Friday September 9, 2011, 66 miles (106 km) – Total so far: 264 miles (425 km)

We enjoyed a nice evening in Gator Town so slept in until 0700. Packing and loading still takes over an hour. I think the trick is to not remove the panniers unless necessary. This will take some time. We had a nice smoothie at Red Mango across the street from UF then we visited a nearby bike shop to top off the tires.

Getting out of Gainesville during rush hour was a chore but we soon found ourselves in some rolling farmland. The fresh air and speed runs were fun. There were also many churches sometimes right next to each other and they all seemed to have a cemetery attached. It is really beautiful country up here. During yesterday’s hill work it was mostly a knee-jerk reaction to the shifting just to get over. Today I really thought about what I was doing and started to time my shifting really well. The first half of the day was mostly hill work but by the end I was really doing well. Jocelyn just rides with little shifting. Showoff.

We had lunch in High Springs at a small renovated old house after stopping at a bike shop and asking about lunch options. I had a delicious grilled cheese and Jocelyn a yummy tuna salad sandwich. The bike shop guy showed us the way to Perry. At 70 more miles we didn’t think it was workable so I got on the GPS for lodging options. We ended up in Mayo at Suwannee River Rendezvous Resort and Campground. What a fun place! It was only 2.2 miles off the road and right on the river. We decided on an inexpensive lodge room instead of camping. After riding for miles the A/C sure feels good. It doesn’t seem like we are ready to camp yet. The resort is really woodsy and there is a kitchen and lodge to relax, eat and of course my favorite – have a few cold ones. It was karaoke night that was pretty funny and the ice cream sundae was great. I’m already thinking of breakfast tomorrow. We are only a few hours out of Perry and will be meeting my wife and son. So it will be a short riding day. We definitely want to bring our canoe here and rent one of the larger cabins for a long weekend. Convict Springs is on the premises. There used to be a prison here in the late 1800’s. Cool place.

I forgot about our first two dogs chases. It’s funny when you see a dog running along the inside of a fence until the fence ends and the dog runs at you. I was in front so the dog took chase for Jocelyn. She unclipped her right shoe and was ready to kick but fortunately it backed off. The second incident was across the road. The dog ran and ran until it got out through a hole in the fence. It got down and growled but fortunately wouldn’t cross the road. More to come I’m sure.