Day 29 – The “H” Word

Tuesday, November 18th

Homosassa Springs, FL to Perry, FL

Before I tell you about the “H” word, here’s some food for thought suggested by my boyfriend.

Today we rode 120 miles in a wind tunnel.  Fought through a hundred and twenty miles of headwind.  It hurts to think about it.

As we checked out from the motel around 8 this morning, the lobby TV, tuned to the Weather Channel told us of a cold front pushing in from the North and of the hard Northeast wind blowing in behind it.  The animations illustrated thick blue arrows radiating almost directly from the direction we’d be heading.  All I could do was laugh.  Then sigh.

Another laugh came a bit into the ride after we stopped for a snack and a bathroom break.  About ten miles North of Crystal River, near Inglis, we passed State Road 40, which doubles as “Follow That Dream Park”.  Our dream was a tailwind, but we’d have had to turn around to follow that one.

The bright light at the end of the wind tunnel (actually just the halfway point) was Mary’s Little T Diner (formerly, Bettes Big T) in Chiefland:

They serve the freshest, tastiest mashed potatoes I’ve known to exist and their fried chicken tenders are wonderfully delicate and savory.  They also gave us some warm corn cakes (fried corn bread that looks like a silver dollar pancake) that we’ll have to try to recreate at home.  If you’re ever near there, don’t pass it up!

The lady who owns the space next to the restaurant let us charge the batteries while we ate.  She’s clearing out the attached space – formerly a truck repair shop, but unused for the past 15 years – and putting in an antiques store which looks like it will be pretty cool.  She filled two dumpsters with trash from the shop and cleaned out a mountain of leftover truck parts and tires which she’ll unload at her next yard sale.  Neat lady.

For the first three fourths of the trip, Dad followed me, blocking traffic from behind.  Having used much of my battery fighting the wind we stopped to charge at a mobile home campground.  Since my joints were quickly wearing down, I drafted Dad for the remainder of the ride.  We, unfortunately, didn’t make our motel in Perry before nightfall and had to ride about 10 miles in the dark, but we did find out that traffic gives us more room when I’m riding in the back.  Once we arrived, my fingers were almost completely numb.  I’ll have to find better gloves tomorrow.

Today’s Quick Stats:

Bike              Distance (mi)    Average Speed (mph)     Trip Odometer

MiniWini           119.07                   17.0                           1918.0

Sti(ck/g)          119.07                   17.0                              –

Stampedes: 2

Roadside Pees: 2