The Road to Perry is Oh So Very

Joan's View

So very long. So very straight. So very windy. That pretty well sums up our ride today. 
As we clipped in to our pedals this morning, our GPS announced, "Turn right in 52 miles." Yep, 52 miles of straight road surrounded by trees and nature. We managed to ride on an

The end of our bike path at the T

excellent bike path along the road for the first 10 miles until we found a roadside restroom at a T intersection in the bike path. The bike path turned left and we guessed that direction was a straight shot to Tallahassee. We needed to go forward, however, so from there we were on the shoulder of route 98.

We were in an archeological area

We made our own rest areas along the road and took pictures at some of our stops.

7 miles down the dirt road was an impoundment

Me checking out what's beyond the gate

The only establishment that we found along our long stretch was JR's, a gas station, a push pole seller, a bait seller, and an air boat ride service among other things. This multi-service facility was about half way in our trek and was frequented by lots of truck drivers. They also had some loud roosters in trees along the side of their building.

How many rooster do you see?

The worker there told us the next stop for water was about 18 miles ahead. We forged on. We continued to be passed by frequent heavy load trucks carrying timber and whatever was mined from the mining areas that we passed. The smell from the fresh cut trees was nice even though we had to dodge the debris of limbs and branches they shed in the wind. We noticed that when the trucks coming on the other side went by, we felt the effect of the wind gust at us. However, when the trucks passed us on our side, we felt very little push from them. Funny how that worked.

When we finally reached the next establishment/oasis in Perry for a water refill, I hung around outside and got a picture of this dog enjoying his ride. There were other dogs in cages underneath him, but he got the cool ride with the wind in his face like us.   ↧

We made it to the Hampton Inn and were so ready to get our showers, but due to illness among their staff, they were behind getting rooms cleaned. We had to hang in the lobby with our bike and wait. We got more questions on the bike because some others were waiting as well. The Hampton staff consoled Tony with free beer.

Dinner tonight was at Old Mexico restaurant, which reminded us of Linda & Wade's upcoming wedding in Mexico. Fiesta!!!

Tony's Extras

We've been facing headwinds the whole trip so far, but today was the most brutal. We were bicycling in 78 degree weather, so who can complain though really. As Joan noted, we got to the hotel and had to wait for 1 1/2 hours to get our room. After 1 hour they offered me free beer, so my mood got much better. 
Last night after we posted the blog, I was walking to get another decaf coffee. There were guys standing outside their room drinking Natty Lights. They said, "You are getting your exercise tonight." I said that I would rather be drinking Natty's with them and laughed. When I walked past them again, they handed me a Natty. I noticed that they were contractors for traffic projects. We started talking about their projects, traffic lights, etc. They said that they were working on a round about and started making fun of traffic engineers that design them. We now had something in common. We spent the next 15 minutes or so making fun of traffic engineers who like round abouts. I tried to stick up for Mitch and say that when there are accidents, they are at low speed with minor accidents. They informed me that 2 people were killed on a round about right outside of of Tallahassee. So much for trying to agree with Mitch. Round abouts are stupid. I really do enjoy pushing Mitch's buttons. It is just too bad he wasn't there. Lovin this weather when you all are expecting snow.