Thursday, April 26, 2012

Tallahassee to Madison FL April 26 2012

Ken and I clowning with Ray Charles

Wooden bridge over beautiful Bayou

would up sleeping in this morning which really put me behind the eight ball. I didn’t set my alarm as I had thought that I would wake up in plenty of time. Normally it would not have been a big deal as it was only 66 miles. 
The reason that today was a problem is that we were going to ride through Tallahassee in a group. So I threw my gear into the bag and hurried off to get on my bike. In my haste I never put my route sheet on my bike, never filled my water bottles, and forgot to reset my odometer.  As a result I was in a fog as to where we were going and where I was all day. I knew that we were just riding down state highway 90 until the very end when we turned off to head up to our camp ground. 
The group ride was a total shambles as nobody told anyone the rules of the ride. Riders were passing each other on both sides and not staying in groups of two. The pace vehicle would speed up and slow down. The chase vehicle was not riding the center line but riding the curb so vehicles in the outside lane would crowd the white line. Some riders were braking while going down hill and thereby spreading out the group. Luckily no one had a flat. The group ride was 14 miles and when it was over we broke up an headed off down the road.
We rode through Greensville which was the birthplace of Ray Charles. There was a sag stop there so we all stopped and took pictures of the Ray Charles statue. There was a lady who grew up with him in Greensville sitting in the park. I did not talk to her as there were a lot of other riders talking to her.
I was going to ride down to our camp with Don and Liam but they got out in front of me and they were not going to let me catch them. I was riding as hard as I could but they held me off until we got down to Madison, where we hit some hills and I was able to ride them down on the hills. We all went in and had lunch in a local diner which was very nice.

Tonight we are staying in some sort of church retreat which is several miles out in the country. We were going to be inside but as there is no room inside we are in our tents for two more days. The women’s toilet is not working and only one men’s toilet so Bubba has brought in two porta potties. There is no shade, no internet, no beer as it is church property, and nothing to do. At least the tents are spread out. It looks like 60-70% of the riders have elected to find a hotel room. Tomorrow is our last day off.  Bubba has arranged some sort of canoe/kayak trip for tomorrow. Details are some what sparse. 
Terry

5 comments:

Earnie said...

Just missed you, Terry. We were at a SAG stop on Safari at the same place you stopped to see Ray, but we were there on Wednesday. We were in the little gazebo. We also were riding north into that wind, but Tom took mammoth pulls to get us home!

Later,
Earnie

Don said...

I was wondering if that was the same Madison from the Safari. Aftering Earnie's comment it was.
Small world huh? You should know the roads inside and out around there. Have you looked for the markers on the roads yet for the Safari? Ride safe.

Judy said...

We feel sooo guilty for abandoning you at Madison:(
More so as we are in Gainesville enjoying our hot shower, working toilet, free breakfast, and afternoon reception.

Jim said...

Sounds like you are close to Swannee River and Live Oak country. Too bad you just missed th Safari riders. I'm off for my Desert Classic century tomorrow and the get ready to fly to Florida. Keep up the good work!

Jim said...

Thinking of you on your day off, today when I did the Scottsdale Desert Classic. Great ride and weather. Richard and Lynn were there too and said to say hi to you. See ya in a few days