March 17, 2007, Saturday
Atlantic Beach to DeLand, FL
DeLand is old Florida, much like most parts of the Florida not located along the coast or near Disneyworld. There's something very attractive about these old Florida towns. Many have a real downtown surrounding by a traditional grid of streets filled with attractive old houses. It's home to Stetson University, Florida's oldest privately-owned college, which was founded by Baptists. We stayed at the University Inn which was located across from the university, a short bike ride from the ride headquarters, at DeLand High School, and not far from downtown DeLand.
After registering for the ride, we checked in and got ready for a short ride around town. The tour was to officially start the following day, but a route was planned for those who arrived early. We checked out the town and made sure everything was functioning properly on our tandem, a Barcroft Columbia purchased at bikes@vienna where I work. The streets were very bike-friendly; at least they weren't unfriendly. We cruised for a while, getting lost briefly and a friendly older gentleman pointed us in the right direction.