Day 39 - Tuesday, December 30

Description: Finished the 62 mile ride in Live Oak Florida. Tomorrow will be an 80 mile ride to Gainesville for New Year's Eve!

I woke up around 6:30 this morning in the Blue Room of our B&B and was moving VERY slow ( I am sure it had nothing to do with the amount of wine I had last night). Breakfast at the John Denham House B&B was served around 7:15 and it was stellar. It started with hazel nut coffee with fresh cream. Then we were seated and treated to the best Florida citrus juice I have ever had. It was loaded with pulp and chunks of tangerines, oranges, grapefruit, and pineapple. Pat (the inn keeper) said you can either drink it or eat it with a spoon. I had 2 large glasses - um um good. Then Pat brought out homemade pecan waffles with warm syrup and fresh cream butter. I ask her if the butter was low fat and she just smiled. Then out came scrambled eggs made with cream cheese (outstanding) plus sausage links purchased from a local farm. The waffles were huge and Pat challenged me to eat 2 or more the night before. I ended up only eating one and a half (Theresa's) plus everything else. This was clearly the best breakfast of the entire trip. During breakfast, we met another couple who were from Charlottesville Virginia which is just down the road from where I went to high school in Staunton. They had property in Highland County and drove through Staunton often. They also have a son who is going to start attending NC State in January. To really make this tie together, the guy lived in Cary in the late 60s and went to Broughton high school in Raleigh. Small world - ehh? After breakfast, I was really moving slow and everyone was waiting on me. Sherpa Kevin decided to drive forward all the way to our final destination in Live Oak and ride back to our lunch target of Madison. I finally got my Sh#* collected and we started riding at 9:00. Some of my spot followers thought something was wrong. Once rolling, it was real chilly which we were not prepared for as we all had shorts on. Once moving, we generated some heat and the temps warmed up to yield a spectacular day for riding. Carl was still under the weather but stepped up big time again with a great ride considering how he felt. Kevin is still fighting the Austin crud and Theresa was sore and a bit tired. I was feeling great and was starting to wonder if my friends will make it to St. Augustine. We ended up riding on rt 90 all day (again) which is very smooth with a great shoulder. There were some rolling hills which flattened out as the day wore on. We rode 30 miles to the beautiful and historic town of Madison. They had a really old and cool courthouse which I took several pictures of. Kevin caught up with us in Madison and we all had lunch at a Subway. I had a sub, bowl of soup, and a cookie. Then I drank one of those 5-hour energy shots that my sister Holly gave me in my surprise stocking that Jae made for me. I was jacked up all afternoon. When we were done lunch, I rounded up Wilson and Spot and loaded them up on the Mean Green Machine for an afternoon cruise of 30 miles. Kevin, Theresa, and I broke away and rode in a tight pace line at speeds over 20 mph at times. Kevin was like a big locomotive with me tucked tight on his wheel and Theresa right behind me. We looked like a break away group in The Tour De France. We stopped briefly at the historic Suwannee river for pictures and to check out the sights. As I was shoving off, Wilson decided to attempt an escape. He jumped off my bike and bounced toward the river. Kevin leaped quickly and caught him just in time. Wilson was scolded and told to stop balling like a baby on the back of my bike. He was told that the trip is just about over. Back on the bikes again, Kevin put the hammer down and it was all we could do to keep in his slipstream. Then we had an interesting challenge thrust upon us. There was a large peanut farm with big irrigation sprinklers - the kind that spray back and forth and are on big wheels. One of them was real close to the road and we had to carefully time our speed to get past the farm without getting soaked by the spinning sprinkler. We JUST made it through dry and then celebrated with high fives. On we went in a tight formation that the Blue Angles wished they could hold. Then uh ohhh. Kevin swerved quickly to the left and pointed down on the shoulder at an 8 foot blue plastic electrical conduit that was in our path. I swerved as well and pointed down. Poor Theresa was not ready for this as it appears that she was up close to my rear wheel trying to read the signatures on Wilson and was consoling him after the stern message he just got from me. BLAAM, screech, bang, CRAP. Theresa's front wheel touched my rear wheel and she went down hard. Kevin and I heard a loud scream as the bike slammed down on the pavement ejecting Theresa off into the grassy shoulder. She hit and rolled to a stop as the bike lay out in the road. Kevin saw this all unfold through his rear view mirror in horror. I slammed on the breaks and quickly circled back to her. While quickly riding back, I asked her if she was OK. She bounced up and was worried about her bike. I scooped her bike with my right hand (I was glad it was a 15 lb carbon fiber bike) like Superman scooped up Louis Lane from an oncoming locomotive before it got hit by passing cars and then stopped in the grass to check on Theresa. Kevin was right on my heels. Theresa landed on her shoulder and fore-arm and did a perfect Stop, Drop, and Roll. She did hit her head and broke the mirror off her helmet. This was a perfect example why every cyclist should wear a helmet! Theresa had a few scratches and brush burns on her arm and a nasty bruise on her ankle where the pedal likely hit her during the hasty ejection. The bike's seat was damaged and amazingly, that was about it. To everyone's surprise, Theresa wanted to get back on the bike and finish the final 10 miles of the ride. Due to the seat damage, she had a lopsided ride back to home base. Kevin and I just shook our heads and rolled on. We decided to be nice so we backed the pace down to 17-18 mph for the final stretch. Once we checked into the Best Western in Live Oak, Kevin and I performed surgery on Theresa's bike seat and successfully made it usable and it only took one beer with minimal cussing and screaming. Theresa was a little sore from the fall but insists she is doing fine. If this type of crash happened to Kevin, he would be in the hospital or at a minimum, would be miserable to be around. Now I understand why Theresa wears the pants in their family. Carl came rolling in a half hour later and was glad to get off his bike. Even with the crash, we all agreed it was an amazing day to be on a bike! Dinner tonight was another Chinese buffet. I had my typical 4 heaping plates plus soup and ice cream and a cream puff.

