Bicycling Florida to Texas
Through
Alabama, Mississippi,
Arkansas & Oklahoma
2008 - May - June
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Jacksonville to Macclenny, FL
Distance: 34.4 Miles
Well we started our great adventure for 2008 today. Yesterday we got on the train in Richmond, VA after spending a few wonderful days with Amber and Bruce and our granddaughter Sophie. She is a real delight.
We arrived in Jacksonville, FL at 6:45 AM. We retrieved the bicycle from the baggage claim at 7:00 AM and began the slow job of reassembling the bicycle. At 9:00 AM the bicycle was put together and we headed out the station door. The first thing we came to was a 6 lane road and we had to make a left turn. The traffic gods had pity on us and no traffic was coming from either direction. ½ mile later we had to make another left turn off of the 6 lane road and a large truck was in the left turn lane. We got in front of the truck and at the green light we peddled hard so we did not hold up the truck. Now we were on a street of only 4 lanes and for the next several miles every street we were on was a 4 lane road. The good news is that the land is very flat. Bad news the head winds made up for the hills. Except for having to climb hills to get over railroad tracks, Northern Florida appears to be very flat we will see what the next few days brings.
We trained for this ride by resting and resting and resting. We are both really tired today after only 34 miles of riding. Part of the problem is that we did not sleep well last night on the train and breakfast was very quick since the dining car did not open until 6:30 AM. Mary Kay suffered very bad leg cramps a couple of times during the day, so we stopped and let her walk. The two of us drank 1 gal of water during the 3 hour ride.
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