Day 55 we are almost done....

Each day brings things that are unexpected. This day I expected to have a good seventy-three mile ride, and really it was, but...

At this point seventy-three miles is not a particularly long day for me. It is a distance that I look at and think, "OK, I can plug along and still get to my destination by lunch...a little late lunch, but lunch-time." We started out well behind, Marci had had a flat before leaving, and that just throws a kink into the morning routine. After a quick change and breakfast, we headed out...very relaxed "no worries" as Marci would say.

The ride was beautiful after we got about seven miles behind us. At first we had some school starts, no shoulder, and rough road. There were some hills, but nothing too big at all. The countryside really got beautiful...big meadows, wild flowers, horses, goats, sweet smells of honeysuckle and not too much traffic, and the only dogs we saw ran in the opposite direction....those are the dogs I REALLY like.

We had a couple of SAG stops that were nice with lots of camaraderie. We left the second SAG at forty miles on a new road. This one had plenty of traffic, a good shoulder and wind hitting us in our faces. It also had some rolling hills, and junk in the road. For whichever reason you choose, it became an arduous ride. Palatka itself is a larger small town and we had some road construction and then a bridge. I was TIRED climbing over that bridge, and our hotel was at the bottom on the far side of the bridge...thankfully.

After the frustration of the last part of the ride, the shower felt great, and lunch at the restaurant next door was satisfying...

The rest of the afternoon was for just being with my new friends....at twenty-two of them.
Dinner was great...Linda once again worked her magic and there was extra time for talking and sharing.

So tomorrow is just the last 47 miles...I may have to continue blogging for a bit. So far I have given everyone an description of the trip, but not much in the way of musings or about the other participants. If time allows I am hoping to do that.

Mileage today:73