June 17
Ponce De Leon, FL to Quincy, FL
95 Miles
2040 ft of climbing
Map:
http://www.mapitpronto.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=routePlanner.viewDBRide&rideID=2087
(Cont.)
http://www.mapitpronto.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=routePlanner.viewDBRide&rideID=2088
(Partial)
Tuesday we woke up with an extra rider. Michael was bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to go. He told us this would be the furthest he'd ever ridden in two consecutive days. By double. It ended up just shy of two hundred miles in two days. The pace was reasonably easy for him on his light, fast bike.
Once again, the scenery was not what I expected. Heavily wooded with semi frequent patches of recently harvested tree farms. The trees are mostly used for pulp I understand. There was very little flat riding but little of what you could really call climbing. It made for a new kind of fatigue. It's also true our pace may have been a little quicker with Michael than it would have been otherwise.
As we crossed the Apalachicola River we entered the Eastern Time Zone. There was a steep short climb from the river into Chatahoochee. We were less than a mile from Georgia at that point. We got to town hot and breathing heavily.
From Chatahoochee it was rolling hills to Quincy. We rode past a magnificent golf course complete with airstrip. We then rode past a series of country estates and I wondered what fueled the economy. Maybe the proximity to the state capitol, Tallahassee.
After saying goodbye to Michael we found a place to stay and went to dinner at an excellent soul food buffet complete with fried chicken (second only to grandma's), turnip greens, and pancakes. After dinner we went back to Allison House and showered, then went back out and did our laundry at the local liquor store/laundromat. All this within a few blocks. Then it was back to Allison House to finish the basketball game on TV and off to sleep.
We were not disturbed by any ghosts though our accommodations were officially haunted according to a certificate in the downstairs hall issued by some authoritative group.
Talking with out host we learned that the wealth we saw in and around Quincy comes primarily from tobacco. It was a center of shade grown tobacco production which is used primarily for cigar wrappers. White Owl Cigars was headquartered here.
Off we go again. The countdown has begun to our final cycling destination of the trip.
More to come.
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