We started early to avoid the heat--prediction was for 95 degrees. I don't think it got much over 90. From San Diego on we have experienced unusally warm weather--10-15 degrees above normal and in some cases new records have be set. On the other hand, I never had to wear my raingear. Who would have thought that we could bike for 2 months all the way across the US without getting rained on!
I was first out this morning but I wasn't first for long and was among the last to come in, as usual. If I would stop taking pictures, I probably wouldn't lag so much but I am also one of the slower riders. The first part of the ride was pleasant but more of the same, tho with fewer flowers. But of course there were some new flowers: a beautiful white lily with no foliage (atamasco lily, I think) and a yellow fIower that I think is some kind of mullein. I went thru Keystone Heights where my Aunt Sophie used to live, but there was no time to stop and explore the town since I was hurrying to beat the heat.
Whatever the official temperature, it is a lot hotter out on the asphalt. I could just feel the waves of heat coming at me. The headwind did help to ease the heat a bit. At the last sag stop, I took my large blue hankerchief, dumped a bunch of ice on it, rolled it up, and tied it around my neck. OOh, that was chill, and I covered about 7 miles before all the ice melted.
There was 20-25 miles of construction work in the last third of the ride where they are repaving hwy 100. Most of the road surface was in good condition, but most of the shoulder had been milled and was impossible to ride at more than 5-6 miles /hr. There were two places where they were actively working and only one lane was open. In the first case where the stretch was probably only 1/2 mile but felt like a mile, I had to bike at the end of the line but that meant that the traffic in the other direction was waiting for me. I was biking as fast as I could go but it was on an uphill into a strong headwind, so they let the oncoming traffic start before I got to the end. Made for an interesting ride. In the second case they were replacing a culvert and I was able to ride on the closed lane--that was much better. The lane closures meant that I had long stretches where there was no traffic going my direction followed by a string of 25-30 vehicles one after the other. When that happened I got off on the shoulder no matter what condition it was in.
In Palatka, our destination for the day, I stopped once again for a milkshake. As I left to continue to the motel, I saw the remains of an accident where a logging truck had lost its load. I'm not surprised. The guys who drive those trucks are maniacs. They speed. They give us no room on the roads. Most of the truck drivers are very curteous to us and go over into the other lane to minimize the impact of turbulence they create. Not so for the logging truck drivers. Glad I won't have to deal with them anymore.
Final day tomorrow--40+ miles to Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine where we will dip our front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean, then celebrate with a picnic.
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