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| The path less traveled |
If I’d been five minutes later getting to my Gainesville FL hotel this afternoon, I’d have been one water-logged hombre. Because shortly after I finished registering, a thunderstorm started dumping prodigious quantities of rain.
It was raining so hard that I decided against walking to the nearest restaurant, which was a couple hundred yards away. Instead, I made do with a freeze-dried camping dinner that I had been saving for an emergency.
Today I got off Hwy 90 and back on the backroads route recommended by the Adventure Cycling Association. It was nice not to have to worry about the traffic for a change, and the scenery and road conditions were fantastic.
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My Gainesville hotel—the Comfort Suites—is one of the nicer and newer ones I’ve stayed in—and it cost $120, less than some of the total dumps I’ve survived during this tour.
The hotel is a bit off the beaten track, however. And the complimentary breakfast was not-so-great. In fact, the scrambled eggs were still frozen inside. I spit mine into a napkin, then noticed another guest following suit.
Interesting clientele, too.
One of my fellow senior-citizen guests and his silver-haired female companion, who appeared to be taking turns pushing each other around the hotel in a wheelchair, accosted me at the doors of the elevator as I was bringing my bike up to my room. “Hey, I thought you were dead,” the man said to me. “Can I get your autograph?” Spooky. Thank goodness there was no room for them in the elevator. I breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors closed.
It’s 77 miles to St. Augustine. So I’ll be heading there tomorrow. The following day, I’ll be pedaling north to Jacksonville, where I’ve arranged to take the Amtrak train home to northern Virginia.
On this particular line, the Silver Star, for $20 extra, cyclists can reserve a spot to walk their bikes onto the train without having to disassemble and box them.
DM: 81.6; TM: 2,975.1; 7:51 rdg time; 10.4 mph avg; 1,496 ft climbing
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| Water moccasin |
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| Storm approaching |
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