FINAL DAYS – DAYS 45 & 46: 11/3 Gainesville, FL 67 to Palatka, FL and 11/4 Palatka, FL to St. Augustine Beach

Day 45 11/3 Gainesville, FL 67 miles touring and to Palatka, FL

Day 46 11/4 Palatka, FL 33 miles to St. Augustine Beach + 4 miles to St. Augustine, FL –

After a breakfast in Gainesville on 11/3, including expertly seasoned eggs cooked up by Bryan, our 21 year old host, we rode off with our student hosts who were proud to show us around their FU campus. 

Heading off with Austin (left) and Bryan (right), our campus guides

The campus highlight was definitely riding right into The Swamp, their football stadium. 

A unique riding end point

We stopped in at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park where we hoped to spot alligators in the wild. Heather, thinking this 12’ specimen is sleeping and unaware it can move up to 35 mph on land, poses way too close. Does she think this is Disney fake?  I wondered to myself if she gets attacked, do I finish the ride tomorrow alone? That’s probably 50 husband demerit points for thinking that way. My daughter Sydney, posting this blog, thinks it is 100!

A risky pose near a 12’ gator

After bidding Bryan and Austin farewell, we then enjoyed riding east on two lengthy, shaded bike trails: the Gainesville to Hawthorne State Trail for around 16 miles followed by the Palatka Lake Butler State Trail for 20 miles to Palatka. 

Trail riding most of the way to Palatka

We woke up on 11/4 for our final ride to complete this cycling odyssey. I had visualized this day for over a year in conceiving of this trip, and more concretely since March when we decided it’s a go. In fact, I used the common sports motivation tool of visualization throughout the past 6.5 weeks. When confronted with challenges, I often pictured the final approach to the Atlantic Ocean to help dispel doubt and overcome difficulties. As I went to bed last night and again when I awoke this morning, I wondered what would the reality of the final approach actually be like? What range of emotions would I experience?

As we left the hotel, we had an important pit stop to make just 18 minutes into the ride. Angel’s Dining Car is Florida’s oldest diner, operating since 1932. Bryan and Austin’s mom Caren, aware of my milkshake craze, said we have to go there. We planned to come yesterday, as is my norm for a recovery drink at the end of our ride, but it was 18 minutes past our hotel and we were not willing to add an additional 36 minutes round trip. The creative solution was to stop in on our way out of town and try it instead as breakfast fuel. I actually was concerned it would be great and knock Dateland (a sentimental favorite) off the medal podium. Heather corrected my poor thinking, asking me don’t you want it to be amazing? As we had not yet heated up and become in need of recovery, the Angel’s shake started with a bias against it. 

Angel’s breakfast milk shake, a super sweet start to our final day

We continued our ride and enjoyed our final approach that was mostly on the quiet Palatka to St. Augustine State Trail. Riding without concern about cars allowed me to get lost in thought about today being the 25th anniversary of my mother’s death at age 61 from breast cancer. She had received her diagnosis at age 57 and fought a very courageous battle for 4 years. I could write at length about her, but for now will limit myself to her relevance to this epic adventure. Her death taught me that living into old age to enjoy hard-earned golden years is not guaranteed. In many ways, she is the largest, though previously unmentioned, part of my “backstory” that led me to shift gears and seize the opportunity to travel this way while in good health. It was no coincidence that I chose to shift gears a year ago at age 57.

Upon arrival at Beachfront Park at St. Augustine Beach, we were greeted by Alan Brown, the Director of New Partner Engagement of the Reeve Foundation, along with his girlfriend Michele. Alan and I had first spoken on my rest day back in Las Cruces, NM and I learned of his own incredible journey including an accident that left him paralyzed without the use of his legs, at age 20 back in 1988. We celebrated with champagne on the beach and were joined by a curious onlooker so the 5 of us had a great time together. We FaceTimed with family and are eager to see them live. 

A toast with our new friend Alan: To Life!

I experienced a range of emotions that I will take a few days to process. Off the cuff it was elation, relief and sadness that this adventure is over. 

For now, I’ll close with the following:

Way back in April, we told our son Matt about our plans for this bike adventure. We shared that we would in almost all likelihood miss Parents and Family Weekend which fell on November 5-7, (this coming weekend) of his sophomore year in college. We would send his older sisters of course. He said all the right things about him understanding and it being okay. He has been nothing but 100% supportive of our journey. We did tell him there was a 10% chance we’d make it, but didn’t think so. 

We did not tell him that back on April 28th, we booked flights for us from the St. Augustine area to fly to Parents Weekend tomorrow, so we had the option. As well, we booked flights from Tallahassee to have that option, and then return to Florida to finish our journey. All along we have had this date as our goal. It was why we rode so many miles a day. Because while this incredible adventure was originally conceived of as the “empty nest tour”, there is nothing more dear to us than being with our children!  

Tonight we look forward to dinner with Alan and Michele. Tomorrow we look forward to flying north and enjoying 3 days with Matt, Jamie and Sydney. No biking! No blogging! Early next week, I will post a final blog with a wrap up and final thoughts. 

Thank you for following this blog. It was a labor some days harder than the actual pedaling. But as Heather witnessed, it has fueled me. 

Sincerely, 

Mark

© Copyright Mark Segal 2021