Day Forty-Six
Up and out pretty early. It was already heating up. I rode past several promising breakfast joints, but they weren’t open yet. Ah, a Waffle House! I just couldn’t. I needed something else. I rode over the bridge from Panama City Beach to Panama City. Panama City is…normal! Just a bridge away and a city made for people who live there, not a fantasy amusement park for beaching thronging tourists. But, and I have to say this about all of Florida that I’ve seen, the cycling infrastructure is the best I’ve seen on this whole coast to coast ride. It’s very good in quite a few places. It’s just great here.
I kept pinging Google Maps for “breakfast restaurant” and a promising one popped up right on my route, Tudor’s Biscuit World. It looked great and was even better than it looked. It’s an order at the register place but they bring the food out made to order. Today was Tudor’s 8th anniversary so they had specials and were giving out raffle tickets. I ordered the biggest breakfast on the menu: eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage, stewed cinnamon apples, cheesy grits and coffee. I also ordered a cinnamon roll for later. I sat down with my Number 17 next to several men and asked how the closest guy was. “Well I’ll tell you if you’re really interested”, he said. Sure I am. He then pointed at a framed photo on the wall with him and his co-breakfasters in it. They are everyday regulars and this is their spot. Gary, Gary, Richard and Bobby. The pastor who normally joins them isn’t here today so they can talk freely.
I learned that on the other side of the bridge, at the Beach, that’s where people have their second million dollar homes. On this side of the bridge, it’s just normal people. Like these guys. Except Richard’s house, like thousands of others, was wiped out by Category 5 Hurricane Michael, which had winds up to 162 mph. A direct hit. That was 5 1/2 years ago. He’s about to move into his replacement house, which cost $500,000 to replace a house he bought for $32,000 back in the day. For these 5 1/2 years, Richard and his wife have lived in their RV. It’ll be nice to be in a house again. The RV is tired, and they are tired of it. Gary pointed out that all of these guys’ families have lived in Panama City for over 100 years. Of course they are rebuilding. Nobody’s running away.
Gary Jr. actually joined breakfast after I was already there. He rode up to the restaurant on his Harley Davidson trike. Gary Jr. has cerebral palsy. He is not allowed to drive a car, but he can ride a motorcycle. His trike is technically a motorcycle. Dad worries about him, but he seems to be doing fine. All of the older gents agreed that they wish that Gary Jr. would cut his hair, but that’s alright.
We talked about bicycles and my trip. As these conversations often do, the talk drifted to the bike that’s been sitting in their garage, and maybe they should pull it out and ride it a bit. Parenthetically, at my hotel last night, before going into my room, I was talking with some very happily drunk neighbors. Timothy, who just retired at 62, was emphatic, in that 6 gin and tonics way, that he REALLY wants to do what I’m doing, but his bike has been in his garage for a long time,s untouched. Timothy lives in Tennessee. I encouraged him to start easy and ride to rail trails, to see how it goes. Maybe head up to Ohio, which I know from experience has great, safe bike trails. He probably doesn’t remember the conversation today, but he was sure emphatic about getting back in shape last night. It’s nice to have a brief, if unmemorable effect on people.
Also, I got a text today from Mark the motorcyclist who I met in the Texas Hill Country. When Mark heard about what I was doing, way back in mid-April, he called me his hero! He’s checked in with me several times over the last month, as he’s doing his big motorcycle tour of the US. He texted me today to check in, find out where I was, thank Jesus that I was okay, and said that he’s still so inspired by my ride that when he gets home he’s hitting the gym. Unlike Timothy, Mark was definitely not into his 6th gin and tonic when we met.
Florida is hot, and it’s not even hot for Florida. The country is green, forested and flat. Lot’s of moisture. By mid summer, I’m told it will be sweltering, and my trip would not be possible then. But today, though I glistened with sweat, sunscreen, sand and dirt, I was able to keep going. I had my first dog encounter but the pup didn’t have the energy to both run to keep up with me and lunge at my leg. Teeth were bared but he just couldn’t manage the last little bit to get a chomp in.
And I encountered Florida wildlife too. Not an alligator. Sadly, I haven’t even seen one. It was a bee. The bee settled on my right forearm, buzzed, and buried that stinger deep. I swatted the bee away, almost crashing in the process, but the bee left its venomy butt in my arm. I got a photo of it before whisking it off. Also., I had a bit of a tailwind, and when I would slow down to climb one of the few hills I encountered, I would slow to be in still air. In that still air, a cloud of little tiny, biting insects would envelope me. I accelerated as soon and as much as I could, and they fell away. These bugs are part of the reason nobody tent camps in these parts. This environment wants to cook and eat you!
At about 70 miles I pulled into Blountstown. The $100/night motel didn’t look so good. Four miles further east is the town of Bristol. I called the Snowbird Motel in Bristol and they are just $75/night, so I decided to sweat another 15 minutes and chew 4 miles out of tomorrow’s effort. I crossed the Apalachicola River on a high rise bridge and decided to stop and take a photo. It is pretty obvious to me that as roads are re-engineered and re-built, from Houston to here, they are built to handle mass evacuations, probably for hurricanes. Heavy duty concrete bridges, 2 full lanes plus full-width shoulders, going both ways so they can have six lanes heading away from trouble. This is great forethought for hurricane evacuations, but between hurricanes, it’s great for cycling too.
In my motel room, I did my usual post-ride ritual: partially unpack the bike, strip out of my sticky cycling costume, mix and kick back my recovery drink, shower, send a text home that I’m off the road safely, and wash my cycling costume in the sink with whatever shampoo is in the room, or what’s left of my Dr. Bronner’s All-One soap. Think, assess today and tomorrow, go find dinner.
I’ll close tonight’s post with a brain worm I can’t shake out of my head. The Boeing Starliner crew launch to the space station has been delayed from May 17 to May 21, at 4:32 pm, at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 41, next to Cape Canaveral, where I am planning to be on May 22. Hmmm. I’m rejiggering my route and timing. If I average 90 instead of 75 miles a day, I can make it there to see the launch. If in fact they launch. There have been a lot of delays with this program. Still, wouldn’t it be a shame if I missed, just because I was too rigidly stuck to a schedule? Opportunity is knocking and I’m thinking about it.
I’d love to hear from you. Donate to the ride and send along your words of encouragement and tell me why getting kids outside matters to you.
