Hitting our stride!

Day 30. 5/5/22. Cinco de Mayo! 76 miles, AIS 6:37, 1318 elev.., 90 degrees, 11.5 mph

White Springs Stephen Foster State Park to Gainesville, FL

We had a great ride today. The first 60 miles flew right by. We had planned to stop in Alachua (aah-latch-chew-wah) but it was a little less than 20 more miles to Gainesville. So we went for it! It was 90 degrees but bearable when you were riding creating your own breeze. Doesn’t hurt to stop for a coca-cola with ice for the last 5 miles.

Beautiful morning sunrise. The shadows were so fun to watch! We were on backroads. Very little traffic. Small houses. Many of which are single wide and double wide mobile homes. We love these backroads because they are quiet and easy to ride but…..

This is a very BIG but….that means there are many rednecks in the area that let their dogs run and chase bicycles. Curt had a two dog tag team come at him first. I watched as the dogs backed off and then they had Round 2 with me. As they were coming close to me the owner heard me yelling at them and he started calling them back from what I’m guessing was his bathroom window. We’re not done with dogs yet. Another “set” of dogs apparently were too late for Curt. I saw a car in their driveway so I assumed that car driver called the pack back to the yard. Boy was I wrong….they came at me full speed…there were 6 in all but 4 were running. 2 in hot pursuit! There was one on each side of me. My panniers in the back kept them from biting my legs, but the one on my right was biting into my pannier. I could feel him pulling me back. I was just about to reach for my spray when a pickup trip coming toward me hit her horn and pulled in behind me. That lady saved me for sure. Jim was coming next. She stayed right there until the dogs must have been secure because Jim came through safely! I had to stop a little further away to calm down. My heart was racing. I feel very lucky I wasn’t bitten. I wish I would have sprayed the ****ers!!

Homes in rural Florida can be interesting. I’ve noticed that the front porches almost always have two (2) rocking chairs. It doesn’t matter if the house is big or small, rich or poor, the rocking chairs are on the front porch. Now I’m wondering when will I see hammocks on the porch. The big, knotted South Carolina type of hammocks!

Settled into our “usual” 2 star motel. The usual owner. Nothing fancy, but the water is hot. The towels are kind of a loofah pad as well! Hahaha. The tub drains a little slowly too. But you already know, our standards are not the highest!!

We are officially done with Highway 90. We were on and off this highway for 4-5 days. I have to say it was a beautiful highway to ride a bicycle. The shoulder was really clean and smooth and wide enough. It is designated a Bicycle Route and they did a great job with it. The wildflowers along the green belt were beautiful. The drivers are not as courteous as Texas but they were pretty good. Curt felt a few close cars but I never had any issue.

We are in Gainesville FL. Home of University of Florida. Go Gators! We took an Uber downtown for a really good sushi meal at The Dragonfly Sushi and Sake Co. Our return trip Uber driver had his car all decked out with lighting. See video.