A step back in time

Yesterday I regretfully took off from my island oasis of Jekyll Island. It was a very peaceful place and restful even with the kayaking and riding my bike and walking everywhere. I ate a box of donut holes for breaskfast and took off into a headwind. It took a bit to get used to the load and riding and climbing with it, but I was soon back into the groove. I headed south on 17 and wasn't sure where I was going to spend the night, but I knew I could get into the hostel at St. Augustine if nowhere else appeared. Tent sites at all the places in Florida I checked were $30 a night for a tent! I found that once you hit northern Florida you hit Jacksonville and stay in it most of the way to St. Augustine. I ended up getting a flat in Jacksonville due to a two inch nail going through my tire, hitting the rim, then bending and proceeding all the way into the tire. I rode for another mile before it went flat and I had to change it. The tire I put on in Nashville proved to be so rigid that even with the air out of the tube it didn't collapse for the rim to touch the ground.

This ended up being my longest ride so far as I went all the way to St. Augustine. 121 miles. My body felt fine doing it but I didn't leave Jekyll till almost nine and didn't try and push until Jacksonville. I arrived as the sun went down, checked in, unpacked, showered, then went and ate. Conrad, the hostel owner, remembered me from two years ago when I came through on my first tour.

I am planning on spending a couple more days here before I head down the coast to Miami. I will leave here Wednesday and arrive there on Sunday.