We spent the first afternoon in Florida riding along more beautiful white beaches on the Gulf. We had lunch on one of them. Then rode along a dodgy road to Pescacola and over a big and very windy bridge onto a large peninsula nature reserve where we found a great beach to sleep out on without the tents. In the night a couple came down to the beach for half an hour or so. They sat down within about 5 meters of us and didn't notice us there! They were arguing about something then ran off back to their car!
In the morning we fought a head wind along the peninsula and sand was being blown across the road. The scenery was amazing all day. The beaches turned into a forest full of deer and then lakes with jumping fish. We found a state park that night and slept in a hut on a raised walkway.
Only 6 days left now until the end! We got up really early so we wouldn't be caught in the state park and followed more beaches to the not-very-nice Panama City. On the way out of Panama City we crossed another bridge and saw a flock/herd/school (or whatever) of dolphins. They were having a great time diving and jumping around. I could have watched them for hours. We cycled along a long boring straight road all afternoon and a storm was brewing. It starting tipping it down when we got to Port St Joe. We sheltered in a Burger King, not much chance of finding anything other than a chain restaurant unfortunately.
We asked around and looked miserable for around 1 1/2 hours and despite hinting heavily, nobody offered us a place to stay or suggested anything. Resigned to getting soaked, we had a quick look round and found another hut over the sea. It was perfect and we couldn't believe nobody had told us about it, it was just a wooden platform with a roof but it was dry. I guess fishermen used it during the daytime.
More nice coastline followed and nothing much happened til lunchtime the next day were we walked out along a pier to eat. Some woman stopped on the road and started shouting at us that it was private property before driving off. I don't even know if she owned it! After that, we cycled through a wood all afternoon and passed some beautiful rivers with more jumping fish. In the evening we stopped in a small settlement called Sopchoppy for the night. We found a free campsite at the park and spoke to the caretaker who warned us he'd seen a bear there not too long ago!
We cooked our dinner on the campsite and got our tents up. I picked up all our rubbish then carried it all over to the bins on the campsite. I was almost there and a saw a huge outline of an animal about 5 meters away. It was the bear and it was bloody massive! I retreated backwards slowly while watching it and threw the rubbish away so the bear wouldn't follow me! I got back to the table and was buzzing, I told Harry "I think I just saw a bear!" We both went back over with a bike light and had a good look at it then made loads of noise and it ran away then up a tree. It was so impressive to see something that big move so quickly, it went flying up it and stood on some big branches about half way up. We went backwards and made more noise then it came down and ran off to the back of the campsite. We saw it skulking around there later on and eventually it went away. We went back to the tents and tried to sleep! I didn't sleep well at all!!!
The next morning we had a great breakfast and discussed the bear. It was so good to have seen one. I thought we'd missed our chance and wasn't expecting Florida to be the state where we saw one. The whole of the day was spent in forests. In the evening we met a homeless guy who was living on his bike. He'd attached a cart to the back of it, which he kept everything in. He seemed happy though, he told us he just wondered around the states. We warned him about the bear and to keep his food away from where he slept that night. We also saw a ridiculous truck that had been raised about 5 ft on springs! We got to Perry that night and had run out of money. A really nice Motel owner let us camp behind it, use their bathrooms and gave us 5 dollars to spend on dinner.
A boring morning fighting into a headwind was improved by the brilliant all you can eat roast dinner buffer at lunchtime. In the evening, we arrived at Fort Allute and were given free pizza in a petrol station. We searched the town for a place to sleep, were turned away from the firestation but a guy called Rocky let us stay in his mobile home for the night. We walked the 30 meters or so from his door to the mobile home, Rocky drove in his Chevrolet Silverado Pickup! He opened the door for us then drove back to his house! Lovely guy but unbelievable he drove that distance. It took more time than it took us to walk it! Bacon butties for dinner!
Rocky came round at 7 in the morning with 2 cooked breakfasts for us from the petrol station. They were horrible but again, a really nice thing to do! On the way out of the town, one of Rocky's employees gave us a battered Florida number plate. This was our penultimate day on the bikes, nothing much happened but my excitement of finishing was growing. I was really happy to be near the end. It's been a fantastic adventure but I'm really up for seeing everyone at home again now, and it's nearly Christmas! We arrived at St John's Campground for the evening and I put up my tent for the last time. We had a great dinner and a beer and talked about what to do next! It's gonna be weird to be back in the real word, I dunno how quickly I'll re-adjust to it.
We got up on the final morning and packed up quickly and got moving. We had arranged to meet a guy from warmshowers.com, Jerry Everetts, who had offered to put us up at his house for a couple of nights - more amazing generosity. On the last morning we were approached by a journalist on the road - for the first time! She was really interested and told us we'd be in the Daytona Beach News Journal the next day! We cycled towards the coast all morning until finally we climbed up the final bridge and could see the end of the world - Flagler Beach! From the top of the bridge we sprinted down the hill and cycled as fast as possible to the end of the road. I cycled down onto the beach. My amazing bike had made it - it's a bit tired, gears are skipping, the bottom bracket is wobbling all over the place but on the whole it's been perfect.
