FL>North FL>March or April 2014>Bike Tour

**Grinder** · 03-23-2014, 05:12

Finally time to quit planning and start pedaling.
Woke early (as usual before a trip begins. Anticipation??)
Last packing of food. Stop at ATM to fill wallet and a drive to Gainesville will get this party started.
Still reviewing gear choices in view of the increasing rain choices.
They say it never rains on a golf course. How about a Bike Tour??

Later

**MAD777** · 03-23-2014, 06:58

Have fun and be safe out there guys!!

**FLRider** · 03-23-2014, 07:37

Looks like it's going to be a great time. Maybe three days where we'll get more than occasional rain on the road, which is about par for this time of year.

Had a great time with Mrs. FLRider in St. Augustine last night. Got everything packed, just need to mount it on the bike when I get back from Gainesville with Grinder. Easy ride today for gear shakedown and shutting time.

Time for coffee...

**olddog** · 03-23-2014, 07:48

Sounds like ya'll will be having fun on this one.

Just checked the radar and the rain doesn't look to bad.

**FLRider** · 03-24-2014, 03:42

Had a great first day. Downtown St. Augustine traffic and a couple of miscues with items made for an interesting start, but the ride was beautiful once we really got going.

Had a gear failure last night, though: one of the very last Heineken keg cans in captivity sprung a leak. Got some gum on it right now; we'll see how that does for coffee in a couple of hours.

Beautiful night at a beautiful campsite, but got woken up by the wind about an half hour ago. It's a blowin', for sure. Good and toasty in the underquilt, though.

A couple of photos below...

**MAD777** · 03-24-2014, 04:39

Hopefully it will be a tailwind for you guys!

**FLRider** · 03-24-2014, 14:57

The wind was an help today; I think it was only the second time that I've ridden that section of road without the wind in my teeth. Palatka traffic was pretty nuts, but it was a great ride otherwise.

Don't have quite enough bandwidth to upload photos right here in camp, but I'll try again tomorrow.

**FLRider** · 03-26-2014, 14:00

Made it into and out of camp last night just fine. Got down to 41* last night; did the vapor barrier sock trick. Feet stayed warm until I took them off this morning. Toasty warm in the underquilt last night, except for a 1" by 2" triangle right between my shoulder blades.

Cold riding into town this morning, though. Had a great brunch in downtown with Mrs. FLRider. Am about two-thirds of the way to Alachua, at a rest stop on 441. Great trip so far.

Today's the long day, at > 50 miles. Rest day tomorrow, though.

**FLRider** · 03-26-2014, 20:09

Made it to Ichetucknee Springs camp just fine. Had an easy ride up, despite the 53+ miles. Grinder is a machine, especially on that recumbent of his.

Hot showers and electricity at the campsite; we're treating ourselves on our rest day. Goodness, it feels nice to be clean. Think I might go into town for my meals tomorrow; I need to get fuel anyway.

It's a balmy 56* right now, and I'm going to hit the hay. G'night.