58.7 miles, 1527’ doesn’t sound difficult but started late at 915am after nice B&B breakfast, so ended with 85 degree temps and some varied headwind all day. Wish I could figure out my eating! Stomach aches has been the bane of my challenging cycling for years. Now in the capital of FL – one of the bigger cities we will cycle through – home to Florida State and also the Seminole tribe which is known as unconquered people who never signed a peace treaty.

Dinner last night on a hoppin’ Saturday night in historic downtown High Springs. One disadvantage of our treks across America is our choice to keep pedalin’ even when we travel through an interesting place. Cycled across Suwannee River today… made famous by Stephen Foster’s song, “Swanee River”/“Old Folks At Home”. Foster never saw the river and misspelled it intentionally since he only wanted a river name with only 2 syllables! 🎶

Roadkill: deer, possum, big vulture with another one flying overhead very disturbed. Live fauna: wild turkeys, great egret, deer, vultures. Flora: more Spanish moss, lots of pink bachelor button-looking flowers, azaleas, wisteria, huge pine plantations

Sunday mornings are reliably a lovely time to cycle even when they start out early (due to expected long day) with a bike pump fail causing you to think you have a tire tube fail, and your TST buddies change your front tire! Then a 20 min late start in the fog on a four lane divided highway, O’Leno to Ichetucknee Springs Trail, lovely county roads with no shoulder and busier highways with decent shoulder. 88.3 miles, 1719’ Thank goodness for Tom and Steven pulling me along at a 14mph daily average pace. The wind got pretty bad the last half of the day together with the 85° temps. Did meet a young man on the Southern Tier who had started in San Diego. He was anxious to get to the next café before it closed on a Sunday, so didn’t get to chat much.

Staying in a lovely 1890 B&B tonight owned and operated by an amazing 84 year old Linda. Madison, although the county seat, seems somewhat depressed since I-10 is just south of town. Tired but used my GRIT today!!

Last night’s vrbo on a very dry White Sands Lake (hence the very deep sandy roads to get here!) was a comfortable, clean, basic lake front cabin. Most of the Spanish moss is grey and dry looking, and the lakes and swamps and rivers are very low due to an exceptional drought here. Tom cooked up a great pot of lobia pulao (in the Instapot we packed) to accompany dry rubbed bbq chicken and lemon garlic asparagus. Fuel for the road.

The morning was gorgeous with a cacophony of bird sounds greeting the dawn. Jody drove us back to the route in Melrose (no need for battling sandy roads again!). From 4 lane divided highways with varying shoulder width to gorgeous bike paths today. Through “Gator nation” of University of Florida in Gainesville to smaller historic towns of Alachua and High Springs. 53.8 miles, 1112’ elevation gain felt harder than it should have been with about avg speed of 13.6mph. Slight winds and not too hot. Tomorrow will be a doozy with over 90 miles! Haven’t cycled that many miles in one day since the last TransAm in 2023! 🤞🚴‍♀️

FL nickname: The Sunshine State, bird: mockingbird, flower: orange blossom, wildflower: coreopsis, motto: “In God We Trust”

We enjoyed old town St Augustine yesterday, prepped some yummy boiled potatoes, egg bites and Super Hero muffins (“Run Fast, Eat Slow”, Flanagan & Kopecky), went for a test ride (forgot all the water bottles I thought I packed in the car for me and Tom! Bike shop run before Day1! 😩) and enjoyed another lovely dinner (albeit very loud and busy) out with Steven and Jody. So much great food in this city.

62.5 miles & 829’ elevation gain. Super exciting to dip our back tires in the Atlantic Ocean again …. as we did in Rehoboth Beach, DE in 2015 and in Bar Harbor, ME in 2023! Enjoyed cycling on two gorgeously smooth trails during most of the day today: Palatka to St Augustine State Trail & Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail. North wind pushed us along a lot of the day with a bit of tail xwind at times. Stayed in a small vrbo on a small (very dry) swamp/lake north of Keystone Heights. Had to call Jody for a pick up a few miles short of the house on day 1!! Backroads in FL can be several inches of sand…. not noted on the maps! 😩 Thanks Jody!!

Animals today: small wild pigs, vulture, egrets, cranes, hawks, geese, possum road kill. Flora: southern yellow pine plantations, big fields of potatoes and cabbage, huge live oaks with Spanish moss (which is neither Spanish nor moss!!)

St Augustine FL greeted us with mild temps and light winds on St Patrick’s Day. Our driver Jody got held up by airlines, so she arrived a day late. But no worries; we planned on 3 nights here to adjust to the time change and sightsee in the nation’s oldest city (461 years of non-native occupation). Of note: Ponce de Leon, Henry Flagler, coquina, Castillo de San Marcos, Fountain of Youth, lighthouse, tourists!, lots of great food, beaches….

Thanks again to Steven’s Transport, aka our fellow TST – Team Southern Tier – cycling buddy Steven, for driving our support vehicle and all the gear 3000+ miles from Oregon. Tom and I LOVED staying home the extra almost 2 weeks to enjoy time with our new granddaughter Miyako Katherine Yuan born 3/4/2026 and watch her wonderful parents, Anna & Aki, adapt to a new normal. ❤️ Also needed the time to celebrate on 3/12 the amazing life of Tom’s mom, Joyce (10/5/1935-2/11/2026). ❤️ 💜 She will be missed.

Well, we are on our way to FL (with no return flight!) after nearly a year of planning. Got in our last outdoor training ride yesterday on a gorgeous Portland spring day. Last week, our daughter sent us this 1899 British news article. I promise NOT to be administering to anyone I encounter on this trip a “sound thrashing….with my fists in scientific fashion” (no promises as to dogs in pursuit!)! But I will use all my “athletic powers” on this adventure! 💪🚴‍♀️

I love maps! Here’s our route from FL to CA in maps… generally not detailed enough to identify actual roads, but you can get an idea of where we’re planning to cycle through each state. All the maps are not at the same scale.

Tom has volunteered in 6th & 7th grade math classes at the local middle school for 13 years! In honor of Mr Tom’s departure on his TransAm journey, the teacher asked AI to help create a story problem sheet to write algebraic equations for a x-country ride. Here is a photo of one student’s work! Forever, Mr. Tom’s Wifey!!

I started several months ago, getting our Subaru Outback ready for its next cross country journey. This time we decided not to pull a trailer, so it is outfitted with our Thule rocket box and bike rack on the back. Steven starts out today on the cross country drive to get our bicycles and gear to St Augustine, Florida. Thank you Steven for doing the journey while we stay home a bit longer to enjoy the company of our new granddaughter Miyako. Safe travels. See you on the Atlantic coast March 17th!