's first settlement? We met Kevin coming from the opposite direction in downtown and stopped for a coffee and slice of ameretto cheesecake at Chrisoula's Cheesecake Shoppe - um um good! Carl was just a few minutes behind us and quickly joined us. Theresa was good and had a small Italian pastry while Carl enjoyed a slice of praline cheesecake. Kevin just had some coffee. Then we all rolled east toward Milton. The rode got very hilly and we rode up to some bluffs overlooking Pensacola Bay with some large beautiful homes. Several of them were also wacky - see my photo album. The area reminded us of Carmel or Malibu and was definitely not the low rent district. We rode through the towns of Riverview and Pace before reaching Milton for lunch after 47 miles. Theresa rode great despite fighting off a cold. We are calling this sickness the Austin Crud. Carl picked it up there before he and I joined up and I got the crud within days. Then Theresa picked it up 4 or 5 days ago. Now it looks like Kevin may be coming down with it - yuk! Anyway, back in Milton there was a Starbuck's next to a Quiznos which was perfect. I started with a dark roast coffee and some oatmeal with fruit which I bought with one of my many gift cards (thank you all who gave me these). Then I walked next door for a 4 meat and cheese sub. It filled the tank for the long afternoon ride. Everyone else had Quiznos subs - um um good. At this point, Sherpa Theresa hung up her riding shoes and blasted off in the van with Eve (the Sherpa dog) to find lodging in Crestview which was nearly 50 miles away. The 3 amigos then took off with the threat of showers looming in the dark skies ahead. We rode past a sign for Bagdad and thought for a minute that we may have missed a turn - big time:-). After Milton, we got on the Blackwater Bike Trail which meandered through a bunch of swamps and the blackwater river basin for 9 miles. This bike trail was very nice and scenic. Kevin and I were feeling very strong today and decided to throw the hammer down and make the day a training ride. We were riding at break neck speeds of 20-22 mph and flew down the smooth trail. We were so heads down that we rode right past our turn and eventually ended up at a Navel base entrance - whoops. We got turned back around by the security guard and eventually got back on the trail. This cost us an extra 7 miles to an already long day. Once again, Kevin put the hammer down and we were on a mission to chase down Carl who we believed was now ahead of us. After about 45 minutes, we spotted Carl ahead of us on a hill and sprinted to catch him. Carl was surprised and said he was trying to catch us. He said we must have ridden around the world to catch him based on our speed. We all took a Snickers break as it started to spit from the sky. I put my rain covers on the Mean Green Machine and then it quit - this is what usually happens. It threatened to rain and had a few light sprinkles all the way in but never really did anything. Kevin and I once again cranked up the speed and cruised through the towns of Holt and Milligan before reaching our hotel in Crestview. Carl was about a half hour behind us as he took his time and took some pictures of several good mushrooms along the way. At our rooms, hydrated, snacked on cheese and crackers, and took showers to prepare for a well deserved dinner. Dinner was awesome as we ate at Earl's Seafood Dinners & Oyster Bar. We feasted on raw and steamed oysters, fried shrimp, cheese grits, hush puppies, and cole slaw. Carl had coconut cream pie and I had key lime pie for desert and both were some of the best we had ever had. I asked if it was home made and our waitress told us they did not have a license to make pie so it was bought. We laughed over this concept and really did not believe her. Then Earl himself came bye our table dressed in his hunting camo outfit. We stopped him and asked about the pie license requirements and he chuckled. We think the bottom line is that they did not have an oven so they just buy them. At any rate, the pies were outstanding! We took pictures and chatted with Earl for a while and enjoyed his fishing and hunting stories. We all had a great evening. Then back to the Hilton Motel (note the motel suffix) to put the Smit's to bed as they both had full days as Sherpas and they were wiped out. As I was writing this blog entry, I looked over at the Mean Green Machine and CRAP, my rear tire was flat (#10 for the trip). I must have run over some trash on the road at the end of my ride. I will change the tube tomorrow after breakfast.

Good night!

Weather: Overcast, windy, warm in the morning. Some periods of sun and then it clouded up with a few sprinkles. The day was very humid - especially in the afternoon. I actually broke a sweat for the first day of my trek.

Performance Metrics:

Miles: 96. Trip: 2,517
Total travel time: 9:00 Trip: 261:30
Bike Riding time: 6:24 Trip: 202:32
Avg speed: 15.00 Trip: 12.72
Max speed: 29.73 Trip: 41.87
Total ascent (ft): 1,693 Trip: 56,693
Avg pedal RPMs: 88 Trip: 86
Avg heart rate: 117 Trip: 110
Max heart rate: 178 Trip: 195
Calories burned: 6,119 Trip: 149,917

Weather Statistics:

High temp 72 Trip: 77
Low temp: 65 Trip: 27
Hours of rain: 0 Trip: 13:30
Hours of snow: 0 Trip: 0
Total days of rain/snow: 3
Wind factor: Against 5-10 mph
Total good wind days: 11
Total bad wind days: 23

Misc. Stats:

Flat tires: 1 Trip: 10
Mechanical failures: 0
Hotel or camping today: hotel - Hilton Motel
Total hotel nights: 33
Total camping nights: 2
Cups of coffee: 4 Trip: 110
Pints: 3 Trip: 65

Mood rating (1-10): 10 - a great long ride today with awesome scenery and roads. Theresa, Kevin, and Carl also had a great time and all rode very strong.