Day 12 – Powered by Reese’s

Saturday, November 1st

Marianna, FL to Monticello, FL

After taking a Benadryl before bed yesterday evening, I woke rested and in the same position as when I fell asleep.  The swelling and pain in my finger had vanished and my knees even hurt less!

We tried to update our Garmin’s software (without success), then packed up and rode out to a crisp, gorgeous morning.  My knees needed a break after around 10-15 miles, so we pulled off at a gas station, I stretched and made some adjustments, got ready to go, then asked Dad, “Do we need to get anything here?”  He paused, “… How about a Reese’s bar?”  I paused, “… Can I get a cappuccino?”  “Better make it fast.” “Okay.”  All smiles, we rushed in grabbed our goods and got out to enjoy the sugary treats in the fresh air.  Minutes later, wired on chocolate and sugar (and caffeine in my case) we were cruising down the road, averaging 18+ mph against a headwind.  We’re beginning to think there’s something to these Reese’s bars.

Then we hit the hill that leads into Chattahoochee.  We pulled into a gas station at the top of the hill to take a picture of the gigantic hill Dad had just climbed (I had to get off and walk) and though it doesn’t show the grade of the hill, trust us, it was steep!

(If you were wondering, the yellow sign says “Caution: Blinding Sun”)

Getting back on the road, I dropped the back of the bike off a curb, which gave us problems later.  Otherwise, biking through Chattahoochee offered a rude awakening after such a pleasant morning.  It was hill after hill after hill after hill.  We attracted a lot of attention though; there was one neighborhood with several people hanging around outside, enjoying their Saturday morning and the whole group erupted in amazement and disbelief when we rode by, cheering and yelling.  It provided some much needed encouragement.

Once in Quincy, having planned to eat lunch and charge the batteries, we pedaled around looking for a restaurant or gas station with external outlets.  While looking, I happened to notice that I had broken the left side of the battery rack, probably when I dropped the bike off the curb in Chattahoochee.  Dad rigged it back together using my frame pump and we followed one pedestrian’s suggestion to check the hardware store around the corner for repair supplies.  Dad went into the Bell & Bates Home Center while I watched the bikes, did some texting and made some calls.  He came out with the good news that they had offered to let us recharge the bike in one of their storerooms.  We wheeled the bikes around to the side, plugged the chargers in and started on the repairs.  Mark helped Dad gather all the supplies for the repair and set us up with a place to charge, then Luke happened by and stopped to help us with all the repairs.  They even offered to watch the bikes while we went to eat lunch (and an awesome restaurant Mark recommended).  Thank you both so much!!

While the batteries charged, we walked around the block to the Divine Grace Deli & Bakery and had the best turkey and ham sandwiches either of us have tasted in our lives.  This is not an exaggeration.  The fries were great and the sandwiches were almost other-worldly.  So very tasty.  So good that we couldn’t leave without thanking the cook and taking a picture of the restaurant.

We will certainly be returning to Quincy if only to visit Diving Grace and Bell & Bates!

Bellies full and spirits perked, we pushed on to Tallahassee.  Just west of the city, I pulled into a station to pee (my delicious pink lemonade from lunch had done it’s business, so I needed to do mine) while Dad bought another Reese’s bar (a FastBreak this time).  We enjoyed the treat, then realized we needed to start booking it to reach our motel in time.

Back on the road, as the traffic thickened, a bicycle lane emerged.  Unfortunately, the extra lane only seemed to make the drivers more aggressive and careless (”Oh, the bikes have their own lane now; I don’t have to think about them any more”).  This would have been easy to deal with, except as we drew further into Tallahassee, the terrain grew more hilly and the stop lights more frequent.  As soon as we’d work our speed up to move with traffic, we’d hit a red light.  As soon as we’d recover our momentum from the stop, the next light would turn red.  We’d put all our effort into climbing a hill and hit a red light half way up.  This happened for about six miles.  Who thought up this city?!  It’s a nightmare.  Nothing but traffic, hills, stop lights and (this weekend) football fans.  We’ll do everything we can to steer clear of Tallahassee on the way back.

I did get a laugh out of the ride through the city though:  While passing by the university, some college kid in his friend’s car cheered at Dad, “Yeah!  Rock out with your …” and I think you know the rest.  (If you don’t and you’re really wondering, ask your kids or your 20-something nephew.  They’ll fill you in.)

The stretch from Tallahassee to Monticello (our destination for the evening) was the roughest stretch we’ve crossed.  Big hills, then more big hills, then bigger hills, then finally … oh wait, no, just more big hills.  Over and over and over again.

If I were to attempt this stretch with out the power assist, I *might* have made it over the first hill.  Maybe.  Dad, on the other hand, traversed ALL of these hills, finishing the day with a 17.2 mph average.  In Tallahassee our average had dropped down into the 16s, and he actually RAISED his average going over the hills.  I couldn’t be more impressed.  He chalks it up to the Reese’s, his new superfood.  I’ve been calling him Wolverine Dad and Old Man Logan because of his uncanny ability to be tired and beaten one minute then flying up a hill the next.  He recovers so quickly from each day, it’s inhuman!  But now that he pulls his power from the Reese’s, I’ll have to start calling him Popeye and the Reese’s his spinach.

We made it to Monticello (amazingly), found our motel and rode to a gas station to see if there were any other options for a place to stay.  The gas station owner told us of the B&B (who wanted $150 for the night) and of the hotels along I10 about 5-6 miles away.  Since there was no way we could brave 5-6 miles of more big hills, we decided to head back to the first motel.  But before we left the station, the owner welcomed us to the most haunted city in Florida (or the South, I can’t remember) and started telling us about some of the haunted homes in the area.  He said our motel was haunted, too.  Glad we didn’t stay here yesterday!  (Side note about the gas station owner:  We got a laugh when the guy asked Dad out of the blue, “Are you a cop?  You look like a cop.”)

After getting our room and getting cleaned up, we went to eat at a nearby sandwich shop called Sage.  Over dinner we talked about the ride and about how I have been running out of songs to sing on the road.  I came up with a couple of my own back in Texas (one about Hwy 90 and cows, the other about roadkill) but neither Dad nor I had come up with any new ones since.  Amazed at the power of the candy, we figured our next song should be about Reese’s.  We’ve got a few lines started, but if you have any ideas or suggestions for tunes or lyrics for the new song, email them to me.  Seriously.

Today’s Quick Stats:

Bike              Distance (mi)    Average Speed (mph)

MiniWini            95.82                   17.0

Sti(ck/g)           95.52                   17.2

Stampedes: 2

Roadside Pees: 1