It was an amazing, emotional feeling to have made it. A bit of an anticlimax - I felt lost. What an earth do I do with myself now - the routine of waking up, eating, packing up, cycling 70 miles, searching for a place to eat, setting up camp, eating, sleeping had become my life. It's an easy way to live, a really simple life and has brought fantastic experiences to me. I was ready to finish but also sad that it was over. We still have a couple of days in Florida though and I was determined to make the most of them. Harry and I put the bikes down on the beach and ran out into the sea! I put the piece of driftwood I'd picked up in San Francisco the Atlantic Ocean. We took photos, then went up to a cafe for a celebratory beer.
After a beer, we managed to hitch a lift to Port Orange, where Jerry lived. We had a relax that afternoon, talked about America with Jerry and his wife, found some boxes to take the bikes home in and got an early night! The next day was great. Jerry took us shooting. We went with a group of Jerry's mates and fired a great variety of guns: Pistols, including a magnum which had a ridiculous recoil, a few 2.2 rifles, an assault rifle, a horrible little sawn-off shotgun which could have blasted a hole through a wall and last of all an 18th century British rifle! It was great fun, but a little disconcerting to see a group of men whooping and cheering as they fired entire magazines from the pistols while drinking beer! We went to an absolutely rammed gun shop afterwards - Harry bought a pocket knife.
On the way home, we went to a convenience shop and bought the Daytona Beach Journal to read the report about us. It was rubbish, we'd been misquoted but it was cool to be in the paper! As we were buying it, the following conversation took place:
"You guys have a great accent, where are you from"
"England"
"I love England, so where did you learn to speak our language so well?"
Unbelievable!
Anyway we went back to Jerry's, got everything packed and watched a film. The next morning Jerry very kindly drove us to Orlando Airport, we checked our bags in, the American customs confiscated my stove which really annoyed me and we left America! I'd made it round the world and completed my dream.
Thanks so much for all the support, to everyone who's sponsored me and everyone who's given me personal donations, to my amazing support team (Mum, Dad & Laura!) and most of all to all the incredible families who've helped me out around the world. The Orthodox Christians in Georgia, the Muslims in Tajikistan, the Tibetans in China and the Republicans in Texas as well as all the other fantastic people. I've spent nights in peoples houses all over the world, eaten amazing food, been given clothes, seen photos of USSR soldiers in front of statues of Stalin and everyone who helped me along the way made this trip possible.
This is the end of the story - I intend to write a book and do some presentations on the trip, so if you're interested, contact me. I'll put details up on my website/twitter/facebook. Any more donations would be greatly appreciated - more info at www.tombrucecycling.com.
THANKS FOR READING!!
Daytona Beach Journal Report: http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/flagler/2011/12/17/blokes-pedal-through-flagler-county-in-trek-across-united-states.html
In the morning we fought a head wind along the peninsula and sand was being blown across the road. The scenery was amazing all day. The beaches turned into a forest full of deer and then lakes with jumping fish. We found a state park that night and slept in a hut on a raised walkway.
Only 6 days left now until the end! We got up really early so we wouldn't be caught in the state park and followed more beaches to the not-very-nice Panama City. On the way out of Panama City we crossed another bridge and saw a flock/herd/school (or whatever) of dolphins. They were having a great time diving and jumping around. I could have watched them for hours. We cycled along a long boring straight road all afternoon and a storm was brewing. It starting tipping it down when we got to Port St Joe. We sheltered in a Burger King, not much chance of finding anything other than a chain restaurant unfortunately.
We asked around and looked miserable for around 1 1/2 hours and despite hinting heavily, nobody offered us a place to stay or suggested anything. Resigned to getting soaked, we had a quick look round and found another hut over the sea. It was perfect and we couldn't believe nobody had told us about it, it was just a wooden platform with a roof but it was dry. I guess fishermen used it during the daytime.
More nice coastline followed and nothing much happened til lunchtime the next day were we walked out along a pier to eat. Some woman stopped on the road and started shouting at us that it was private property before driving off. I don't even know if she owned it! After that, we cycled through a wood all afternoon and passed some beautiful rivers with more jumping fish. In the evening we stopped in a small settlement called Sopchoppy for the night. We found a free campsite at the park and spoke to the caretaker who warned us he'd seen a bear there not too long ago!
We cooked our dinner on the campsite and got our tents up. I picked up all our rubbish then carried it all over to the bins on the campsite. I was almost there and a saw a huge outline of an animal about 5 meters away. It was the bear and it was bloody massive! I retreated backwards slowly while watching it and threw the rubbish away so the bear wouldn't follow me! I got back to the table and was buzzing, I told Harry "I think I just saw a bear!" We both went back over with a bike light and had a good look at it then made loads of noise and it ran away then up a tree. It was so impressive to see something that big move so quickly, it went flying up it and stood on some big branches about half way up. We went backwards and made more noise then it came down and ran off to the back of the campsite. We saw it skulking around there later on and eventually it went away. We went back to the tents and tried to sleep! I didn't sleep well at all!!!
