Periodic Progress Report Southern Tier Cross-Country Bicycle Tour

Date(s): Nov. 13, 1999
Day: Saturday
From: Marianna, FL
To: Quincy, FL
Lodging: Quincy Recreation Center
Segment Mileage: 56.6
Cumulative Mileage: 3174.7
Actual Riding Time: 4:45
Average Speed: 11.8
Weather: Mild, sunny
Temp: Low 80's

The day started early when I heard Jimmy's alarm at 4am. He and Jim left at 5:30 to get to Quincy before the post office closed. I managed to sleep in until 5:30 and got up to prepare breakfast and lunch foods for the group. Oliver and Bruno took a while to roll out of their tents after their late night adventure. Oliver wanted to see a real football game so they went to the high school homecoming game, riding their bikes in the dark to the park entrance then walking a mile to the stadium. Oliver's comment was that it was hard to see the ball, being accustomed to watching soccer matches where it is always visible as opposed to football where the object is to hide it as long as possible.

Since Jim wasn't able to ride sweep, Oliver and I volunteered. It was relaxing to have a casual start for a change, and we didn't leave town until 9am, after Oliver made another trip to the local Walmart. One goal for the day was to see an alligator, the other to go to Georgia which was about 1/4 mile off route near Lake Seminole. We didn't see any 'gators' but we did get to Georgia. We took our time getting to Sneads where we took a brief break "You're with that California group right?," then to Chattahoochee where we met Suzanne. Her riding partners, Cyndi and Bruno, decided to visit the dam at Lake Seminole and she was going to ride ahead until she happened to talk to a policeman who said our route through town was dangerous for a single woman. It turned out that the area was just a rundown section of town and we've been through much worse. In fact, it was the only section of town where we were greeted by friendly people out in the street. I felt much safer there than on route 90 with pickup trucks zooming by.

Bruno and Cyndi returned as Oliver and I went to the lake for another break, so Suzanne rode on with them, knowing that she would need to get in early to cook with Spike tonight. One reason to go to the lake was to cross into Georgia and add another state to Oliver's collection, so we stopped at the state sign for a picture. There were flies everywhere, and later Oliver joked that he didn't like Georgia, there are too many flies there.

Once we left route 90 the ride was much more enjoyable. It was a smooth surface with little traffic through an area of small farms. We started to see some cotton fields and the first soybeans that I've seen on the trip. Oliver and I spent most of the time at a moderate pace, talking side by side, moving to single file when a car would appear. In Quincy we're staying at the city recreation center, located between two tomato processing plants. It has nice facilities, although the women's bathroom doesn't have showers, an indication of how women's sports fared in the past. Dinner was at the local Pizza Hut, and on the way there we saw a fully loaded cyclist who turned out to be Todd returning from his coastal trip, not sure where the rec center was located and glad to see us. He had a long trip and was ready for a rest day but will have to wait for a couple of days until we get to Spirit of Suwanee park near Live Oak.