Day 48 Crestview to Marianna, FL

Cooperation on the Road

We began our last long ride at 6:30 this morning to get in as many miles as possible before the heat became unbearable. It was about 74 degrees and cloudy at that hour. Around noon the sky cleared, the temperature soared and the humidity made it feel like 93, according to weatherchannel.com and also according to our fellow riders. We rode 90 miles, almost all of it on US 90. We have followed that route much of the way across the country. In Florida, this highway is well-groomed and has a nice wide shoulder except in towns, where the shoulders disappear and traffic terrors appear. The terrain was full of little rolling inclines - at this stage of our ride, we could not really label them hills - but the ride is made easier when we do not need to pedal for a minute or two on a downward slope.

About thirty miles into the day, Lisa, our third SAG driver had a flat tire that was caused by a broken spoke. We could not repair it but kept everyone riding by doing a series of swaps. The end result was that I rode the last 34 miles on the bike that belongs to our cook. That was fun, but riding a different bike inevitably creates pressure in unexpected places. Use your imagination.

We had a bit of comic relief when one of our riders, Kathy Tex, ran out of water on the road. Her riding chum, Fiona, gave her the extra bottle that she was carrying. Kathy immediately dumped it over her head to cool off. Only then did she realize that the bottle was filled with Gatorade. I guess it's a Florida thing!

The Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses' Society has provided refreshments for us at our arrival and dessert for dinner twice in Florida. Thank you to them for their generosity! Katherine, my roommate is raising money to provide scholarships for nurses to enter this field.