Chattahoochee, FL to Bonifay, FL (54 miles)

Monday May 5, 2008 Ride #8

Last night the winds picked up. I didn't sleep real well, and the geese were honking pretty early as well. That KFC or whatever caused the upset stomach continued to plague me throughout the night. I am thinking I may have been dehydrated as well since I managed to put 32 oz of Powerade down through the night.

I woke up to Mr. Goose walking past my tent door. He seems protective of my campsite since I fed him some pasta yesterday. A different kind of HONK comes from him when he thinks other geese are coming over to be my friend, too.

I got started a little later than planned thanks to my cell phone (which I use as an alarm clock) switching over to a Central Time Zone tower from an Eastern Time Zone tower in the middle of the night. But when I told camp neighbor Phil, "I shoulda been gone by now", he responded correctly "Look, last night you told me you are an ordinary Joe doing this ride. You probably needed the sleep." And he was right. 30 minutes late was not going to upset the day.

After eating 3 packets of oatmeal (vs a usual 2 packet start) I got on the road. The worst part was climbing out of the campground. It is a nice way to ride IN to the campground, but a horrible task to ride OUT. Nevertheless, I managed to get up the hill well and across the Apalachicola River I went. Roads seemed manageable today, rolling hills, but I am getting used to them. Weather was partly cloudy, but mostly clear and a nice headwind that wasn't too strong, but just cooling. Not bad.

Following US Highway 90 west, I first hit Sneads and the Grand Ridge. Of course, my thoughts went to Mel Brookes Blazing Saddles town of Rock Ridge ("someone go back and get a sh!tload of dimes"). A little past Grand Ridge, where I was supposed to follow County Road 164A, but elected to stay on 90, a dog tore out from the bushes near a house and headed straight for me. I was just thinking that on lesser traveled county roads I could probably have some music on while I pedaled. Music in this case could've cost me precious seconds of reaction time. I heard the bushes parting as he tore through, and no matter what is causing that, I want to get away from it. So I picked up speed. Soon this dog is running at his fullest speed next to the bike and I am making shouting sounds at him that I don't often make. After three of these shrieks at him, and an increased pace he fell back. Phew! After my heart rate slowed, I got back to my peaceful morning ride.

After the dog terror, I found Marianna, the largest of the day with population of 6,230, followed by Cottondale. I ate lunch in Cottondale after having logged 35 miles or so. I ate at Braxton's Oyster Bar & Grill. Their slogan "we can shuck 'em faster than you can eat 'em because you can't eat 'em 'til we shuck 'em". Maybe it was because I wasn't wearing a John Deere cap like the others, but it took a while to get served and makes me doubt any fast shuckin' had I chosen oysters instead of the burger.

I saw another cyclist in Cottondale, but it was through the oyster-shuckin' window of the restaurant, and the cyclist was actually pointed out to me by a John Deere cap wearing customer as if all cyclists knew eachother. They looked to be heading East as everyone has so far. Maybe that means I am keeping good time and no one is passing me going west, or maybe it simply means no one would think of going west this late in the year as the asphalt begins to sizzle.

I rode into the town of Chipley, and found the public library where I have updated the online journals or blogs.

After I left the Chipley library, I climbed back on the bike and headed to Bonifay. Just as the day started with a dog tearing after me, it would end in a similar way. With only 3 more miles to go, a white sheep dog-looking dog came out after me. I let out a tremendous shout at him and he stopped his approach. Either that oir he reached the property line of which he is so protective.

I stayed at the Economy Lodge in Bonifay. Not a great place. Although there was a pool and the water was clear, there was so much junk stacked in the pool area that it was clear no one uses the pool. A rat was also seen walking among the junk stacked there. No pool time for me.
After a shower and doing some laundry in a sink, I walked to the restaurant next door (despite the rat proximity), and got some dinner. After buying a few drinks for tomorrow I hit the sack.

start time: 8:48am Eastern, 7:48am Central
end time: 5:00pm Central
time on bike: 4:18:21
miles: 54.11
avg speed: 12.57 mph
max speed: 35.70 mph
calories: 3918