Day Eighty-three, Date Friday, May 22, 2009
Time in Saddle: 3:12
Distance for the Day: 30.97 miles From Pensacola To Milton
Accumulated Trip Distance: 3600.66 miles
Altitudes: Starting/Ending 60’/78’ Highest: 171’ Accumulated: 1227’
Speeds: Avg: 9.6 mph, Max: 26.7 mph
Weather: Overcast in the AM, rain in the afternoon, 70°
Expenditures: $12
I woke up at just before daybreak, got up and turned off the lights – Cho never came home. She finally showed up at about 8am – it rained a bit during the night, so she didn’t want to ride home in it, and stayed up all night visiting with her friend from out-of-town (she had *another* out-of-town friend coming in this evening – a definite surge in out-of-town guests in a short amount of time, for her!) I got up, and we had a bit of breakfast, and then I began another purge of unneeded items which included extra clothes, the bivvy sack, the “waterproof” booties, the bottle of campstove fuel (I gave that to Cho; I also gave
her the sandals that Paul R of Lake Mead had donated to me – I found I wasn’t really using them). Thus lightened, I was able to fit things even more comfortably in my panniers, and that’s a good thing. I got all my gear packed, and loaded it onto my trike, but not before finding out the damage from last night’s curb incident: the port side steering control rod got slightly bent and abraided. I would have to see if the local bike shop could help me straighten that out. I thanked Cho for hosting me; we hugged, and I took off, but then came right back because a) I forgot to take a picture with her, and b) I forgot to give her the extra key to her house! She said it would be
okay for me to go back to her workplace to work on finishing my Google Maps updates, so that’s where I went, and that’s what I did. I had to wait until about noon, anyways, before checking at Cyclesports to see if the letter with my SD card had arrived, anyways. I finished updating Google Maps (it’s a miracle!), and found out the SD card *did* arrive (finally) to Cyclesports. It only took the Post Office 6 days to get it there – their service has definitely degraded – there was a time not long ago when it would have made it in two or three days, but at least they finally did come through. Alright! Music for the road.
Time in Saddle: 3:12
Distance for the Day: 30.97 miles From Pensacola To Milton
Accumulated Trip Distance: 3600.66 miles
Altitudes: Starting/Ending 60’/78’ Highest: 171’ Accumulated: 1227’
Speeds: Avg: 9.6 mph, Max: 26.7 mph
Weather: Overcast in the AM, rain in the afternoon, 70°
Expenditures: $12
I woke up at just before daybreak, got up and turned off the lights – Cho never came home. She finally showed up at about 8am – it rained a bit during the night, so she didn’t want to ride home in it, and stayed up all night visiting with her friend from out-of-town (she had *another* out-of-town friend coming in this evening – a definite surge in out-of-town guests in a short amount of time, for her!) I got up, and we had a bit of breakfast, and then I began another purge of unneeded items which included extra clothes, the bivvy sack, the “waterproof” booties, the bottle of campstove fuel (I gave that to Cho; I also gave
her the sandals that Paul R of Lake Mead had donated to me – I found I wasn’t really using them). Thus lightened, I was able to fit things even more comfortably in my panniers, and that’s a good thing. I got all my gear packed, and loaded it onto my trike, but not before finding out the damage from last night’s curb incident: the port side steering control rod got slightly bent and abraided. I would have to see if the local bike shop could help me straighten that out. I thanked Cho for hosting me; we hugged, and I took off, but then came right back because a) I forgot to take a picture with her, and b) I forgot to give her the extra key to her house! She said it would be
okay for me to go back to her workplace to work on finishing my Google Maps updates, so that’s where I went, and that’s what I did. I had to wait until about noon, anyways, before checking at Cyclesports to see if the letter with my SD card had arrived, anyways. I finished updating Google Maps (it’s a miracle!), and found out the SD card *did* arrive (finally) to Cyclesports. It only took the Post Office 6 days to get it there – their service has definitely degraded – there was a time not long ago when it would have made it in two or three days, but at least they finally did come through. Alright! Music for the road.Got a Subway sandwich ($7) and some drinks and trailmix ($5) while heading up Hwy 90 out of Pensacola. While I was at Subway, I managed, with some difficulty, to upload the albums from the SD card to my iPod. It got to be close to evening, so I began to look for a good stealth campsite. It had started raining, so I was looking for some place covered, and found one (sort of) at 7pm. It looked like a home-based business right off the highway with a small carport at (N30° 37.800’ W86° 59.574’). I knocked on the door, but no one was home. I couldn’t quite tell if it was a home or not; if it was, it being Friday evening, the owner might just be out to town, and would be back later. I set things out to dry, and waited. When it got dark, I put out my ground cover and sleeping bag. At midnight, I got up and set up my tent (first time for use!), and slept mosquito free in perfect comfort. If it was too warm, I could just lie on top of my sleeping bag; if it got a bit cool, I could climb inside. It poured rain, but I was dry and comfy, and I guess that place was a business, only, because no one showed up the whole night. It was right across the street from a railroad, so twice that night, it seemed like trains were bearing down on me, but I’d go right back to sleep after they passed, no problem.
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