We got dropped off by my lovely mother at 8:00 a.m. in Hastings so that we could start Day 2 where we'd left off at Day 1. The thermostat read 39 degrees as we started the ride this morning and sure as shit it felt like it.... Somehow with her masterful finagling Marty was able to get her name as a contributor on this site and she posted a picture from the morning.... (Disclaimer: I do not, let me repeat, I do not condone the actions taken by my mother as it pertains to this site... Even though her first post was pretty good.)
After about the first hour it started to warm up and our hands began to get the feeling back in them and the morning proceeded quiet well... Except for one minor exception.. While riding down Route 100 from Palatka we encounted the first "Narrow Bridge" sign that was promptly followed by rumble strip after rumble strip in the bike lane!!!!! until the bridge finally was upon us and then and only then would it cease. That is until the next "Narrow Bridge" sign came. We hit about 4-5 in a 10 mile section...
But, besides that the ride was smooth and easy and we got to Melrose (our 40 mile mark for the day) to eat lunch at Betty's Pizza (pics already posted above). We got the pleasure of meeting the wonderful lady who served us and we were pretty sure that she was actually THE Betty but, we can't guarantee that because we were too chicken to ask....
We thought we were on an adventure but she sure was on an adventure of her own.. She told us that she had ran away from her home in North Carolina at the age of 15 en route to California and although she has yet to make it there she has still had quite the ride.
After lunch we continued on another 10 miles and then turned into the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail which took us 16 miles on a designated bike trail into the city of Gainesville where we were planning to stop by 2:30 p.m. Along the way we almost ran over an armadillo that was in the middle of the path... (I will post a pic below.). We also met our first fellow bike traveller, Mark, right at the end of the trail in Gainesville. It's amazing the people you meet while out on the road like this especially when you hear their stories. Although new to biking he has hiked from Mexico to Canada on a solo backpacking trip and also hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Such a cool dude.
After some deliberation, we decided that we couldn't stop in Gainesville. We were too excited and it was too nice of a day not to continue on. So, after talking to Mark we got back on the road at 3:30 p.m. and biked another 27 miles and ended the day with 93 total miles biked!!! We are now stopped in Alachua at a motel for the night, we've gotten a few beers in us and now we are watching the SU game and hoping they pick it up!!!!
But, don't think we are living too luxoriously because we just washed our bike clothes in our motel sink and are currently drying them with a hair dryer...
Until tomorrow....
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