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Paddle Across Florida
Dave’s attempted Bike Ride Across the US
Trip Report (copied from online journal)
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No SAG, No
Companion: Going Solo as originally planned
Thursday February
20, 2014
I met my prospective riding partner last weekend. Nice guy, but I don't believe he was ready for the tour I am doing - average 90 mile days. Anyway, I was willing to give it a shot because I got used to the idea of not going solo. He pulled out probably (all I know is his wife "vetoed" his ride) because he and his wife realized this will be more challenging of a ride than he is ready for. I encouraged him to still do a cross country ride someday but at a lower daily mileage. I have to do 90 mile days due to my time constraint - I have a job and wife to get back to! The week before, my SAG support bailed on me too. All along he told me to plan as if he wasn't coming but he said he was 95 percent sure. Well things changed (he does have a good reason and I fully understand) so I am also out of a SAG support. I got stressed especially after losing a companion but now I am excited again and looking forward to experiencing life on the road solo. My wife still wants me to have a companion so if you are reading this, have the time, equipment, and you KNOW you can do 90 mile days, every day for 30 days, send me an email. We did have a nice ride around the Polk City, FL area. We rode on the General Van Fleet rails to trails path but really enjoyed a ride around a lake we saw. The rails to trails path became boring because it was straight. Still a beautiful path but I have come to like the wandering and turning routes. Plan is to ride 60 - 80 miles/day this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, fully loaded. I am hoping the weather warms up a bit before my ride which starts March 21, 2014.
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Two weeks until
start: Last two weekends for training.
Friday March 7,
2014
Training run fully loaded. Did 60 miles, very windy and I hit the wind both directions because a front came though and the winds changed directions rather quickly. Hot down here in south Florida. Trip begins in two weeks from today. Excited and trepidated. I know I will have to figure out how to eat enough daily and at what times in order to be fueled correctly. I am famished and spent but know I could easily do 30 more miles before dark if needed. So I feel good about my training.
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Day1: Dip rear
tire in Atlantic Ocean
I'm
on my way!: Tybee Island, GA to Pooler, GA
Friday March 21,
2014, 27 miles (43 km) - Total so far: 27 miles (43 km)
The trip has begun! Today was a bonus because I got in around 30 miles and the plan was to start tomorrow. So I am already ahead and I fear I will need as many "extra" miles I can get in during my trip. I won't feel comfortable with my 90 miles per day plan until I've done it for a week or so. So great to have finally started. My wife Darcy drove me to the starting point and met me at the hotel. We say goodbye for the first time in over 30 years where we will be apart more than 2 weeks. That will be a bigger challenge than the physical part of my ride. We drove up to Tybee Island from Boca Raton, FL which took 7 hours. Left at 4:30am and arrived 11:30. My wife was going to ride with me today before we part but the road conditions for bicyclists wasn't that good in many places and we it was too time consuming trying to get a rental car so we could shuttle. Just as well. The conditions were nerve racking but I am kind of used to traffic with riding in south Florida. I had neither incidents nor close calls -a credit to the drivers who passed me on the road today. Still, very tight going through downtown area, but I enjoyed it. I only packed my dry bag so I could attach my large slow moving vehicle emblem on the back. I know that really helps to get driver's attention. They seem to give me more room. At times it was hard to keep up with my pedals. I didn't notice going up slight hills but I really felt it coming down and at times I was pushing over 23 mph without trying. Great weather today. Hope I stay lucky. Tomorrow my goal is Vidalia, GA and to hopefully be on some less travelled
roads. A good start.
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Day2: 88 miles,
introduction to hills
Saturday March
22, 2014, 80 miles (129 km) - Total so far: 107 miles (172 km)
I peddled 88 miles today from Pooler, GA to Mt Vernon, GA. It didn't get light until after 7am so I started around 7:30. Tearful goodbye with my wife, Darcy. We haven't been apart for more than 2 weeks in over 30 years. The ride was on hwy 85 and then 30. Again, I was very impressed by the courtesy of the Georgia drivers. Not a whole lot of room for bicyclists on the roads I was on. Nice scenery and the weather was great - overcast and cool. Got chased twice by dogs but they didn't get too close, but I had to peddle fast. One dog kept up the chase for a tenth of a mile! Being from Florida I wasn't familiar with those things called hills. I
know I am carrying too much weight and the hills helped to point that out. I
did well but towards the end of the day I was getting tired. What's going to
happen when I'm introduced to mountains? That's why I am going east to west,
I want my legs in shape by time I hit the mountains.
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Day 3: I'm
exhausted!
Sunday March 23,
2014, 80 miles (129 km) - Total so far: 187 miles (301 km)
Posted via email
Tue Mar 25 18:29:02 2014 PDT
Well, being a Florida boy I can now tell you I was not prepared for all the hills. I did all right until mile 40 then I bonked. I am exhausted from the peddling but now I know I am not taking in enough calories. After I ate some fig nutrition bars I felt fine for just 7 miles. Then exhaustion, depression set in again. I will remember to fuel more often - I think that is my main issue. I did 80 miles and was going to do 90 but I found a campground and was told there wasn't anything else for at least 15 miles. So I stopped for the night. I am waiting for my legs to get stronger but maybe it all has to do with my eating. Uneventful day except for all the hills. No dog chases today but a lot of wannabees. The cows I passed all seemed very interested to see me as I shout to them "What? Haven't you seen a bike before?" The horses watched me ride by with a look of concern on their faces. Nice scenery and although the route I'm taking isn't 100% bicycle
friendly, the drivers have been great and give me lots of room. Tomorrow I
will experiment with eating more snacks between meals.
