Thursday September 8, 2011, 58 miles (93 km) – Total so far: 198 miles (318 km)
>Last night our motel room was on the second floor. The onsite manager said we could leave our bikes locked up in the maintenance room on the first floor. So I checked it out and locked the 2 bikes to a steel shelf unit bolted to the wall. I woke up a few times during the night thinking about them. We were finally able to wake up the manager at 0800 to get our bikes. When we went into the maintenance room they were there plus there was a rear door (that we didn’t notice before) completely open! The bikes had been jostled around but were still secure. We will never separate from the bikes again.
Had a good breakfast of oatmeal at McDonald’s. I was pleasantly surprised. It was really good. We then started our westward trip. HWY 100 had been recently repaved and was in excellent condition with a wide shoulder. After around 20 miles the hills began. Coming from the Space Coast in Central Florida we were not prepared for this. Jocelyn did her usual of riding ahead of me and it really didn’t seem to bother her. It did me though as it was really tough with all the shifting and leg work. We stopped at a feed store that had a beer sign so stopped for one. It was one of those old looking places that you can’t pass up. I stepped outside and enjoyed the beer and various stuff around the outside. The owner told me “Heck, you ain’t seen no hills yet!” He was right.
We followed the ACA route to the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Bike Trail. That was a fun 15 mile ride. The last few miles seemed like what bike racers go through with lots of hills and switchbacks. Jocelyn and I raced! During this ride we went by a fenced in middle school. There were several young girls there hanging on the fence and asking us if we wanted heroine or other drugs. We thought it was very bizarre and it still bothers me. I told one girl that I was already high. When she asked what I was on I said “riding my bike”. So very strange for that age. They were hanging on the fence like they were prisoners.
We met a really cool guy on the trail. He was preparing for an upcoming century ride and told us about the area. He also has a friend that toured Europe and the Alps with a bike trailer. He guided us to the original springs for Gainesville water where there were bathrooms and cold drinking fountain. What a score! We eventually got off the trail and searched for a campsite with the GPS and phone. There were none around so we wound up at a Holiday Inn. We were pretty beat so we took a room. The area looked college so I asked the host where the school was. She just looked at me until I finally said UF. She continued to stare at me and said “across the street”. I have never been here so I didn’t know. I guess I looked like an idiot. After we got the bikes to the room I went across the street for a 4-pack and saw the big University of Florida sign. After we ate at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s (where they were setting up for “Wino Night – females drink wine for a penny a glass)we walked around campus and saw the “Swamp” for the first time. It was a challenging day and fun evening.
