- Seven days of riding in a row is a lot. But not impossible. I saw old people and children out there, many of whom rode all seven days. I did not think I would be able to but by day 3, it had become normal and I felt stronger every single day.
- Mr. Porkchop is a big pink bus that has been providing porkchops to riders for a long time. I think it’s cool they use old corn cobs to fuel their grills but to be perfectly honest, it was a pretty mid porkchop.
- On the note of corn: I wanted to eat a lot more of it but I literally only saw 2-3 places offering it. The first one was someone’s farm along the route and it was tasty! I wanted to see, however, a big vat of butter they dunked it in. I have watched a lot of videos from years past but this time, no one was doing that, sadly.
- I hate to belabor a point a lot of people make but: e-bikes. If you’re old or disabled, fine. But otherwise, you’re cheating and I don’t want to be struggling up a hill and watch your dumb ass passing me because you’ve got it cranked to 80-90%. You’re ruining the sanctity of a bicycle ride, in my opinion. I’ll die on this hill.
- Also, recumbents. OK, the regular ones are fine and I do know we had quite a few paralyzed folks out there. Those are for you. But the folks on bikes that have you literally lying down like a street luge are so annoying. And these lazy-asses don’t even get off them in towns; they just zoom around like they own the place. It’s very crowded so for them to assume you’ll move for this big thing on the ground you may not even see…is just silly.
- The entire thing seems to have been Disney-fied. It’s very corporate at times. It used to be more mom and pop type places but it’s too big now. I think in ten years it may not even look the same. Granted, I didn’t see this ride years ago but I can see how it is morphing. In fact, we may have gotten in just under the wire before it becomes something else.
- Ash was really taken with Iowa as a place to own a second home. He is tired of hurricanes. But just two days ago, our starting town of Orange City saw winds of over 90 mph! No thanks. I’ll take my risk here in Florida.
- On a more positive note, we met a lot of cool people. OK, maybe not ‘cool’ but interesting. Zach from our charter was nice to talk to but he finished early every day because he never stopped! Creighton was a hoot; old guy from Boston and until day 6, we weren’t entirely sure he was even riding every day! He always had a story to tell and tended to lose his bike in camp. The community aspect was pretty cool. A lot of that made up for some folks on the ride who took the cycling cues too seriously. I get “on your left” and all, but some people would say it then freak out; ‘”hold your line!”, as if I was not getting over. Calm down, Karen.
- LOTS of Karens out there. I think it’s just a numbers game though. You put 20,000 cyclists out there, you’re going to encounter some who just have to tell you what to do.
- I would tent camp again but not for a very long time. I didn’t hate it but I also wasn’t excited about it. I managed to sleep but only because I was exhausted every night. I dislike how the outer panel would be all wet from humidity or whatever so there was almost no way to avoid getting wet when you went to the bathroom. I hated only being able to stand in the very center of it and with two twin mattresses in there, there’s literally no space. It was always hot when we got done with the ride so putting sheets on each mattress was gross and exhausting. The best way to do this ride with some semblance of comfort would be to own or rent an RV.
- I learned a lot about what I would and would not do, if I ever chose to partake in this ride again. For starters, I’d have a kit for each day. I only own 3 jerseys and two pairs of pants so washing them over and over with no good place to dry stuff was difficult. I’d take chamois butter more seriously; always be reapplying. Undercarriage irritation is real. Same goes for sunscreen. On day one we didn’t put enough on and we both got burned on our faces pretty badly. We were better about it the following 6 days. I’d also probably get different cycling shoes. I picked up some that are more for mountain biking and they held water. Granted, it only rained once.
- I am interested in doing other rides but only if we are in a hotel. There is apparently going to be a cross-Florida all paved trail ride that our charter will support but not until 2027. Maybe by then I will be ready!
- Iowa was very pretty though and seeing a good portion of the state was a great experience.
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Thanks for sharing all of these details – so interesting to read!!
Mark’s brother who died in March had Parkinson’s. He had a very expensive recumbent bike (his three siblings bought it for him). As long as he was able, he rode with a group here in Birmingham and they were all so very kind to him. We have some great groups and some great cycle shops in town. We actually had a picture of him on his trike at the memorial service. I thought the community was so good for him and the exercise enabled him to live with early diagnosis for extra years!
Yeah, I tried not to come across too mean because I know that for some, that bike was their way of still being able to participate. But I know that some people are just trying to “cheat” it, if you will, and I think that ruins it for the people who need it. I think that’s great your brother-in-law was still able to be part of the community. Most people I have met in cycling have been nice – just a few are jerks but hey, isn’t that everywhere?
People used ebikes for this?? Your first note about it not being impossible resonated with me. One year while running a marathon, the course had half marathoners and full marathoners run the same course for part of the time and then the course changed depending on who was running what. Anyway, I was approaching a trio of women walking the half marathon. They observed the split- the full marathoners moving to the left. One of the ladies said to the group, “Do you think we should do the full marathon next year?” And another woman said, “No, I’d die if I tried to do the full.” What struck me is that these women could see literally, people running the full and not dying. Like, the likelihood of dying is extraordinarily small. If the lady attempted the full next year, she wouldn’t die! But she said no to running it for fear of death. Just say, “training for a marathon sounds awful. Let’s stick to the half” or something like that. Anyway- enjoyed reading these details!!