Day 1: St. Augustine, FL to Florahome, FL

Today's Miles: 63.5 Total Miles: 66.5

The open road

And we're off!!! Two Perdues XC Bike Tour 2012 has officially begun!! We got an early start to the day by hitting up the HoJo continental breakfast at 6:30am and then I hit the road around 7:30. The road out of St. Augustine was not too crowded, which was a good thing, since there was no shoulder whatsoever for the first 25 or so miles. I am using the Adventure Cycle Association (ACA) maps, and they do a good job of taking bikers on the safest, least congested, and in my opinion, (at least after one day) prettiest roadways. Today I spent several miles riding right along the St. John's River and although very much off the beaten path, it was really beautiful. 

Riding along the St. John's River

Once I made it to Hastings (about 30 miles in), the ACA route took a very complicated (to me) turn, and I, being about as navigationally gifted as a metal grasshopper-faced mermaid, got lost. Or, in cycling terms, I "got to do bonus miles". Only about 5, but still. There was a headwind today and I was not going particularly fast, so it was a real bummer. The upside was that the area I got lost in was really cool. It was all small-ish family farms growing potatoes, cabbage and all other kinds of vegetables. After finally getting back on track, I had to cross the St. John's River over a huge bridge that put all of the South Florida bridges that I had been training on to shame. 

I probably missed the turn while taking this picture

I met up with Mom and Dad after the bridge for a nice Wendy's lunch and then at 1:30p set out to knock out the last 15 miles of the day. Even though it's just one day in, I can't say enough about how awesome it is having them here (although sadly, The Big Guy is heading home tomorrow). They drive by me and scream things, stop on the side of the road to give me snacks, and today mom picked me up in Florahome which is about 15 miles away from our hotel. I knocked out those last miles and they featured some very nice rolling hills, which added a little variety and helped me go quite fast on the downhills. We got back to the hotel at around 3:30p after a total of 5.5 hours on the bike.  I'm hoping that the wind will calm down as we head inland and that I can go a little faster in upcoming days.

Self-portrait. Kids don't try this at home.

Finally we want to end this post with another blog feature that we cooked up: 'Merica Moments. Now as most of you know, I have been living in Honduras for the past two years and I have really missed America. One thing that I have really been looking forward to on this trip is getting to meet my interesting countrymen and women, and we hope to share some of those encounters with you all. So here we go. Today, just as I made it in to Florahome and was slowing down to pull up to the car, I saw an adorable old man walking along the road with a pretty bouquet of hand picked flowers. Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure mom was parked in his driveway, so I thought he was going to say something like, "Private property, get out!" Instead he looked at me and said, "Well, if I would have known that you were coming along, I would have picked you some too." And not in a creepy way either. Just in a sweet, nice old man way, like he really did wish he could give me flowers. 'Merica.

Day 1: DONE.