Tally-ho to Tallahassee

It turns out there was a fellow traveler staying in the b&b in Greenville. We shared stories and advice over breakfast with Martin. He rode the Southern Tier Route years ago from San Diego to New Orleans and is now finishing the route by going from Jacksonville to New Orleans. As we know from experience, NOLA is a great place to end a bicycle journey! Safe travels Martin!

We paused briefly at a tribute statue of Ray Charles who was raised in Greenville, Fl.

After yesterday’s challenging 87 miles, we decided to skip a detour we planned down to St. Mark’s Wildlife Refuge. It would have added 15-20 miles to both today and tomorrow’s ride. That’s two extra hours each day in this heat and humidity. Plus, we wanted to explore some of Tallahassee, and connect with Bruce’s college friend’s son. However, we had no reservation, and it was game day for FSU. Simple things like sightseeing detours and lodging changes become monumental when you travel with all your belongings on a bicycle.

We checked out Warmshowers and there was a hostel of sorts called Bicycle House. It’s basically a huge warehouse of bikes that they fix up   and provide for the homeless, as well as bike sharing for visitors to Tallahassee. There is a room for overnight guests, and Scot was able to accommodate us.

The morning’s ride was going pretty well~ there were some hills, but we were making good time. Then Kelley got a flat tire. On the rear tire. Bruce was able to change the flat and get us on the road without having to take any gear off the bike! Hurray!

The first stop of the day was in Monticello. An interesting town with a courthouse right in the middle of the roundabout. They also have an old-fashioned barbershop like Floyd’s and Bruce was all set for a shave, but it was closed☹️. We had a bite of lunch and were on our way.

When we got to the outskirts of Tallahassee we rode several miles on the Old St. Augustine Canopy Road. It was hilly, but it was so beautiful with all the live oak trees that it was worth the hills.Near the end of the road, there was Scot, our host for the evening, ready to escort us to our lodging.

We went to dinner and chatted for a long while with Will Montgomery, who is working to provide green energy. After he left, we met up with David Altmaier, the aforementioned son of Bruce’s college buddy. We had a great time with him, and he gave us the dime tour of the capital area.

Total cycling mileage:  59

Total hiking mileage: 6