Monticello to Crawfordville, FL (71 miles)

Thursday May 1, 2008

I shared some laughs with the kind owners of the Brahman Inn when I checked out and left the home of the overflowing toilet at 8:15am. The first 11 miles down County Road 259 were hilly. Every day it seems the first few miles are tough, but then it just becomes rhythmic. Stronger each day, I am now turning the third chainring and climbing hills in it. These hills are rolly and it is frustrating to fight for elevation you only give back a few feet fuerther down the road. i consider it training ground, though.

Passing the overpriced KOA near Waukeenah, I headed into a town named Wacissa. The road crew was out trimming the trees along the power lines in preparation for storm season. They had one lane of the 2 lane road closed and the traffic control guys with signs were out. As I approached, the man in the orange vest smirked and turned it from STOP to SLOW. I told him that it was the only way I knew how to travel and he and the other guys laughed.

In Wacissa, I stopped at the gas station/store. Despite the fact the power was out so the road crew could work, I grabbed a couple drinks from the dark cooler and talked with the heavyset guy behind the counter. His interest right away was what I did for a living. When I mentioned working for a technology company in the past, he moved onto stories of technology stocks. Just as the story was ending, he informed me he was closing shop to "make a run out to the dump while he had time". I went down to the post office and got a couple post cards and sent them out from the dark lobby.

Heading out of Wacissa, the fun started. Super flat roads with little to no traffic. County Road 259 and Old Plank Road (County Road 2195) are wooded on both sides and flat, so you can really get moving as long as you can keep your mind occupied for the miles you saw ahead of you. 10 miles outside of Woodville, I pulled over at a bridge so I could rest. 10 minutes passed, but no cars ever did. Most of the traffic I DO see is comprised of County vehicles.

In Woodville (popln 3,006), I found a place to eat lunch called "Debbie's Country Diner". It was located inside a gas station. Having parked the bike outside the front entrance, I could see both booths inside were occupied by people who may be talking about the uncommon sight in front of them, as is common gossip topic in small towns. Having ordered chicken tenders, mashed potatoes & gravy, and lima beans for lunch, I sat down at one of the recently vacated booths. Next to me was an older gentleman who said I could join him. Nice fella. His name was Dick Ranger, retired law enforcement. Silver hair with bushy eyebrows and metal rimmed glasses, he claimed the lima beans Debbie made were a real treat, and it looked from the healthy sagging cheeks on his face, he didn't miss too many of her meals. Dressed in a light blue shirt with white snaps, dark blue pants, with black socks and black shoes like the grocery boys wear, he made conversation with me. First he pointed out the guy filling up with gas out there, how he had a nervous habit of fidgeting with his eyeglasses 10 times. "Nerves, ya know?" he said. "Nerves have ate him up." Soon, his long time friend and hunting buddy, Roger, with white hair revealing a widows peak, silver rimmed glasses atop a large schnoz, came to join us. Roger is the husband of Debbie, the station manager. Both shared rumors about the nervous man outside and his gambling problem. They said he loved the scratch off lottery tickets and would sometimes go to the bank across the street to get money and come over to the station and spend it on tickets, sit in the driver seat of his car, and scratch them off, only to return to the station repeating the process. In bad times, he would drive out, circle the gas pumps, and drive back in choosing another place to park. They say he has a lucky parking place. As they shared these stories they asked me more about me and where I was from, what i was doing, and commenting on the "fancy bike ya got there". Once Dick found out I was heading to San Diego, he told everyone who entered the station. He also told me the route I needed to go from Woodville to Crawfordville, where I would visit my uncle for a couple days. Along the way, he recommended Wakulla Springs State Park, recalling days from his youth how he and Roger and others would sneak in and go swimming in the springs. "Largest and deepest springs in the world", he said. Parting the station, Roger continued to tell arriving customers of my eventual destination and said so boastfully, with pride and some ownership of this goal himself somehow. As I rode down St. Marks trail, an old railroad turned bike trail, Roger drove by waving as he went home. Very nice people! Lucky I met them!

Following my GPS directions, I went by the Wakulla Springs State Park and verified it is indeed the largest and deepest spring in the world. With crystal clear 70-degree water, it is beautiful, though I resisted successfully from jumping off the 2-story diving platform there. A few short conversations with people there, and I was off again. Follwoing some haywiore directions provided by the GPS, I made it to my Uncle Tom's place at 5:45pm and 71 miles from where I started that day. Fed well as a reward, I went to bed thinking about how kind those two fellas were in Woodville.

started riding: 8:15am
ended riding: 5:45pm
time biking: 5:29:41
miles: 70.6
average speed: 12.85
calories: 5,353