Day 48: Thursday 04/21/16, Tallahassee, FL to Live Oak, FL

I've always liked to photograph old buildings, but this is the first one on this ride that I thought worthy of an "old building" status. Looks like it may still be used for something. Found this one about 30 miles down Hwy. 90 from Tallahassee.

 

 

Day 48 distance: 78 miles

Total miles:  2666 miles

Elevation gain: 1636 feet

Map of today's ride:

Today's 78 mile ride from Tallahassee, Florida,to Live Oak, Florida, was pleasant. The headwind out of the east is forever present, but was not too strong today. I think all of this year's coasters have gotten used to and accepted all the headwinds we have faced during this year's C2C. And we won't forget the few wonderful days when we had a great tailwind! Today was primarily overcast with the temperature reaching 84 degrees when we arrived in Live Oak. A highlight of today's ride was when we passed through Greenville, Florida, the childhood home of Ray Charles, or RC, as the locals call him. We now have rides of 48, 85, and 44 miles remaining along with one day off before reaching St. Augustine on Monday, April 25.

My one roadside scene for the day.

This is a statue of Ray Charles at his keyboard in the Greenville, Florida, public park. Ray Charles was raised in Greenville, and it was there that he learned to play the piano from the owner of a local cafe. At age 7, his sight failed and he was sent to The School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine, Florida, but returned to Greenville for summers. When he was 15, his mother died which was also the time he started showing his musical talents. He went on to be known for pioneering soul music and is considered one of the most outstanding musicians of the century. Over time, Ray always returned to Greenville for visits. He died in 2004 at the age of 74.

An old southern mansion in Madison, Florida.

So, after bicycling 47 miles this morning, I walked into a small Madison, Florida, one-chair barber shop, with no customers, and asked the barber if she would cut an old man's sweaty hair. The barber said "sure" and handed me a paper towel to dry my head. Fifteen minutes later, after a great conversation with the very pleasant barber, I walked out, all ready for the big ride into St. Augustine, Florida next Monday! :)

Madison, Florida, County Courthouse. A pretty old building.

I finally found some roadside flowers, daisies, to photograph in Florida. I understand during last  year's C2C, Florida was loaded with flowers but there have been few this year.

I decided to not take a picture of one of the rivers I rode over today, only to discover a few miles later it was the famous Suwannee River. So, this picture will have to be the substitute for the real thing!

This is John and Rose Murphy, SAG support, getting our last time laundry set out for pick up. John and Rose were also on SAG support last year, and this year Rose is the head of SAG support. They are a great team and both have done a fantastic job again this year!

Anne's afternoon hors d'oeuvres for the day. Delicious pizza bread! Who needs dinner?

This is the typical scene each day after a ride, coasters sitting around telling stories and drinking their favorite beverage. Next time I do a ride I think I will try doing that instead of blogging! It looks like fun!

Tonight's menu.