Leaving Tallahassee we had a short cycle of 25 miles to Quincy. Experience tells us it takes ages to cycle out a city and so we never try for a long distance.

This day was just right and we were able to have a leisurely strawberry milkshake for lunch. To date the quality order of milkshakes is Dairy Queen, Burger King, McDonalds then pre packed garage milkshakes. Hopefully, we can improve on this list with an artisan shake that costs a fortune and if its got Gucci or or Versace on the cup then it has my vote. I’m such a ‘label’ type guy.

We stayed over at the Allison House Inn which was built in 1843 and once the home of General Allison, who became Governor of Florida in 1842. It made a great change from the usual motel chains. We were in the Governor’s room and Susan was on edge the whole time as I generally leave an oil stain scum around all the white bathroom porcelain in each motel we visit.

Throughout the day the odd bit of running maintenance covers me in oil and it kind of scums up the sink when I wash my hands. In the last motel I even managed to get a black tide mark around the toilet! Susan went bananas but it serves her right for not supervising me and chatting on Facebook. You see I cleaned the bike chain with tissues and flushed them. It made sense at the time but I wont be doing that again 🙂

I couldn’t get the toilet bowl cleaned properly and using toothpaste didn’t help. Toothpaste is an abrasive and works on porcelain teeth – can you see my thinking with a toilet? Anyway it didn’t work that well and Susan was lucky she wasn’t on Facebook again or I may have used her toothbrush.

So I was on my best behaviour at the Allison Inn and we ate in the splendour of the dining room. The owner chap, John, drove Susan to the local Mexican and we had a carry out on his mahogany table.

Quincy has also been known for decades as ‘the Coca Cola town’. Early in last century, Mark Munro, president of the Quincy bank, thought that the Coca Cola Company was well managed and people would always find a nickel for a cold drink. He purchased stock and urged family, friends and bank customers to save and invest in Coca Cola. Many local families became financially secure following his advice.

Leaving Quincy we cycled 44 miles to Marianna. It was 105 Fahrenheit on the bike and Susan continues to suffer. One time I’m going to turn around and she will have vanished – melted onto the road. We try to manage it with lots of hydration but we are really exposed sitting on the bike for hours at a time.

I’m okay though I can’t feel my toes. The cleats and the pedals and the sitting position combine to give me numb toes. I’m going to try extra cardboard in my shoes tomorrow. I’m used to it on these long cycles and quite confident feeling will return around about March next year.

Today we cycled past prisoners working on the road.

The best you’re going to get is a photo of sign because I wasn’t brave enough to take a picture of the felons. There was a felon with a stop/go sign at the beginning of the contra flow and he let us through.

We cycled through a short contra flow and, perhaps half a mile later came to the felon who was supposed to control stop/go at the other side. Susan was incredulous – ‘what’s the point in him stoping traffic away out here?

I, of course, being a master of deduction, immediately deduced he was escaping! Every time the guards looked away he would move another 50 yards down the road. He was still doing his job stopping cars half a mile down the road and waiting until he was far enough away to make a run for it. Good luck you ingenious felon!

We’re now in another cheap motel and its looks like fast food for dinner again. Last week we had McDonalds twice in a row for our evening dinner. Now I like a golden M as much as anybody else but two nights running?

I think the choice tonight is something from the garage next to us or another burger place called Hardee’s. If we can be bothered walking half a mile we can go to Taco Bell but who on earth would walk half a mile to Taco Bell’s? The great thing about America though is that all garages sell cold beer and if I drink enough I will eat anything.

Thankfully, each day takes us further from the east coast of America and hurricane Florence. We are, however, cycling to the low lying gulf area around New Orleans and see daily reports of other potential hurricanes. All we can do is keep on cycling and be lucky.

I must go now. I think Susan’s back on Facebook and that means she’s not paying attention to me. I can go and wash my hands! 🙂

341 miles down.

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