Day 38 - So Close; One More Day

Departure:  Alachua, FL      Finish:  Palatka, FL  

Distance:    66.4 miles

Elevation gain:  1,401 feet 

Winds: NNW at 3 to 5 mph

Weather:  Clear blue. 49 degrees at departure. 85 degrees at arrival.

On bike duration:   4 hrs, 5 minutes. 

Average speed: 16.2 mph

Total Accumulated Miles:  2,911.3

Resting Heart Rate:  51 bpm. (See post # 2, after first day.)

I’m ready to get my tires in the Atlantic salt water! Noon tomorrow.

We had a beautiful day - again. An easy 66 miles through mostly rural Florida; around the perimeter of Gainesville. The route ended the day with 17 miles on a canopied bike path with gator filled lilly ponds along the way. The group was talking about the finish line all day; a lot of discussions about the “next adventure”.

When we reached our hotel (another Quality Inn) we found an outdoor patio at the hotel restaurant, overlooking the very large St John’s River. Along the bank below the patio was an 8 foot-long alligator the locals call George. It’s illegal to feed gators down here, but I presume George has had more than his share of french fries and chicken nuggets. I don’t remember if I have ever seen a gator in the wild, so I was fascinated, and got a couple of good pictures.

After I passed "Rita" on to Tom Hand, she was passed to Mike Hynes with several poetic lines written on a napkin. Several days later, Mike passed her off to Ujjwal Bhattarai (the final "Save One Life" rider). Tonight, several of us conspired with Ujjwal to have Rita passed back to Andrea Street (our Welsh participant) at our final dinner tomorrow, to let Rita's journey continue across the Atlantic.

Tomorrow we begin our final day by crossing the Memorial Bridge over the St. John River. It’s our last climb!