Day 91, August 29: Jacksonville Beach. Distance 68 miles. Sunny temp in the 80s.

We made it to the Atlantic Ocean! We rode A1A all the way and dipped our bikes into the Atlantic at 2:00 PM. Later we celebrated by presenting Rich and Sandy gifts for their daily support and untiring dedication to our ride. Keith surprised the rest of us with certificates of completing our cross country ride. We finished the day with a group dinner at Joe's Crab Shack on the beach. Words are inadequate to describe our feelings of pride, jubilation and sadness that our ride together was coming to an end.

Day 91, August 29: Jacksonville Beach. Distance 68 miles. Sunny temp in the 80s.

Day 90, August 28: White Springs to Callahan. Distance 95 miles, Clear skies high 90s.

Leaving White Springs on US 41 the foggy morning led to some unpaved roads off US 441. A new route took US 441 north all the way to GA. About 12 miles into GA we turned south-east on GA 94 and followed it to Florida where it became FL 2. This long and straight stretch of road borders the Okefenokee Swamp where we saw some wild pigs. It was noon and 65 miles into our ride when we saw our first place to get a cold drink. Our route continued where FL 2 took us to CR 121 north to to River Road (Old CR 108) east to Callahan. The four of us rode a line for the entire day and ended the day with a century and an average speed of a little over 17 mph. GA 94 and FL 2 were desolate with only a few lumber trucks. US 441 was also very low traffic. The busiest traffic was encountered entering Callahan on River Road where we passed a school just letting out. Our 3 months of riding prepared us for this ride and although hot and long it was a lot of fun.

Day 90, August 28: White Springs to Callahan. Distance 95 miles, Clear skies high 90s.

Day 89, August 27: Monticello to White Springs. Distance 75 miles, Scattered showers - 80s

Our B&B in Monticello had a super breakfast for us and got up extra early to ensure we had a good meal before riding. Kudos to Pat and the 1872 John Denham House B&B. Wheels up while dawn is breaking at 7:00 AM. We had a little fog as we left Monticello but it soon burned off as the sun came up. Our route was east on US-90 passing through the towns of Greenville, Madison, Lee and Live Oak. We stopped for a break in Lee and met early riser Keith there. In Live Oak we connected to CR 136 and had lunch while waiting for a storm to pass by. CR 136 took us into White Springs. The roads were smooth with light traffic and a nice shoulder on US-90. We had mostly flat riding today which helped our average speed. All in all, another beautiful day for a bike ride.

Day 90, August 27: Monticello to White Springs. Distance 75 miles, Scattered showers - 80s

Day 88, August 26: Tallahassee to Monticello. Distance:52 miles. Partly cloudy w/ temp in 80s.

Today's ride was direct to Monticello on US 90 and then a short ride down to Waukeenah and back. Leaving Tallahassee on US 19 at 7:00 AM we had to ride west to catch Magnollia Ave to avoid closed roads in our path. Once on US-19 we had little outbound traffic but no shoulder until we passed the Interstate-10 exchange. We had smooth roads all day with a south wind and gusts up to about 20 mph. In Montecello we stopped at a cafe for coffee and pastry then took US 19 and CR 259 to Waukeenah. An excellent lunch was had at the Tupelo Cafe in Monticello. The Sage Restaurant will be used for dinner completing another day of great riding.

Day 88, August 26: Tallahassee to Monticello. Distance:52 miles. Partly cloudy w/ temp in 80s.

Day 87, August 25: Tallahassee Rest Day

Today was a day of rest. Outside the weather was cloudy with intermittent showers. Our motel was the Homewood Suites by Hilton and was a blessing in that we had large suites with free breakfast and dinner. Time was spent drying out cycling clothes, drying the front and rear bicycle bags and their contents, getting caught up on blogs, planning an alternate route for Thursday and making reservations for a car rental in St. Augustine. Last night we all went to Olive Garden for dinner. Today was a good day to catch up on things and relax.

Day 87, August 25: Tallahassee Rest Day

Day 86, August 24: Marianna to Tallahassee. Distance 76 miles. Partly cloudy w/ showers, low 80s.

We left Marianna about 6:30 AM. We had a fast 11 mile ride to Chattahoochee where we stopped for breakfast. We continued on through Gretna and Quincy where we paused at Quincy to avoid a dark sky downpour. About a mile east of Quincy we were told by a west bound motorist that the US 90 bridge was closed. We called *FHP and were told that water was covering the bridge and we could take County Road 268 out of Quincy. We stopped at the police station in Quincy to see if any other route was available and were told that CR 268 was also now closed. The only route left was SR 12 to CR 230 to US 27. On SR 12 we crossed a critical bridge that took us over a river that had flooded over its banks. During this segment of our ride we saw the most effects of the winds and water from Fay with several down trees, flooding and power outages. We arrived at our hotel in Tallahassee about 2:30 PM. All arrived safely, so another GOOD day of riding.

Day 86, August 24: Marianna to Tallahassee. Distance 76 miles. Partly cloudy w/ showers, low 80s.

Day 85, August 23: De Funiak Sprins to Marianna. Distance 54.5 miles, WET!

An after hot breakfast start from our motel got us on the road at around 8:00 A.M. The weather forecast for the day was rain and north wind. Our route took us east on US 90 through the towns of Argyle, Ponce De Leon, Westville, Caryville, Bonifay, Chipley, Cottondale and finally to Marianna. The rains were light at first but increased through the late morning hours and tapered off at the end of the ride. The winds were from the north with some early morning gusts of 15 to 20 mph. The good news is there was not much traffic as it was Saturday and most folks were staying home on account of the rain. We were all glad to arrive at Marianna and hopeful that the worst of tropical storm Fay was now behind us.

Day 85, August 23: De Funiak Sprins to Marianna. Distance 54.5 miles, WET!