Garmin Connect -
Activity Details for
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November 6, 2009
November 4, 2009
Day 31
We did take it easy on Hutch today but mainly because he went on the offense and stopped at every seaside town he could acting like he was on vacation. So, we let him have his day in the sun and we'll set him straight with a real ride tomorrow. We just rode 52 today but it took as long as any of our 100 mile days. But Hutch had a good vacation.
Forgot to mention one aspect of the start of Hutch on the tour. We rode 1 mile down the road from lunch and realized Hutch was in desperate need of air( in his tires). We pulled into a gas station to use the air pump. Brad was kind enough to take charge and fill his front tire. As he was filling his back tire , Hutch asked: do these things ever blow? At EXACTLY that instant, the tire exploded!! Classic start. We were probably another 5 miles down the road and as Brad was moving up to take his turn in front he turned to me and said, I can see it all changing right here, right now its going to be completely different from here on in. And right he was.
We stopped for a great swim in the Gulf. As we were drying off getting ready to climb back on the bikes Hutch surprised us by pulling out three bottles of Guiness, packed in ice, from his saddle bags. They were just as refreshing as the swim.
We rode to Panama city beaches and found a condo complex renting condos for the night. We got a great deal on a three bedroom condo on the beach. What a welcome change from the motels we typically stay in. Spent some time looking at google maps charting a course for the next few days. Had pizza delivered and called it a night.
Forgot to mention one aspect of the start of Hutch on the tour. We rode 1 mile down the road from lunch and realized Hutch was in desperate need of air( in his tires). We pulled into a gas station to use the air pump. Brad was kind enough to take charge and fill his front tire. As he was filling his back tire , Hutch asked: do these things ever blow? At EXACTLY that instant, the tire exploded!! Classic start. We were probably another 5 miles down the road and as Brad was moving up to take his turn in front he turned to me and said, I can see it all changing right here, right now its going to be completely different from here on in. And right he was.
We stopped for a great swim in the Gulf. As we were drying off getting ready to climb back on the bikes Hutch surprised us by pulling out three bottles of Guiness, packed in ice, from his saddle bags. They were just as refreshing as the swim.
We rode to Panama city beaches and found a condo complex renting condos for the night. We got a great deal on a three bedroom condo on the beach. What a welcome change from the motels we typically stay in. Spent some time looking at google maps charting a course for the next few days. Had pizza delivered and called it a night.
November 3, 2009
Day 30
Well we found Hutch. Brad and I rode 46 miles this morning to Pensacola Beach and found Hutch enjoying a Bloody Mary at Hemingways on the beach. After lunch we rode another 42 miles to Destin and called it a day. Brad's cousin, Donna, lives in Destin so she was our host for the night. Thanks Donna, it was great to see you again. We had a good day and Hutch got reasonably acclimated to our routine. Spent the whole day riding along the Gulf Coast. Beautiful! Had a nice stop along one of the few areas that are not developed and went for a swim. I have a few great pics that I will post later. We plan to have a fairly casual day of riding tomorrow just to give Hutch one more day of peace before we put him to the test.
Seems like I have been in the central time zone forever. Looks like we will cross over into EST tomorrow. Losing that extra hour of daylight, on Saturday, at the end of the day puts more pressure on getting up even earlier to ride.
Keep your comments coming, they are great to read and we take them as motivation as we head into the final stretch.
I got a few questions about the the picture I posted of the road that was flooded. That was while I was in TX, actually riding through a State park. I came up over a rise and was surprised to see the road was completely washed out. I actually considered walking across but the closer I got the more I realized that was just not an option. I found a work around solution that only added 7 miles or so and I was back on the right route again.
Keep your comments coming, they are great to read and we take them as motivation as we head into the final stretch.
November 1, 2009
Day 29
We rode 117 miles today. We are now in Gulf Shores, AL. It was a great day for riding. Cool but sunny skies. We rode for a little over 7 hours today and averaged 16.4 mph again. Not bad after riding 126 yesterday. We rode the last hour in the dark but didn't have to use our headlights because we were under a full moon and could see fine. Of course we had ALL of the blinking lights on the back that we keep on all day long so traffic could see us from behind. We had to take a ferry from Daughin Island to Ft. Morgan. The ferry was 95 miles into our ride. We wanted to catch the 3:30 ferry since the next one didn't leave for another hour and a half. We pulled onto the ferry at 3:25. 95 miles and we arrive with 5 minutes to spare!!!??? In fact, we finished lunch at 1:30 and were still 36 miles out. We ripped through those 36 to make it. It was a good challenge to have a goal with a deadline. We have a goal of making it to some specific town every day but no real deadlines. It was fun to test ourselves like that late into a ride.
We will probably ease up a little for the next day or so. Hutch landed in Pensacola. We are about 35 miles west of him so our plan is to meet him mid morning and see just what kind of training he has been doing. He called tonight and it sounded like his bar room training has been robust but we'll have to see how he is in two wheel drive.
