The Atlantic Ocean -- We Made It!!!!

What will 32 days of pedaling a bike get you? -- from Santa Barbara, California to St. Augustine, Florida - - 2,734 miles or 85 miles a day. After riding 72 miles today, I was able to dip the front wheel of my bike into the Atlantic Ocean at about 1:00 PM. After the bike took a dip it was time to strip off the shoes and socks and take a swim. It has been 40 years since I was stationed in the area that I last took a dip in the Atlantic Ocean.

The trip this morning out of Palatka, Florida took us up and over the St. Johns River and then for 35+ miles north parallel to the river. This is a dammed river so in places it was well over 5 miles in width. The land was very rich sandy loom and one of the towns we rode through was named Spud, so it gives you some idea of what takes place as far as farming; in addition there were hundreds of acres dedicated to sod farming. Almost every home had a boat dock some of which had multiple boats moored by it. The ride was entirely flat with the exception of rises in the road that would take me over a drainage ditch.

We took several hours of time to tour St. Augustine following the ride and then started our trip up north toward Atlanta, Georgia. We will, however, do some additional sightseeing before we reach our destination. Tomorrow we plan to attend church in Savanna, Georgia; followed by some touring in that community.

For those of you that are concerned that I had promised 3,300 miles, well you’ll have to stay tuned to see how I will ride those miles. The first couple of hundred will be ridden on the Silver Comet Railway Trail that runs from Atlanta GA into Alabama. This is a beautiful railway that has been paved for at least 85 miles. This will also be the location that I will get to ride with my granddaughters who are very excited to demonstrate their long distance abilities.


Miles Traveled Today = 72
Total Miles Traveled = 2,734

Trivia = I thought I was just swerving to miss another piece of truck tire when the thing started to move to get out of the way. It was a good-sized snake!

I had a pickup stop along side me and ask if the road he was currently on was the fastest way to get to Jacksonville. I told him it wasn’t, but I was not sure how to get to the closest freeway that would bring him there. He asked where I was from and when I told him the State of Washington he just said S--t. Seems like he doubted me!

We paid $2.91 a gallon for gas when we entered Georgia. Why is gas so cheap here?

Oh yes, in recalculating the miles there was an addition error back about 21 days ago of 11 miles, therefore the corrected total is 2,734 = WE MADE IT