Feelin' the Burn

Thighs shot, butt chaffed, knees worn, back tight, hip bruised. General take-away: feelin' the burn.

We have now ridden over 425 miles in 7 straight days. We've biked from Jacksonville to Panama City in 90+ degree heat. Oh, and I had a pretty good crash too.

Souvenir from my first crash. The photo ignores the injuries to my elbow, shoulder, and hand.  

In spite of all my aches and pains however, I am having a blast. Breaking up long rides picking blueberries, browsing thrift stores, swimming in the ocean, and eating ice cream (where the ice cream is usually given to us for free once we tell them what we are doing) is a great way to keep my mind off of the burn and help set in the reality that I am indeed making my way across the country.

We had to stop at a blueberry farm we saw along the way.

The guy who owns this adorable road side stop bought ice cream for all of us. 

On one of our shorter days we decided to take our time and explore a trail head we saw on the side of the road. We walked along the road and were delighted to find that it led to a small body of water for us to cool off in. As we were swimming gleefully along in the water a local fisherman rows over to us and our conversation goes something like this:
"Y'all from these parts?" (in thick southern accent).
"No we are from all over the country! California to Kentucky to New York!" (excited to tell him how far we had come and anxious to explain we are biking across the county).
"Didn't think so. There be gators in these waters."
Out of the water we went.


The accomplishment of finishing such physically demanding rides is incredibly euphoric. Though we may have been on the verge of death just 10 miles prior, when we arrive at our host we are all in the highest of spirits or as we refer to it, we are "wasted on endorphins."

We spent today helping at a Habitat for Humanity build in Panama City and tomorrow we head off on bike again. We will build again on Wednesday in Mobile, Alabama and soon after in New Orleans!

Build Site in Panama City. House in the final stages. All the grass you see was laid by Bike and Builders.