bikers from the group on the Blackwater Heritage bicycle trail coming out of Milton, FL.
This pretty much says it all for me
two self named "haberknockers" or farmers that we chatted with along the way. Apparently we were the only group that stopped to say hello and pass the time.The Ramada Inn where we stayed in Pensacola was hosting the 40th reunion of sailors from the battleship Intrepid which served in WWII and Vietnam. Most of the men looked like they were in their 60's and 70's so I'm guessing that most of them were WWII veterans. Several of them shared jokes and remarks with us, and one older gentleman began to get quite racey until he was distracted by his wife. Another of the gentlemen remarked that "you should look out for Richard, he likes to talk dirty and grab." No one saw any evidence of that but he was definitely a salty old dude.
Today's ride was short, sweet and simple. We started out with a a couple of miles on "scenicn byway 90" which although busy, had a decent bike lane and drivers who were used to bikers. This was followed by a 4.5 , mile bridge with a crossing, with a wide clean shoulder. The next section was the worst of the day as "scenic by 90" disintegrated into highway 90. It was busier, and the shoulder although adequate, was full of junk. It is so fun to play dodge cars between tire shards in the shoulder and cars zooming by, but we got through it as a group and made it to "Truly Spoken", the bike shop in Milton. The owner, Victor Bagley, a former professional bike mechanic and wheel builder for one of the sponsored race teams, had opened up early just for us. Everyone stopped in to say hello and stock up on shot blocks, socks, bike lube, and electrolytes. It's not that anybody really needs anything that much, but it is fun to go in and chat and we all like to suppport the shops we pass. Truly Spoken is also conveniently located at the start of the Blackriver Heritage Park bike path.
The 6 miles on the bike path were truly exceptional riding. The path crosses through the back of some suburbs, through areas of woods, farm land and swamp and it was early enough and cool enough that the birds were still in full song, so the only noises were the occasional crowing of a rooster, the whish of tires and the sounds of birds.
The rest of the ride, with the exception of the last few miles, was on back roads through large areas of timber, clear cut sections, and occasional farming areas. There was absolutely no traffic to speak of, so we ended up riding in pairs and talking while taking up pretty much the whole road. At one point we passed two farmers, setting new poles on a fence around a large garden plot and stopped to talk with them. When we asked them what their names were, the older replied "oh, we're just a couple of habeknockers" and tthen started to drill us about the ride. We joked back and forth about women deserting their husbands, and who had who trained, applauded the older when he said he had been married 53 years and generally had a nice half hour break before they decided the fence posts wouldn't set themselves and waved us off.
We stopped off for lunch in the town of Crestview, which had a charming old fashioned main street for about two blocks, while the rest of it was all Walmarts, strip malls and fast food places. The little cafe we found was obviously and ladies lunch sort of place and we definitely thought we were pulling down the tone of the place, but the waitress assured us that "we get all kinds, there's just no tellling who will drag on in here." I guess a dozen or so hot and sweaty, hungry, talkative female bike riders could qualify.
It was good to get in early and get the bike prep and chores done early so I could have a rest, tomorrow is a long day and it promises to be hot and sticky. I suspect even a headwind will be welcome tomorrow for the air circulation.
Today's stats
distance 55.60
ride time 4:16
speed 13 mph
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