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Archive for the ‘Friends made on the road’ Category

Gutsy miles in gusty weather

Posted in Friends made on the road, Living the life on May 3, 2011| 3 Comments »

Chipley, FL to Crestview, FL

Passengers yelling encouragement (not): 2

Miles: 74

Total so far: 535

We knocked out a chunk of mileage today bearing up against some gusty winds that threatened all afternoon to turn into headwinds.  Unfortunately, all our miles today were on State Route 90, a two lane which has a nice enough shoulder, but lacks in the way of country charm and the quiet roads we’ve grown accustomed to.  One gets spoiled pretty easily when the pedaling is accompanied mostly by the songs of birds and frogs.

Today we met Jenny from San Diego.  Jenny is completing her west-to-east Southern Tier Trans-Am in a few days.  She is going to be going out to Wyoming later to join family who have a ranch in Centennial.  It just goes to show what a small world it is, Centennial has a population of about 25 people listed on their sign, yet I know the place well.

Jenny is blogging on http://www.upsidedownandbackwards.com.

Jenny - about to complete the Southern Tier

In last night’s post I failed to include mention of a little bit of recreation Sallie and I got after arriving at Falling Waters State Park and setting up our camp. We went for a swim in this spring fed lake and had the place all to ourselves. There was a nice thermocline only about 3 feetbelow the warm surface water where the colder gradient was significantly colder.  If you dive through it, it’s not unlike a Swedish sauna interrupted by a splash in a cold stream.

Yes, there are alligators in the area, but they left us alone.

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Kellie Wheatley

This is a tough one for me.  Many years ago when I was still in the Wyoming State Patrol, I was invited to give s keynote address at a function for the Jackson, Illinois MADD group.  The invitation came from George and Marylin Murphy who not only opened their home to me, but their hearts as well.  They sent me this dedication this week:

An Illinois Tragedy

Twenty four year old Kellie Wheatley, along with her husband and 14 month old son we riding bikes on a beautiful July 4 day in 1984.  Unfortunately, a drunk driver was also on the same city street in South Jacksonville, Illinois.  At 5:28pm, the driver struck and killed Kellie.  Only a miracle spared her husband and child.  We mourn her loss and our hearts remain shattered from the most preventable crime in America.

George, Marilyn, and Patrick Murphy — Dad, Mom and Brother

Orville and Christopher Wheatley — Husband and Son


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Experience speaks

Posted in Friends made on the road on May 2, 2011|

Quincy, FL to Falling Waters State Park (Chipley, FL)

Friendly horn taps: 1

Miles: 71

Total so far: 461

Deb and Hob McConville of Vernon, CT

“Something happens to you when touring and the days blend into weeks and the weeks blend into months.  It changes your thinking.” says Hob McConville.  He should know.  He and his wife have logged nearly 80,000 miles on their 1980 Santana tandem (the proverbial bicycle built for two).  They’ve been from the arctic circle to the southern tip of Africa.  They say with great fondness that we are in for a treat once we get on the Trans America Route (we’ll pick that up in Kentucky).

Deb and Hob were encountered at a convenience store this morning as we were in Chattahoochee, FL getting ready to bomb down the hill and cross the Apalachicola River into the Central Time Zone.  They were on the last legs of their east bound Southern Tier Trans Am ride.  They will grab a plane home in Jacksonville after finishing in St. Augustine.  “Not for long though, then we are touring in Newfoundland.”

(For the bike savvy folks — Interesting note on their classic Santana — theirs is serial number 28.  There are Santana fiends all over the country that think they are divinely appointed for riding this one-owner dream)

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Jenilyn and Brandon Franklin.

Our beautiful newlywed daughter, Jenilyn Addis Franklin (18) and her husband of 6 1/2 weeks, Brandon (21) were both killed by an impaired driver in Sevierville, TN.  A choice  made which devastated two families and many friends.  We miss her each and every day of our waking life.  Good luck on your journey!

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Ichetucknee

Posted in Friends made on the road, Messages, Thoughts on moving forward, tagged , on April 28, 2011|

Gainesville, FL to Ichetucknee Springs

Miles: 46

Total so far: 217

One never knows what awaits just down the road. We had an experience yesterday that was one of those precious times in life when you meet people and there is a connection, an immediate fondness, and as we parted company this morning, we know our lives are richer because of the encounter. The Browards hosted us in their home and in doing so, gave us a lift to our spirits that will carry us a long time. This day was so much better because of their kindness. We thank you.