Good night!

Weather: Very chilly (low 40s) early on and then it warmed up into the low 60s with low humidity and Carolina blue skies. There was no wind early and we actually caught a little tail wind late in the ride. Maybe the wind gods just want me to finish so they can pick on somebody else.

Performance Metrics:

Miles: 62 Trip: 2,794
Total travel time: 6:30 Trip: 292:30
Bike Riding time: 3:51 Trip: 225:33
Avg speed: 15.35 Trip: 12.80
Max speed: 24.83 Trip: 41.87
Total ascent (ft): 631 Trip: 61,282
Avg pedal RPMs: 74 Trip: 85
Avg heart rate: 96 Trip: 108
Max heart rate: 152 Trip: 195
Calories burned: 3,867 Trip: 168,271

Weather Statistics:

High temp: 64 Trip: 77
Low temp: 42 Trip: 27
Hours of rain: 0 Trip: 13:30
Hours of snow: 0 Trip: 0
Total days of rain/snow: 3
Wind factor: Favorable
Total good wind days: 13
Total bad wind days: 25

Misc. Stats:

Flat tires: 0 Trip: 11
Mechanical failures: 0
Hotel or camping today: hotel - Best Western
Total hotel nights: 37
Total camping nights: 2
Cups of coffee: 3 Trip: 119
Pints: 2 Trip: 75

Mood rating (1-10): 10 - I can smell the barn. Only 188 miles left. Having a blast with my sick and tired friends and Theresa.

OK ESN:0-7458562

This is Steve and I am checking in to let everyone know that I have finished my ride for the day safe and sound.
ESN:0-7458562
Latitude:30.3264
Longitude:-82.9674
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:12/30/2008 12:54:42 (US/Pacific)
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=30.3264,-82.9674&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Lunch in Madison FL

Brrrrrrr - A Cold Start

It was in the low 30s this morning when we rolled out of our B&B after a BIG breakfast. I was moving very slow today and we did not get riding until after 9.

We are in Florida - right? So what is up with this cold morning stuff.... It has rebounded and now is beautiful and warm like it is supposed to be.

Gotta roll...

Steve and Wilson - from Greenville FL