Bike to Panama City

Apalachacola to Panama City: 60.9 miles

Total mileage: 481.8 miles

The morning ride as a beautiful one and probably one of my favorite ones to date. The first thirty miles flew by partially because of the conversation and scenery and partially because we are beginning master pacing which allows us to not have to work so hard. I was joking with some of the riders that you know you are on a Bike and Build trip when thirty miles seems like no big deal. Lunch was equally as great because we stopped at a beach on the Gulf of Mexico. My group decided to lock up our bikes and head to the beach for a quick swim before the van sherd up with lunch and our mail (I did get some snail mail from mama dukes and Memere which was a welcome surprise).

Sandcastle time

Turns out that Florida is split into eastern and central time (news to me folks) and just after lunch we crossed into central time. Sadly most of us missed the sign, but Jessie was able to snag a picture of said sign. Unfortunately the time change also meant that we were spending a large portion of our time out in th sun when it was at its strongest. The last fifteen miles or so were brutally hot and one of the local thermometers said that the temperature had reached 97 degrees. For the first time i think that a lot of us started to realize what we got ourselves into withe southern route.

The ret of the ride was hot, but my group of three made good time and were the second group to arrive to the host site. As we entered the host we were treated by a blasting AC unit and the most amazing juice known to man (combo of lemonade and a v8 smoothie drink). Unfortunately there is not too much to do in Panama City, as we are not only in the middle of nowhere, but also in a slightly sketchy neighborhood. With the beach being an additional 20 miles away we decided to head over to Chilies for beers - a great way to end the day of biking. Lights out on build days is 1 so we were able to hang out for a while before making the adult decision to get some sleep before our build day.

May also may or may not have built a fort to keep the lit of the soda machine out of his eyes.