PowerCycle

2/27 Perfect riding day. Slight downhill most of the way and the wind was pushing us along pretty much all day. Had a great breakfast at Manny’s in Flagler Beach. Tomorrow will be the last day riding with Meg. We’ll stay in Jacksonville tomorrow night and then she’ll head across the state to Tallahassee and then down to Miami where she started from. I’ll be heading inland up to Statesboro, GA and then on to Atlanta for my first family stop.

We’re here at the St. Augustine KOA “campground” and I really don’t like it. First of all it’s 200 feet from a major road and they put the tent sites closest to it. Glad I brought ear plugs. I suppose there’s a certain appeal for a campground that has everything but I’d settle for some quiet. Being able to access the internet from inside my tent is a first for me too. The other problem is that the tent sites are converted RV sites so the ground is as hard as rock. The sites are also almost the first ones inside the grounds so everybody drives right by with their homes on wheels.

Had an amazing dinner. Meg can cook like nobody’s business. I’ll have to make a trip to the store so I have some food for the next couple days. Kind of looking forward to picking out my own dinners. I’m a little worried about leaving my bike alone while I run into supermarkets though.

The GPX map below is for the last 3 days. I’m getting too lazy to post individual maps if I don’t have net access for a couple days.

2/26 Forgot it was Bike Week in Daytona this week.  Oops.  Went to Tomoka State Park but all the campgrounds were full.  Ok, no big deal but would it be hard for State Parks to set aside 1 or 2 spots for walk-in bicyclists or hikers?  So we rode up the road and found a nice little spot tucked back deep in the woods that is probably much quieter than the campground anyway.  No shower though.  Meg had the good idea of calling ahead to the next few campgrounds to reserve a spot so on try #3 we snagged a KOA site for only $45.  We need to do laundry and a shower would be nice so I guess its worth it.

I’ll spare everyone updates on my ass going forward.  It still looks good and that all that matters.  Heard that some weather is rolling in Sunday.  Good chance of rain and the temp is supposed to drop to a high of 65 F.

The  freeze dried dinners I brought are almost out so I may actually have to start cooking things.  This could be the point that I have to call it quits lest I starve to death.

Slept in the hammock for the first time last night.  Loved it.  Laying on it right now too.

2/25 Lots of miles today.  64.83 to be exact.  Rode with Meg up to Oak Hill (Riverwood on the Water CG) mostly along US1. Aunt Joan spotted us which was pretty cool.  We chatted at the side of the road for a bit and then we kept going.  Meg tried to kill me too.  Against my better judgement she thought it would be a good idea for me to ride her bike for a while.  It was the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do.  She wouldn’t take no for an answer either.  Anyway, not surprisingly I “tipped” at least five times within a 20 foot stretch (right along US1).  The first time I thought I broke her bike.  I was finally was able to ride about 7 feet.  She rode my bike like it was nothing although her arms were sore because on a recumbent bike you never really use them (unless you’re picking the bike up off the ground like I was).  I think she was trying to get me back for a “shortcut” I took us through earlier when we went under a bridge instead of over it like normal people.  Basically we were riding on the seawall twice and a slip would have been bad news.

Met some nice people selling fruits and such at the side of the road.  Heading up US1 again we spotted Meg’s first armadillo.  Now they have taken to surrounding the campsite and freaking us both out because they sound much bigger than they are.

Had some good advice about my sore behind but I think it going to come down to just getting used to it.  I’m wearing a pretty tight filling pair of shorts under a loose pair so from a gear standpoint I don’t think I can get anything else to help.  My Brooks saddle has about 500 miles on it so I’ll just give it some more time.  The plan is to make tomorrow a shorter day.

2/24 Great day today.  Started off good and ended even better.  Woke up early and headed over to grab some food.  I pulled up to The Lemon Tree and just finished getting my bike secured when 2 women and an older guy came over and started to chat.  After a few minutes they left so I went inside to order breakfast.  I went to pay only to find out that the guy had already covered me.  Wasn’t expecting that.  I didn’t even get to say thanks.

The wind finally shifted from the North to the North-East so I didn’t have the wind in my face all day.  It’s getting a bit cold out now though.  I’ll probably regret saying this but I actually like climbing up the few hills I’ve  run into so far.  Oh and there was this crazy hot girl with legs that went all the way up to heaven riding ahead of me just past Sebastian Inlet State Park.  It was then that I realized that going fast to catch up with a beautiful girl while riding a 145 lb bike isn’t a great idea.  It was even worse when she didn’t speak much English and I was wheezing so hard she probably didn’t understand me anyway.  A love connection just wasn’t happening.  She seemed very nice though.

Pulled into Wickham Park after doing 49 miles today.  The Park Rangers here are really cool BTW.  As I was giving them $18 for the night they told me about a German woman in the camp right next to mine who has been riding around North America on a recumbent bike.  Nice.  So I pedaled over here and met Meg (short for something much longer).  She doing a Florida loop which started in Miami  and is heading up North the same way I am.  She also ran into some unfriendly staff at Long Point State Park.  The park was full so the guy there actually told her she should just find a motel.  She’s riding alone in a foreign country without any support which is way more than that loser has ever done.

So she offered to let me ride her bike… let’s just say that I’m glad she was holding on to the back the whole time.

Anyway, no WIFI for me tonight so I’ll upload this in the morning.  Stats for today (using Windows Live Writer for offline mode so no Custom Field support):