Category Archives: Camping

Day 13: Pensacola

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Cheryl posting for Chuck tonight.

Note about the blog:
Some of you may have noticed the site was down for quite a few hours today. My apologies. Seems the company that hosts our website had a problem with one of their servers — the one that contains all of our websites and blogs — and took it off-line today to do a major overhaul. Hopefully the problem is solved…

Black Water River State Forest to Pensacola, FL
52 miles

While talking with Chuck on the phone tonight, I overheard Bob tell the host at Pensacola Naval Air station’s campground, “It’s the heat that kills ya,”when he asked Chuck and Bob about their ride.

“So you haven’t been in Florida in the summer?”

Chuck and Bob laughed. “We’re from Florida.”

“I feel sorry for you guys. I’ve done that trip and its hard enough going by motorcycle!”

Chuck told me their host is a great guy and is really helping them out. He’s even charging Chuck’s GPS for him tonight because their tent site tonight is ‘primitive’ which means no water and electric, just a place to pitch their tents. The campground does have nice shower and laundry facilities, though and Chuck said, “the place is packed” with RVers.

Chuck said they rode 52 miles today. “It was a hard day. The first 25 to 30 miles were okay, but the last 6 were torture! But I’m not complaining,” he laughed.

Oak Grove Park at Pensacola NAS, where the guys are staying, is nicely located near the beach and the museum on base. Because Chuck is a retired Marine, he still has base privileges and today it came in handy when looking for a campground in the area.

They did need to do some shopping tonight, though, and ended up at Walmart. Chuck said he needed to replace a strobe light and a water bottle and cage that were broken when he fell a couple of days ago. I asked him why they went to Walmart instead of the base exchange, as he told me last night that Bob was looking forward to checking out the BX.

“The BX was 5 miles from the campground and Walmart was 2. We already put in a long day and didn’t want to ride another 10 miles round trip. Walmart was closer!”

As they left Walmart, they did have another mishap. Bob’s chain popped while at an intersection and he couldn’t go forward or backward and hit the pavement hard. Chuck said he’s okay, but it’s another case of equipment malfunction and working out all the kinks as they go along.

The boys plan to relax tonight and stay over tomorrow. They have some chores to take care of with maintenance and fixes on their bikes and some laundry to take care of, but they’re also going to watch the Blue Angels put on a show in the morning and then check out the Air Museum. Chuck said there is also a lighthouse “somewhere around here” and that “the beach is beautiful with that white sand” so I bet they’ll spend some time checking it out too.

The plan now is to head out again on Wednesday, and within a couple of days they should all be crossing the border into Alabama and leaving Florida behind.

52 miles to Pensacola

Day 6: On The Road Again

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White Springs to Suwannee River, FL
30 miles

Sometimes things happen for the right reasons. The whole time we spent at Suwannee Bicycle Association was like serendipity. We missed the rain. We met great people at SBA. We met Kevin & Josh, fellow cyclists completing the same route we are beginning.

Kevin & Josh about to get back on the road

Kevin & Josh about to get back on the road

And we learned the amazing history of the SBA from Jean, who helped start SBA 21 years ago.

Suwannee Bicycle Association's Jean

SBA's Jean

Yesterday we had a good talk with Kevin and Josh – really great guys. They are super adventurous. They had a lot of good stories to tell us, including one about backpacking with skis for two weeks! They gave us good info on places to avoid and things to look out for on the rest of our trip.

Pumping the tires

Pumping the tires

Late last night, someone tried to get into SBA. It was Jean. She was coming in to be there early for some street marking the next morning for the Florida Bicycle Safari. We were all sleeping on the couches and Josh & Kevin were sleeping on the floor. Bob gave up his couch so Jean could sleep on it and he moved to the floor. Jean joked the next morning she better not tell her husband she slept with 5 guys! LOL

Jean talking to cyclists

Jean talking to cyclists

Jean told us all about the history of SBA. She said the founders (husband & wife Dan and Lys Burden) did a huge cycling trip from Alaska and were featured in National Geographic at the time. They are also the founders of Adventure Cycling. Wow.

Suwannee Bicycle Association Beginnings

Suwannee Bicycle Association Beginnings

We could have left earlier this morning, but we only planned to go 30 miles to Suwannee River State Park. We’re having to adjust our route based on campgrounds. There’s nothing between there and Tallahassee. With the strong winds (20-25 mph) today, 35 miles is like 50 miles.

After Suwannee River State Park, there’s a big strip of 110 miles to the next campground. We have info on two Warm Showers possibilities Wednesday night in Tallahassee. We’re trying to break down the mileage to manageable chunks.

The ride was cold. Having to wear long-johns, but having a good time!

White Springs to Suwannee River

Day 3: Flat Tires & Jumping Through Hoops

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Post by Chuck! 🙂

Day 3: Gainesville to Ichetucknee Springs, FL
50 miles

Thanks again to our Warm Showers host, Tom Harris. He’s really funny, interesting, and just a super guy! Below is a video of Tom and his talented cat, Leo. I think Leo thinks he’s a dog. He knows how to sit and jump through hoops! Not many cats do that.