October 31, 2009
Day 28
We rode 126 miles today out of Louisiana and into Mississippi. It helps that it was flat and we had calm winds. Forecast was calling for rain but we had sun all day long. We kept a decent pace, 16.5 mph, for the day and spent 7 1/2 hours in the saddle. Brads navigation skills have paid off again. He found a rails to trails route (paved) that we followed for 30 miles. It was a great break from riding next to traffic all day. We finished around six and walked to the only real restaurant within walking distance, which was a Mexican restaurant, which was fine but that was our only real choice at lunch too. Both places, the food was outstanding.
Brad was to arrive in Baton Rouge Thursday night but he was snowed in , in Denver. So he came in on Friday. That resulted in me having a second day off, which was fine. I spent a fair amount of time tuning both bikes up and getting ready for the final push to the end. I shipped the tent, sleeping bag and therma pad home. That took a good 6 to 7 pounds of weight off which I clearly noticed and appreciated during todays ride. Those items were really emergency provisions. Riding in the west is so different than the east. There are huge gaps of space without any civilization. So, if I got stuck and couldn't make it to a hotel or couldn't find a hotel with vacancies, I would have a plan B. The other reason for bringing that stuff along was in case the weather turned against us. This time of year, particularly at elevation, the weather can get pretty lousy in a hurry so that would have also provided some "shelter from the storm". But the density of towns and population is so different here and the weather isn't as extreme ( at least from a temp standpoint)that I think I can do without the extra weight. It does bother me that we carried that stuff 3/4's of the way across the country and never used it. I almost slept in it two nights ago just to satisfy my regret for bringing it along but the Holiday Inn seemed like a better choice.
Tomorrow should be another good day for riding. Cold in the morning but sunny all day. Depending on how far we get we will connect with Hutch either Sunday night or Monday mid morning. He arrives into Pensacola Sunday late afternoon.
OK, I just posted the above and saw that Brad simultaneously put up a few choice photos. So, I am going to edit this post and add some clarification and self defense. For those that don't know Brad, there is still a fair amount of little kid left in him. He was hell bent to stop at a store and buy Batman and Robin costumes. He thought that would make for a fun Halloween day. He finally found a Walgreens and started shopping. He got his batman costume, as you can see. I wasn't in quite the same festive mood that he was in but he insisted that I have a costume as well. After telling him that we were burning valuable riding time, I was reminded that sometimes with him it's just easier and quicker to go a long with his nonsense. So, 30 minutes later, off we went with those ridiculous costumes and candy in our pumpkins mounted on the back of the bikes. I guess after a while on the road, you get amused easily. The costumes didn't last too much longer than the photo op. Thanks Brad for those photos.
Brad was to arrive in Baton Rouge Thursday night but he was snowed in , in Denver. So he came in on Friday. That resulted in me having a second day off, which was fine. I spent a fair amount of time tuning both bikes up and getting ready for the final push to the end. I shipped the tent, sleeping bag and therma pad home. That took a good 6 to 7 pounds of weight off which I clearly noticed and appreciated during todays ride. Those items were really emergency provisions. Riding in the west is so different than the east. There are huge gaps of space without any civilization. So, if I got stuck and couldn't make it to a hotel or couldn't find a hotel with vacancies, I would have a plan B. The other reason for bringing that stuff along was in case the weather turned against us. This time of year, particularly at elevation, the weather can get pretty lousy in a hurry so that would have also provided some "shelter from the storm". But the density of towns and population is so different here and the weather isn't as extreme ( at least from a temp standpoint)that I think I can do without the extra weight. It does bother me that we carried that stuff 3/4's of the way across the country and never used it. I almost slept in it two nights ago just to satisfy my regret for bringing it along but the Holiday Inn seemed like a better choice.
Tomorrow should be another good day for riding. Cold in the morning but sunny all day. Depending on how far we get we will connect with Hutch either Sunday night or Monday mid morning. He arrives into Pensacola Sunday late afternoon.
OK, I just posted the above and saw that Brad simultaneously put up a few choice photos. So, I am going to edit this post and add some clarification and self defense. For those that don't know Brad, there is still a fair amount of little kid left in him. He was hell bent to stop at a store and buy Batman and Robin costumes. He thought that would make for a fun Halloween day. He finally found a Walgreens and started shopping. He got his batman costume, as you can see. I wasn't in quite the same festive mood that he was in but he insisted that I have a costume as well. After telling him that we were burning valuable riding time, I was reminded that sometimes with him it's just easier and quicker to go a long with his nonsense. So, 30 minutes later, off we went with those ridiculous costumes and candy in our pumpkins mounted on the back of the bikes. I guess after a while on the road, you get amused easily. The costumes didn't last too much longer than the photo op. Thanks Brad for those photos.
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