I remain in awe of what the next turn brings, knowing that without moving forward, it would be such a loss.

A canopy of trees - the only way to ride

Riding was easy today.  There were threatening skies all around us all day, but regardless of the direction we pedaled we had a tailwind. Several people warned us of severe thunderstorm warnings that were up in the area, but we had no problems. We stopped at Ichetcknee State Park and camped, showered and arranged all our gear before the skies finally got down to business. What a great day!

As I write this the thunder continues to roll, the rain is dropping steadily, and there is a lack of wind and ferocity in this weather. That is a blessing. Others have not been so fortunate. We received word today about the terrible storms and loss of life in Alabama, and other areas of the south.

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Samantha Beaudette.

Sammy

Samantha Beaudette died on January 1st, 2006 due to the actions of a drunk driver.  The crash took place in Rhode Island on December 30.  She lost her fight at 2:19am on New year’s Day.

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Gaining Gainesville

Posted in Friends made on the road on April 27, 2011|

Palatka, FL to Gainesville, FL

Friendly horn honks: 4

Miles: 65

Total so far: 171

We were up early for a forecast of some winds that might give us trouble, but we had a very decent ride and made good time.  I was particularly glad to see some hills appear on this section, as I find riding on the flats extremely tiring. That seems counter-intuitive, but riding hills causes one to shift positions frequently and engage different muscle groups, whereas riding the flats causes a cyclist to remain in the same position and cadence too long.  Prior to the hills today we had an overpass to I-95 and the bridge over the St. Johns River to break the stride.  That’s just not enough hills in two days time!

We had four friendly horn taps today, which was nice — one from an ambulance that was running lights, bumping their siren from about one quarter of a mile back.

Carl and Sallie sketching out the Hawthorne Gainesville State Trail

Between Hawthorne and Gainesville, there is a beautiful rails-to-trails bike path that runs something like 18 or 20 miles into Gainesville.  Near Gainesville, there was a trail crew working and a conversation with George Edwards led to an invitation to stay at the home of friends of his, Chuck and Judy Broward in Gainesville.  We took them up on it and enjoyed some genuine cyclist-to-cyclist hospitality at their home.

Our new best friend, Chuck Broward

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Judy Broward. We sure thank you for allowing two vagabonds to stay in your home!

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Tomorrow’ s ride is dedicated Cheyanne Ashley Russ.  Cheyanne was killed in a drunk driving crash in North Carolina on October 22, 2005.  Cheyanne was five years old.

Cheyanne Ashley Russ

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Palatka arrival

Posted in Friends made on the road on April 26, 2011|

St. Augustine, FL to East Palatka, FL

47 miles

Total so far:  106

Sspanish moss drapes the limbs of live oaks near the shores of the St. John's River

We arrived in East Palatka after a fairly short ride.  Services in the area are scarce, as this is the only campground for many miles.  Today’s ride was entirely uneventful, except of course if I were to neglect to include the beautiful weather.

We had a wonderful lunch in a little cafe in Hastings where the locals got quite a kick out of us when we told them where we were headed.  There was one ancient fellow there having lunch with his friends and he says to me, “Sorry I knocked those bikes down out there, they tip over pretty easily.”  We had a good laugh over that one.  I told him he always pulls that one down at the local biker bar.

Setting camp in Palatka. Our rain fly's went on for the evening thunder storms

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Dawn Marie Paul Reynolds

“Our lives changed on December 8, 2009, and we will never be the same.  We lost a mother, daughter, wife, sister, and most of all, a best friend that will live in our hearts forever.  Memories are all we have.  Dawn was driving to work in Tennessee after dropping her children at school.  She was hit head-on by a driver under the influence of drugs.

Dawn left behind three beautiful children that were the love of her life.  This has been a horrible tragedy that our family thought we would never face and we can only pray that no one else ever has to.  Now we support MADD, want to help raise awareness and help stop drunk driving.

(I apologize — the image sent of Dawn was a .bmp file and it will not load here)

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