Day 5: Lamont, FL to Quincy, FL

Daily Miles: 54.9 Total Miles: 307.1

You don't want to miss this Summer Sale

Today was a very good day. It all started with my 6:30am daily weather check. I always check the weather (including the wind) right after my alarm goes off so that I can see what I have to look forward to (or dread). During today's weather check, I saw the best thing imaginable... and "E" by the wind forecast. This means that the wind would be blowing from the East, aka I would have a tailwind. I cannot tell you how happy this made me after four days riding with the wind blasting me in the face. I got up, got ready, packed, ate breakfast and hit the road at 8:15am. I immediately started enjoying the friendly winds. In no time I had ridden the 11 miles to Wacissa and stopped to use the bathroom at the only establishment in town, a very interesting County Store. The most interesting feature of the store being its collection of bathtubs sitting out in its yard. They even had a sign advertising a "Summer Special: Baths 2 for 1". After using the restroom and making an obligatory purchase of the most appetizing item available in the store, dill pickle flavored potato chips, I hit the road again. 

Tallahassee is the home of FSU

Last night Mary did some research and we decided that I would, once again, veer off the ACA route and take County Road 259 all the way to Tallahassee instead of going ~12 miles out of the way to ride the entirety of the St. Marks Bike Trail. By 10:30am I had already knocked out the first 30 miles of the day and was in Tallahassee to ride the last 2 miles of the St. Marks Trail. This trail was well-maintained and nice to ride on, but lacked a little of the ambiance of the Gainesville trail. For example the entire time I was on the St. Marks Trail today, I was adjacent to various different housing projects. And there were no other cyclists, just homeless people walking on the trail and talking to themselves. 

Riding along the St. Marks Trail

I thought I would be able to pull up to a picnic table and have a snack somewhere along the trail, but I quickly realized that wasn't going to be an option. I pressed on and the trail finally ended, spitting me out onto a fairly busy road lined with fast food restaurants. I pulled in front of a Popeye's chicken, sat on the curb and ate a few snacks (including the dill pickle potato chips, they were good). I was quite surprised to find a completely full Popeye's chicken at 10:45am, but to each his own. I sat there for probably ten minutes resting and who should walk up to the front door but two of the kind gentlemen I passed who were walking on the St. Marks Trail. I took that as my cue to hit the road again, and rode on to meet mom at a Subway in Midway, FL, about 6 miles further along. I finished the first 40 miles of the day in just 3 hours and 15 minutes and was feeling good. 

Living like royalty

I had a quick bite to eat and then at 1pm headed out to ride the last 12 miles on to Quincy (since I saved 12 miles this morning with the route adjustment, I figured I would do 12 extra miles at the end). I took Rt. 90 in to Quincy and met up with Mary just before 2pm at the luxurious Royal Inn. At $40/night, you may not be surprised to learn that there is absolutely nothing royal about this establishment. After getting settled in and airing the room out, I took a quick shower and then we headed back to Tallahassee to visit a bike shop, University Cycles, and have the guys there evaluate the fit of my bike in hopes of alleviating my knee pain. I haven't had too much left knee pain since Day 2, but it's still not 100% and today I started having some right knee pain. 

In front of a hand-painted window at Bella Bella

I hopped on the bike and they evaluated my pedaling and made several adjustments to my seat height and positioning. Tomorrow we'll see how the adjustments affect my ride. The guys were really nice and helpful, and I definitely recommend their shop to anyone in the area. Afterwards, we headed to Bella Bella, a great Italian restaurant. Now we're back in the hotel and prepping tomorrow's route. We have finally finalized the fundraiser site and I will be posting more info about it in tomorrow's blog. Thanks to everyone for reading and for all the comments on here and on Facebook!