Day 6: Quincy, FL to Marianna, FL

Daily Miles: 43.4 Total Miles: 350.5

One time zone down!

So much has happened today that it's hard to believe. I knew that I would be doing fewer miles today and also that we would be crossing into the Central Time Zone and gaining an extra hour, so I decided to start a little later at 9am. I woke up, ate my left over spaghetti and meatballs for breakfast (since the Royal Inn did not offer a continental breakfast), and then hit the road. I was making fine time riding very pretty roads lined with cute country houses (home, unfortunately, to several dogs) between Quincy and Gretna. The road seemed fairly flat, but upon checking my bike computer, I learned that I had climbed over 1200 feet today, by far the most of the trip. I guess the climbing really took its toll on me, because as I neared Chattahoochee (~22 miles in), I was experiencing extreme right knee pain in the same place it had started to hurt during yesterday's 1000 feet of climbing. When I had my bike adjusted yesterday, I focused more on adjusting for the left knee pain, which is now non-existent, and we did nothing to address my right knee.

Knee treatment with Dr. Wilcheck

I rode into Chattahoochee angry, frustrated, and dealing with quite a bit of pain. I met Mary at a Hardees so that I could just stop for a while and have an iced tea. While we were sitting there an older man beside us struck up a conversation and to make a long story short, he was a chiropractor with an office in Chattahoochee and within 30 minutes I found myself inside of his office with an electric stimulation machine hooked up to my sore knee. He told us his life story, treated my knee, gave me about 30 Biofreeze (like IcyHot) samples, and told me how to protect my knee (ice and wearing a knee brace while riding). He was a really nice guy and we found him just where we needed him! After my treatment and 2 Advil gel caps, I was feeling somewhat better and ready to finish the last ~21 miles. I headed out again and, while not 100% pain-free, I at least felt better.

Mary tearing up the trails!

As I rode on I started worrying a little bit about what this knee pain would mean for the rest of the trip, etc. etc. As I was getting lost in thought and a little more stressed out, I suddenly noticed a man had pulled off the side of the road and was standing there staring at me. Oh great, I thought, what's going to happen to me now. As I got closer he walked to the edge of the road and held out an ice cold bottle of water. I hit the brakes, stopped beside him, and he told me that he had seen me riding by his house and he went in to get me the water, but by the time he got back I had already passed. So he hopped in his truck and drove down the road to bring the water to me. I couldn't believe how nice and caring the people I have met so far have been, so I drank the water and chatted with him a bit before he got back into his truck and drove home. Now, as an avid Criminal Minds fan, I was fully expecting to return from the commercial break to me waking up chained to a radiator in that guy's basement wearing my bike helmet and his grandmother's petticoat. But, instead, here in the real world, I just rode on, feeling a lot less worried about my knee and a lot more focused on the here and now.

Flooded woodlands at Florida Caverns SP

I finished up my ride feeling better and then mom and I checked into the hotel and headed out to visit Florida Caverns State Park, home to underground caverns. Once we arrived we learned that the caverns were not open on Wednesdays. It ended up being fine, though, and we hiked several miles of the nature trails through the flooded woodland. We had a great time, and we both enjoyed doing something non-biking related. Now we're resting up and planning for tomorrow's ride and Friday's rest day.