Day 23: Monticello to Midway: The gloves come off

January 27, 2014

We started our day at a welcome 10 degrees c, and things improved from there. Ultimately we were cycling in the 20's and low 30s, which is pretty much ideal.

Not ideal was the fact that the shoulder disappeared on hwy 90, as we crossed the county line into Leon County. Leon is the county of the state capital, Tallahassee. Shame on you, Leon County.

Shoulder or not, hwy 90 and its surroundings in this area is beautiful. The roadside has benn planted for many km with a tree that looks like the Arbutus that we have back home, but that has many trunks. Can anyone identify these?

These Arbutus like trees lined the highway and made a pretty sight

Also outstanding was Lake Miccosukeewith Bald Cyprus standing out in the water, and unique colours close to shore.

Fortunately, we had been warned about the hwy 90 shoulder by Butch, last night, so we had our answer ready. If anyone (Michel!) is tracking this closely, we bailed off of 90 onto 59, which heads South, back toward the ACA route. However we then went left on 27, which has a shoulder and heads straight to Tallahasse.

Just as Butch said, the shoulder disappears

The St Marks river is filled with Cypress

Now we're talking Florida cycling. Not only did the gloves come off, but a lot of other clothes too. Nothing risque, of course.

27 incidentally, is designated the Lawton Chiles route and we have been seeing signs about that for some days. Chiles walked Key West to Pensacola. We, of course, will consider Pensacola as only the beginning. But then again we have these 'racing bikes' to help us. Here is the whole story:

The 1,003-mile walk

In 1970, Chiles decided to run for a seat in the United States Senate. At the time, despite his 12 years in the state legislature, he was largely unknown outside his Lakeland-based district. To generate some media coverage across the state, Chiles embarked upon a 1,003-mile, 91-day walk across Florida from Pensacola to Key West. The walk earned him the recognition he sought, as well as the nickname that would follow him throughout his political career– "Walkin' Lawton". In his journal Chiles wrote that sometimes he walked alone, while other times he met ordinary Floridians along the way. In later years, Chiles would recall the walk allowed him to see Florida's natural beauty, as well as the state's problems, with fresh eyes.

Hwy 27 was reasonably scenic and reasonably safe until it neared Tallahassee. Then traffic intensified and the shoulder disappeared. As we got closer to the state capitol we had to walk the bikes. There was no longer even much of a sidewalk to try riding on. Traffic swirls right up to the capitol building, and the view is marred by a high rise motel right behind.

Our route took us right through the centre of town, and we were amazed to see that there is no apparent walking area, or anything with any ambiance anywhere. Further, the streets allow no space at all for the bicycle, and we were forced to either duke it out with the traffic or bounce along the broken sidewalks.

10 km and more out of town to the west, the situation was unchanged. The only change, really, was that strung out fast food and other restaurants gave way to kms of used car dealers.A bit of a shoulder did appear a little before we had escaped Leon County, but e ven outside of Leon we never felt comfortable on the road.

We had a coupon for Howard Johnsons in Midway, and actually bypassed a likely looking RV park because of it. At the front desk we asked if we had got Tallahassee wrong, but instead our impression was confirmed. we leaarned of a couple of sporadic efforts to build some bike lanes near here, and some walking area in town, but so far there really is precious little. It's a really poor show for a state capitol. From our point of view, the effect is that we are really beat, from so much traffic fighting.

The early part of the day, though, was really nice, and the moderated temperatures a super treat. Right now, in the evening, it is raining cats and dogs. Had we gone to the RV park we would still have been dry in our tent, but the tent would have ended wet, and we hate that!

Seminole Wind

Ever since the musical evening at the Suwannee, I have been looking for enough time and internet to listen again to the John Anderson tune Seminole Wind. It struck me when first hearing it that night that it captured some of our experience in the Everglades and near Lake Okeechobee. So now, here are the lyrics, followed by a Youtube of a John Anderson performance. This will help you share in the experience of this place.

By the way Micanopy and Osceola were Seminole chiefs, active in the resistance to Andrew Jackson, in the 1830's. Micanopy is a town near St Augustine, and was Micanopy's birthplace.

Seminole Wind

Ever since the days of old,
Men would search for wealth untold.
They'd dig for silver and for gold,
And leave the empty holes.
And way down south in the Everglades,
Where the black water rolls and the saw grass sways.
The eagles fly and the otters play,
In the land of the Seminole.

So blow, blow Seminole wind,
Blow like you're never gonna blow again.
I'm calling to you like a long lost friend
But I know who you are.
And blow, blow from the Okeechobee,
All the way up to Micanopy.
Blow across the home of the Seminole,
The alligators and the gar.

Progress came and took its toll,
And in the name of flood control,
They made their plans and they drained the land,
Now the glades are going dry.
And the last time I walked in the swamp,
I sat upon a Cypress stump,
I listened close and I heard the ghost,
Of Osceola cry.

We remembered finding our right gaz at Dick's in Montana. So when we spotted this one....

Bingo! Three cans of gaz. We cycled 800 km before finding this.

10 km west of tallahassee, on the ACA route, still no cycling joy

But look Amelia, they do have a street for you!

Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 1,219 km (757 miles)

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