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Day 4: Felt good,
exhausted at end of day
Monday March 24,
2014, 80 miles (129 km) - Total so far: 267 miles (430 km)
Posted via email
Tue Mar 25 17:46:02 2014 PDT
I actually did 90 miles today but only 80 count. Why? I missed a turn, went up 2 steep hills and finally stopped to check. I made cue cards that are very dependent on watching and trusting your mileage on your computer. In retrospect this is very bad because if my distance stopped working on my basic Cateye, I am hosed. Problem is that when you take back roads, they are not on AAA maps... I stopped in a town and did what a lot of others have done. I took everything out of my panniers and brutally discarded stuff and mailed back home. I had the post office weigh it - 9 pounds. I got rid of 4 of my extra tubes but I have puncture resistant tires Marathon Plus Tour as well as very heavy thorn resistant tubes that weigh a little over a pound each. Other stuff was a complete chain and clothes. My bike did feel better afterward but the hills still are killing me. See my Epilogue - I still had over 63 lbs I was carrying even after discarding 9 lbs... I stopped in Ellerslie at a fire station and asked if I could camp at a pavilion that was on their property. Firemen volunteers Jim and Steve said sure! They said if the police ask just tell them that they said it was okay. I love small towns! When I asked about a place to eat they referred me to a bbq place but it was closed today. So Steve took me to his house for a sandwich, potato salad, and a beer. That was great. The night was good and it stayed fairly warm in the upper 40s. It was predicted to be 30 so I was literally a "happy camper." Next morning I ate at a diner across the street: grits, eggs, biscuit, hash browns, yummy. When reviewing the photos I took, I was remiss to not have taken any of
Ellersville. I can't believe it - it was such a neat place to stay and I was
happy and comfortable under the pavilion. I was so tired and somewhat
delirious due to exhaustion and lack of adequate nutrition. I was getting
into trouble.
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Day 5: I'm sorry
folks, it's over...
Tuesday March 25,
2014, 54 miles (87 km) - Total so far: 321 miles (517 km)
Posted via email
Tue Mar 25 18:32:01 2014 PDT
Well, I kept waiting for my legs to get stronger and for me not to get desperate as the day went on. Today was supposed to be a light day; I only had to make 54 miles. The (cold) wind kicked in at a constant 17 mph with gusts 25 mph. Right in my face. Going downhill where I should be hitting 25+ mph I was lucky to hit 16 because the wind was so bad. I almost went over once when a gust and an 18 wheeler came by at the same time. I did however learn how to relax more and use a better gear when going uphill. The hills today were very, very long, at least for this Florida boy. Again, I was exhausted and just wanted the day to end. I knew I would not be able to keep doing this every day for 4 to 5 weeks. My schedule to average 90 miles per day was too aggressive for me, being self-supported. I'm pretty sure a 50 to 60 mile a day trip, I could do. If I do try this again, it will be either with absolutely no time or mileage constraints or with a SAG, or both. Me being self-supported and by myself was too much for me to handle, especially when I had adverse conditions. In Lafayette, AL, there are no hotels although I was told there would be one. I became despondent because I was so exhausted, had low sugar, shivering in the oncoming cold front, whatever. I did find a Subway and had a nice early diner and relaxed for 45 minutes. Then I asked everyone with a pickup truck for a ride into Opelika, AL where there are hotels and an Enterprise rent a car. The girl working at the gas station/food stop called her dad and he drove me there. I told her I would pay 50 dollars if anyone gave me a ride. She was very nice and she could tell I was in trouble especially with the temp rapidly dropping and the winds blowing. I told her my plan was to pitch my tent behind her building and she said not to do that because it isn't a safe area. I said I had no choice because I could not peddle to 20 or 25 miles to the next town. She saved me. I would have been so miserable out in the cold and wind. I am typing this from my nice, warm hotel room in Opelika, AL and I have a reservation for an SUV from Enterprise who will pick me up at the hotel tomorrow. Then I lick my wounds and go home... I enjoyed trying at least. It wasn't a dream of mine to do, nor on my bucket list. It was just something I wanted to try and to push myself and to inspire others. My only regrets are that I feel I let down my family and friends and others who were following me. At least I tried. If you are reading this, please learn from my folly. I did not follow the
ACA route (and you don’t need to if you are good at planning routes using
maps and Google Maps) because I wanted something shorter. My route was nice,
but very hilly and nothing around (food, lodging) for 30 miles or more most
of the time. Lodging was non-existent in many towns and that surprised
me. I could not just stop to get food
or lodging. There just was nothing around most days. You need to consider this if planning your
own routes. A SAG on this route would
have made this more possible, still not sure if I could have averaged 90 mile
days unless I could have off loaded my supplies with the SAG. A much lighter bike would have made a huge
difference.
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Epilogue: What went wrong
Friday March 28,
2014
I'm typing this the morning after I got home. I lay awake last night analyzing the trip and all the details/work I put into it. Here are my conclusions and lessons learned: 1) I was determined to do this trip no matter what and I should have
postponed or found a group with SAG to go with instead of going solo. Don't
be too stubborn to change your plans! 2) Going without a SAG would be ok if in a group and if the route hit more places with supplies and accommodations. 3) Consider the daily mileage - I had a time constraint - thus the 90 mile per day goal. This is very aggressive even with being fully supported 4) I have a heavy bicycle (Surly LHT) that weighs in at 42 lbs with
racks, fenders, water bottles filled, seat pack, and ignored the weight
consequences. 4) I am happy I tried and I learned a lot about myself and my limits. I also know I could do this trip if I do it right next time. Lastly, I absolutely believe that
if my Paddle Across Florida kayak buddies could have joined me on this trip,
we would have made it – as a team. I
found that although I like to challenge myself and endure pain and struggle,
I don’t like to do it alone. I will
start working on getting them to join me when I do this again J |
