Monticello, Florida

October 8, 2008

We left Chattahoochee on Hwy 90 for just a couple of miles and then turned north to ride up into Georgia for a few miles before turning south again to join Hwy 90 in Quincy, Florida. We felt it was necessary to include Georgia in the ride since our daughter Rinda and her family live in Atlanta. From that point we continued on Hwy 90 for the rest of the day. There were many exciting times riding along 90 depending on whether there were shoulders or not along the road. In addition it had rained most of the night so the roads were wet and the frogs seemed to think the road was the stream. Hundreds of them had been run over by vehicles, which meant that the road surface was slick with frog innards. There are many times I need to ride the white line on the side of the road, but it too was very slick since water on paint is just like a lubricant. The last issue was that there may not be any mountains in North Florida, but don’t let anyone let you believe that it is flat. The ups and downs are not very deep, but they just never stop. This keeps me shifting gears between 6 mph and 20 mph all day long. In spite of the conditions, I was able to get in 82 miles before it started raining to hard to continue. About 3 miles short of Monticello, Libby came out and rescued me since it was raining fairly heavy which makes it difficult for drivers without their windshield wipers turned on to see this target.

The ride though Tallahassee put us right downtown along Florida State University and the Capital buildings as well. Since my brother Don attended FSU for graduate school while I was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia; we had visited the area many times in 1969. I will have to admit that there was absolutely nothing I could say I remembered about the location. As with most large cities you have to ride through 3-4 miles of shopping centers before you reach the heart of the original community. The nice thing about the new parts of the city; they have created bike lanes in which to ride. In the older sections you are back to just the white line!!!

The thing I do remember most about Tallahassee were the big oak trees with all of the Spanish moss hanging in the trees. Many of the roads are lined with these oak trees as well as Myrtle trees. In addition throughout the entire state of Florida the sides of the roads are mowed just about as neatly as peoples lawns. So regardless of the terrain you are riding in beautiful surroundings.

Last night we had the pleasure of staying with Reese and Jerry Bussell in Monticello, Florida. We have mutual friends in Birmingham, Alabama and they so graciously offered to have us stay in their "cabin" as our travels brought us within a mile of their home. It was a great place to stay and we so enjoyed getting acquainted as well as a wonderful home-cooked meal. Visiting with the Bussell s was a great way to enjoy the thunder, lightening and pouring rain outside.

Miles Traveled Today = 82
Total Miles Traveled = 2,493