Day 31: Kate's to Palatka: Take off my hat and hit me with a bat (but don't sell me a stale apple fritter)!

March 5, 2015

We have come to realize that the southern third of Florida is not really part of the "South". It is more a part of Quebec, New York, Michigan, Cuba, and Mexico. That is why you can find there French croissants, coal oven pizza, and Cuban sandwiches. But central and especially northern Florida, are the South.

With Kate's, we sure could tell we were not in, for instance, Germany. The Germans would have long ago picked up all the trash lying around - like they would have done it already by the 16th century! And we were not in Quebec, or even Mexico. Yup, it was the South.

On the way to the restroom at Kate's Fish Camp

The little river from Newmans Lake near Kate's

Any remaining doubt we may have had was wiped out at or after breakfast. Dodie had figured out that in this region, the best food outlet for us is Dollar General. Not only do they have unlimited cheap oatmeal, but yesterday Dodie came out with raisin cinnamon "bagels". She was a little surprised that I did not seem more overjoyed at the prospect of having these instead of the dreaded oatmeal. Actually, I was pleased, though for any kind of a bagel fan, cinnamon raisin from Dollar General is somewhere below the bottom of the barrel!

When breakfast time came, we prepared the bagels, Dodie points out, with peanut butter and jam, making a nutritious and yummy package. As we cycled through Hawthorne, though, I was agitating for some further nutrition. Dodie offered some Belvita cookies. This is a breakfast type product, again ok if you are starving, and certainly better than straight sawdust, possibly it's main ingredient. Ok, exaggeration! Anyway, when I saw a grocery store with BAKERY written large on the side, I took a sharp turn and headed on in. The "bakery" consisted of several tables of packaged stuff, and I picked up one with four apple fritters for $4. Outside, Dodie sighed, but I dug in to one. Oh my. Not only was it stale, but the only real way to eat it would be with a chaser of industrial degreaser. Oh well, do we still have those Belvita's.

While we were still on the Gainsville-Hawthorne bike trail we ran into one of the few long distance cyclists we have met. This bit is part of the ACA Southern Tier route, but the season is just beginning and most people start from the west. This particular cyclist did not show quite the expected profile, since he was riding a hardware store type Schwinn bicycle, and was pulling a rather goofy small wheeled trailer. It turned out that he was heading back(!) to Colorado after going to Eustis (near Orlando). He had had his bike and gear stolen in Eustis, so what we saw him with was what he had cobbled together since. The bike was just 7 speed. Colorado! This guy had guts.

In Hawthorne we needed to make a choice, between following the ACA route to Palatka or taking a more direct way, along SR 20. We stopped in at a citrus store and the owner turned out to be a cycling fan. He denounced SR-20 as dangerous, and strongly recommended the ACA route. SR-20, he said, had no bike lane before Interlaken, and, he seemed to say, no shoulder. That sealed it, because Laurie has instructed us to come home alive. So off we went, initially north instead of east, on a route that would cost 13 km by being indirect. The route, it turned out, began with truly no shoulder and a rough surface, but it did have low enough traffic to be safe-ish. Later we did get onto a lovely new rail trail, from Putnam Hall to Carraway, but we ended on our traditional narrow but usable shoulder, along SR 100 on in to Palatka.

One advantage of having followed the ACA route out of Hawthorne, was that we ran in to our first flat out official Southern Tier cyclists. These were Kathe and Reinhard, and they were easy to scope out: Full Ortlieb kit, in orange, and branded Globetrotter. They had to be from Germany, the home of Globetrotter and of orange Ortliebs. Indeed, they were from Hamburg, and no doubt had bought that stuff at "our" Globetrotter. We crossed the street and had a nice chat. Reinhard was planning a shortcut into Gainesville, and pooh poohed my strong recommendation to follow ACA along the Hawthorne-Gainsville trail. So we are not the only ones having to choose between the fast way and the safe(r) way.

As we cycled away from Kathe and Reinhard, Dodie and I ran over all the challenges we knew they would face on the way to San Diego. It made us tired just thinking about it. Tonight, the TV ran through the details of a cold and wet front they are heading into. Yup. Par for the course.

For our part, we cruised quite easily into Palatka. Dodie had researched motels from home, and found the Sleep Inn to be the cheapest (at the time). Sleep Inn is a brand name motel, part of a chain that includes Comfort Inn, Econolodge, and many others. It's the kind of place that has lots of shampoo, pillows, plugs, matching furniture, and a continental breakfast. Somehow, this just hit the spot with us today.What's more, there is a Golden Corral across the street.

So just this second, with the weather perfect, lots of food, lots of pillows, clothes washed and hanging to dry, and bikes safe in a huge motel room, it really feels like vacation time! Tomorrow, that front that we know will hit Kathe and Reinhard may also have a swipe at us, but for the next 12 hours, we're cool!

The owner of this shop was a cycling fan. Our tangerines were on the house, and he helped us thinbk hard about the best route to Palatka.

The ACA route has some imperfections. This is 219A to Melrose.

Melrose, though small, has a few eighteenth century houses of interest.

One house typical of nice ones in Melrose

The classical outline of an approaching long distance cyclist.

Reinhard and Kathe, from Hamburg, on their way to San Diego.

The trail ends abruptly, after Carraway.

Our luxury blogging location for tonight.

Today's ride: 75 km (47 miles)
Total: 1,619 km (1,005 miles)

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