Quickly to Quincy

Today was a rolling rest day. 55 miles to Quincy. There was some flat, some rolling hills, and a couple of hills which had me reach for a gear I haven't used in a long time. Most of the ride was on back roads which were traffic-free and beautiful.

As we left the town of Chattahoochie (sp?), we ascended a long hill into the Florida Alps, or so it seemed. Had a report of a bicyclist who was bitten yesterday around mile 40 of our ride. The bicyclist's wife called Womantours to warn us --- could it have been Dan and Beth, who were traveling with Dave along much of the ride at the same time we were? (Dave told me on Dauphin Island that he had split up from Dan and Beth to go his own way.) We were told the local animal authorities picked up the offending dog and the owner said the other dogs would be kept indoors. We had no trouble through that part of the route.

Had a great lunch and wander in the downtown square in Quincy. Went to Miss Helen's Expresso Cafe d'Art and had a wonderful sandwich and some iced tea. Her place has local art for sale on the walls and was very, very classy. Next door was a gift shop which sold beautiful locally-made arts and crafts. There was also an art show with gorgeous paintings by Dean Gioia and lovely hand-turned wooden pieces. Had just a couple of miles from there to the hotel. In the short time we took for lunch and sightseeing the temperature felt like it rose to 90 degrees!

All in all, today was more like how I wish the entire ride could have been -- put in the miles early in the day and then sightsee. Unfortunately we haven't been able to do that most days because we need to put in more miles than can accommodate dallying.

Bike stats: 55.78 miles; 4 hrs. 10 minutes riding time; 1,796 total trip miles.

Food stats: Dinner last night was chicken in peanut sauce, rice, asian salad, and a cupcake for dessert. Breakfast was cereal, yogurt, banana. On-road snack was half a banana. Had a ham club at Miss Helen's with whole grain chips, a pickle, and iced tea.

Tomorrow we travel to Wakulla Springs and stay at the lodge there. There is no wireless internet at the lodge (and I don't know whether there is any cell phone coverage). We'll have a layover day there on Sunday, so I'll update the blog on Monday.

I'm now back in the same time zone as Peter, Brody, and all my Vermont friends!!