Today was a rough day. We started off good, and rode on to Alachua again and stopped at our favorite Subway again. Bob got a flat tire five miles after Alachua. He changed it, then we rode on.

First flat (Bob)

First flat (Bob)

Bob got a flat tire again. I gave him one of my tubes, but it wouldn’t hold air. We checked the tire again but saw nothing there. We kept looking and found a little piece of metal in the wheel. We filed it down and so far the tire is doing okay.

2nd flat (Bob)

2nd flat tire (Bob)

It was a good ride. Not as hectic as yesterday. We only had problems twice, but it’s not a five minute tire change. You have to take stuff off. You have to take the trailer off so you can turn the bike over.

We only went about 50 miles today. We’re at Ichetucknee Springs. People at the campground are so friendly. I don’t have any phone signal, but do have free WiFi from the campground. Bob has a phone signal — of course his phone is Verizon. I’m going to have to get a Verizon phone someday. Thanks to Bob, he let me use it to give Cheryl a call tonight.

Our Ichetucknee Campsite

I’m really feeling good. I’m glad. The training really helped. The weather shows for rain tomorrow. I’ll get online later to check the weather reports and see what we’ll be doing. It may be a short day.

Day 2: Brake Cables and Warm Showers

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Cheryl updating again tonight for Chuck with info from his phone call.

Day 2: Keystone Heights to Gainesville, FL
53 miles

Chuck called tonight with news that they guys didn’t make it to their original destination of Alachua today due to rain and bike repairs. They had to take advantage of the accommodations provided by Warm Showers, a network of cyclists for reciprocal hospitality for touring bicyclists.

So tonight the guys are staying at the home of Tom Harris, who Chuck says is a really nice guy. He also has a cat, Leo, that can do tricks, including jumping through a hoop! Chuck emailed a picture of their host, but says he’ll have to send the rest of his pictures and video of Leo’s tricks later.

Our fantastic host: Tom and his cat, Leo.

Tom’s house and property is very nice are quite large, and it took the guys about 30 minutes of traveling through the woods from the bike trail just to get to it, but he said it was well worth it under the circumstances and they really appreciate Tom’s hospitality.

Bob on the trail to Tom's house

Bob on the trail to Tom's house

After starting out from Keystone Heights, Chuck and the guys rode part of the way today on the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Park Trail. Around lunch time they stopped in the town of Hampton and ate at Subway. There was a big, black cloud right on top of them, so they thought it was a good time for a break. Bob said, “Come on rain! Rain hard!” Chuck asked him why he was rooting for rain, especially a hard rain. Bob told him that if it rained hard and fast, it would probably rain itself out quicker and they wouldn’t have to worry about it again. Turns out, that’s exactly what happened.

The skies opened up and it poured while they guys ate lunch, staying dry in Subway. It was still raining some when they finished, so they walked over under the overhang in the shopping center to a grocery store and got something for tonight’s dinner.

Bob persuaded Chuck to buy a mircrowave version of Macaroni and Cheese and just use boiling water to prepare it. We tried that before to see how it might work on the road. We were less than impressed and it was barely edible. I’m surprised Chuck agreed. Turns out it worked out perfectly though, because Tom had a microwave and Chuck cooked it the way it’s supposed to be cooked. Again, from experience, Kraft microwavable Mac & Cheese is actually pretty good when cooked per the package instructions.

Once back out on the road, they headed towards Alachua, but when they got into Gainesville they had a mechanical problem.

The guys were stopped at a traffic signal and the road was clear and the light was in their favor, however the crossing signal was red. Chuck slowed to stop, but Bob did not and he tried to stop, but his brake cable was broken. Bob didn’t fall, but they needed to get the brake cable fixed. It wasn’t repairable with their tools and supplies, so they rode around Gainesville in search of a bike shop. They found one on University Avenue and got the cable replaced, but it took a while, putting them behind schedule.

Knowing that they wouldn’t make their destination that night, they checked the Warm Showers network to see if there were any nearby participants. Finding Tom, they had to backtrack to the trail to get to his house — a few extra miles, but necessary under the circumstances.

Everyone is safe and dry and resting up to start again tomorrow morning from Gainesville, FL to (hopefully) Ichetucknee Springs.

T-minus-2: Camping St. Augustine

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Today was the day we left for St. Augustine to begin the ride. After picking up Bob and his gear, we all headed to the East Coast with the RV to camp at Anastasia State Park. This park is right on the Atlantic Ocean, and the end point — or beginning —  for many cyclists who ride the Adventure Cycling Association Southern Tier Route.

Chuck & Shadow relaxing at the campsite

We settled in at our campsite, then emptied the RV of bike gear so Bob could do some exploring on his bike.

Bob re-assembling his bike

Later we had a dinner of pigs-in-blankets, BBQ beans, and Bob’s special salad.

Making plans for tomorrow before dinner

Apparently Bob really likes to cook. He made this salad, and he told us about some home-made chili he made this weekend, and he brought some home-made spit pea soup with him for lunch.

Bob's salad

We decided that tomorrow we’ll watch Cheryl test out her new kayak, then we’ll go into downtown St. Augustine to see the lighthouse, fort, and whatever else looks interesting.