|
 
Tuesday, December 4, 2001 - Doing 90 All Day and Still Doing Only 70
71 miles. Crestview, FL to Northwest Florida Campground, Chipley, FL
Today we got one of our best starts when we got up
at 4:45 and were on the road by 6:30. The sun was not up yet and it was a cool
clear 50* so we rode with our long clothing on for the first 90 minutes or so as
we left Crestview behind.
U.S. 90 gradually climbs onto a long narrow ridgeline
leading thru Mossy Head (no jokes please) and on to Defuniak Springs. This
stretch has a few hills that required us to shift all the way down but it was
easy riding despite the headwind.
Passing large cotton fields the terrain is then clothed
with young cutover pine forest into Defuniak Springs where we took an hour off
for lunch at a roadside park. Here we ran into a fellow cyclist of a different
stripe. He was riding a Huffy ATB with big studded tires and all his
"gear", which was considerable, strapped in a tall pile onto a
handlebar basket in front. How he manages to balance the unruly mess with its
high center of gravity is beyond me. He claimed to have started his odyssey in
the Keys and had proceeded up U.S. 1 on Florida's Atlantic coast and from there
over to Defuniak Springs from where he was going to Naples, FL.
He volunteered that we would have a much better chance
to change a flat since we have a pump and he did not. I agreed. He was going out
onto I-10, not to ride, but to hitch a ride. He allowed that it is difficult
since potential rides are hesitant to pick up someone with a bicycle in tow. As
we headed west out of town we passed him sitting by the side of the road. He
will not be an inductee into my Cycling Hall of Fame.
We pedaled around Lake DeFuniak, which is a small lake
located smack dab in the middle of town and surrounded by many historic homes
and continued east on U.S. 90 thru Ponce De Leon, Westville and Caryville, all
"areas" and not the cities they purport to be, and into Bonifay (pop.
2612). This 30 mile stretch was along excellent pavement with a nice paved
shoulder with few homes and forest in all directions shown to good effect in the
strong December sunlight.
This has been some of the most enjoyable riding of the
entire trip. After Bonifey we burned onto Chipley (pop. 3886) to our campground
in the lengthening shadows of the already setting sun. We got in at about 3:30
nine hours after starting with at least seven hours of that time spent pedaling.
Dinner was corn beef hash, green beans, bread and kool aid devoured with typical
speed. Cycling Anecdote: {overheard in Ponce De Leon} Small boy to his father,
"Why they ridin' bikes?" The reply, "I don't know. I guess 'cause
they like to." Smart man.
|