The next morning we had a great breakfast and discussed the bear. It was so good to have seen one. I thought we'd missed our chance and wasn't expecting Florida to be the state where we saw one. The whole of the day was spent in forests. In the evening we met a homeless guy who was living on his bike. He'd attached a cart to the back of it, which he kept everything in. He seemed happy though, he told us he just wondered around the states. We warned him about the bear and to keep his food away from where he slept that night. We also saw a ridiculous truck that had been raised about 5 ft on springs! We got to Perry that night and had run out of money. A really nice Motel owner let us camp behind it, use their bathrooms and gave us 5 dollars to spend on dinner.
A boring morning fighting into a headwind was improved by the brilliant all you can eat roast dinner buffer at lunchtime. In the evening, we arrived at Fort Allute and were given free pizza in a petrol station. We searched the town for a place to sleep, were turned away from the firestation but a guy called Rocky let us stay in his mobile home for the night. We walked the 30 meters or so from his door to the mobile home, Rocky drove in his Chevrolet Silverado Pickup! He opened the door for us then drove back to his house! Lovely guy but unbelievable he drove that distance. It took more time than it took us to walk it! Bacon butties for dinner!
Rocky came round at 7 in the morning with 2 cooked breakfasts for us from the petrol station. They were horrible but again, a really nice thing to do! On the way out of the town, one of Rocky's employees gave us a battered Florida number plate. This was our penultimate day on the bikes, nothing much happened but my excitement of finishing was growing. I was really happy to be near the end. It's been a fantastic adventure but I'm really up for seeing everyone at home again now, and it's nearly Christmas! We arrived at St John's Campground for the evening and I put up my tent for the last time. We had a great dinner and a beer and talked about what to do next! It's gonna be weird to be back in the real word, I dunno how quickly I'll re-adjust to it.
We got up on the final morning and packed up quickly and got moving. We had arranged to meet a guy from warmshowers.com, Jerry Everetts, who had offered to put us up at his house for a couple of nights - more amazing generosity. On the last morning we were approached by a journalist on the road - for the first time! She was really interested and told us we'd be in the Daytona Beach News Journal the next day! We cycled towards the coast all morning until finally we climbed up the final bridge and could see the end of the world - Flagler Beach! From the top of the bridge we sprinted down the hill and cycled as fast as possible to the end of the road. I cycled down onto the beach. My amazing bike had made it - it's a bit tired, gears are skipping, the bottom bracket is wobbling all over the place but on the whole it's been perfect.
It was an amazing, emotional feeling to have made it. A bit of an anticlimax - I felt lost. What an earth do I do with myself now - the routine of waking up, eating, packing up, cycling 70 miles, searching for a place to eat, setting up camp, eating, sleeping had become my life. It's an easy way to live, a really simple life and has brought fantastic experiences to me. I was ready to finish but also sad that it was over. We still have a couple of days in Florida though and I was determined to make the most of them. Harry and I put the bikes down on the beach and ran out into the sea! I put the piece of driftwood I'd picked up in San Francisco the Atlantic Ocean. We took photos, then went up to a cafe for a celebratory beer.
After a beer, we managed to hitch a lift to Port Orange, where Jerry lived. We had a relax that afternoon, talked about America with Jerry and his wife, found some boxes to take the bikes home in and got an early night! The next day was great. Jerry took us shooting. We went with a group of Jerry's mates and fired a great variety of guns: Pistols, including a magnum which had a ridiculous recoil, a few 2.2 rifles, an assault rifle, a horrible little sawn-off shotgun which could have blasted a hole through a wall and last of all an 18th century British rifle! It was great fun, but a little disconcerting to see a group of men whooping and cheering as they fired entire magazines from the pistols while drinking beer! We went to an absolutely rammed gun shop afterwards - Harry bought a pocket knife.
On the way home, we went to a convenience shop and bought the Daytona Beach Journal to read the report about us. It was rubbish, we'd been misquoted but it was cool to be in the paper! As we were buying it, the following conversation took place:
"You guys have a great accent, where are you from"
"England"
"I love England, so where did you learn to speak our language so well?"
Unbelievable!
Anyway we went back to Jerry's, got everything packed and watched a film. The next morning Jerry very kindly drove us to Orlando Airport, we checked our bags in, the American customs confiscated my stove which really annoyed me and we left America! I'd made it round the world and completed my dream.
Thanks so much for all the support, to everyone who's sponsored me and everyone who's given me personal donations, to my amazing support team (Mum, Dad & Laura!) and most of all to all the incredible families who've helped me out around the world. The Orthodox Christians in Georgia, the Muslims in Tajikistan, the Tibetans in China and the Republicans in Texas as well as all the other fantastic people. I've spent nights in peoples houses all over the world, eaten amazing food, been given clothes, seen photos of USSR soldiers in front of statues of Stalin and everyone who helped me along the way made this trip possible.
This is the end of the story - I intend to write a book and do some presentations on the trip, so if you're interested, contact me. I'll put details up on my website/twitter/facebook. Any more donations would be greatly appreciated - more info at www.tombrucecycling.com.
THANKS FOR READING!!
Daytona Beach Journal Report: http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/flagler/2011/12/17/blokes-pedal-through-flagler-county-in-trek-across-united-states.html
