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Day 2: Palatka to Lake City FL. 78.8 miles of crazy.

How to begin? We got up at 6 but we weren't ready for our route meeting until 8:15. We are still working to perfect the morning routine. Today was destined to be a long haul, but we were optimistic. Natalie, one of the B&B program directors was supposed to leave us, but instead decided to stick around another day. She was gracious enough to drive the van obce again. I ended up riding with new partners, which made the day very different from the day before. I never realized how different traveling in groups of two is from groups of five and six. It was a fun ride, but very hard. We spent most of the day biking in high heat. Jillian was having a really hard day until we realized that she had spent the first 42 miles riding with her brakes rubbing on her rims, essentially making her work 3 tomes as hard as the rest of us. Just after we fixed her bike, the world ended... Really, it just ended. The road turned to dirt. And by dirt, I mean it became entrenched with 6 inches of hot, loose sand. Boo. And I don't know if you know sand, but things don't grow in it. Especially tall, shady things like trees. Kristina, Jillian, Richard, Alyssa and I dragged ourselves and our bikes across the expanse, hoping for the fleeting stretches where the sand became packed, only to hav it disintegrate beneath our feet once again. We met one man who warned us that this was a three mile stretch, but we pressed on. Every time I thought I saw a piece of shade in the distance, it would magically disappear before we reached it. After a mile of struggle a miracle appeared! Natalie had come to rescue us in the van! We crammed five bikes and six people into VANessa, and set off for second lunch. During our walk in what has since been referee to by the team as "the desert" I was having a serious internal debate over whether I would be an "every inch"-er or whether I would be willing to get into the van. I was leaning towards "every inch" until I saw the van appear on the horizon. I made up my mind the instant I saw the van...there are some parts of America that are just not worth biking through. I don't think that I am every going to regret saying "I biked across all of America except for 2 miles of hateful sand." I think that if I had pushed on without shade,I may not have made it the last 35 miles to the host.

We ate 2nd lunch and Alyssa and I had a lovely conversation with a woman who lived near by. She was kind enough to let us use her bathrooms and let us fill up our water bottles at her sink. We struggled on to the host, finally arriving at the First Presbyterian Church in Lake City. They were amazing!!! They were so flexible with us; even though we said we would likely be there at 4 for a 6pm dinner, they postponed until 8 so that riders could make it in after sub a draining and long day. they individually shuttled us to showers in their own cars, despite how sweaty and gross we were. When the aquatic center that we were using for showers closed at 7, they took the latecomers and sweeps into their own homes to let them get clean. They fed us wonderful taco salad and even left us food for breakfast the next day.

It was a very long day. Sweeps finally made it in after12 long hours on the road. 8am to 8 pm. My favorite part of the day was when we lined the steep hill that led into the church and cheered them home. The day ended with our first laundry washing and a long deep sleep.