Day 1- Sunday 5/29/22

Vilano Beach \ Saint Augustine to Gainesville, Florida – 96.5 miles

After years of imagining what it would be like to ride across the country, I was about to find out. Accompanied by my sister and son, we arrived at Vilano Beach just before 9:00 AM, amid dozens of Memorial Day vacationers swimming and soaking up the Sun. Pictures were taken and after dipping my back tire into the Atlantic, it was time to go.

I didn’t get far. The official starting point for the route I was on is the west end of the Lions bridge in downtown Saint Augustine. Since the city doesn’t lie directly on the Atlantic, Vilano Beach was chosen as the departure point to give me official bragging rights about riding “Coast to Coast”. About 3.5 miles after beginning to turn the pedals, I stopped for another round of pictures at Castillo de San Marcos, then Ishmael and I were alone.

Loaded with bags, Ishmael handled like a truck. Abrupt changes in direction would cause the bike to flex noticeably, so I quickly learned not to do that. After a few miles, I got into a nice rhythm and things settled down. A large portion of the route was along shaded rail trails, which was welcome for the lack of traffic and relief from the 90+ degree heat.

Occasionally, the trail would pass by a small settlement, which is about the only accurate description. They’re definitely not cities, and wouldn’t qualify as a town, but have enough people to offer a few services and break the chain of isolation along the way.

Palatka, which sits beside the Saint Johns River, was the first significant town after leaving Saint Augustine thirty miles earlier. I crossed the bridge over the river, which was guarded by a forgotten World War One veteran armed with a grenade. He let me pass without a word.

Shortly after Palatka, navigational errors began to affect my progress. I follow the route using a combination of paper maps and a phone app based on the most recent information available but found that doesn’t guarantee accuracy. The map suggested an immediate left turn after leaving the highway I was on in order to pick up the trailhead towards Melrose, but that move put me on a dirt track path that returned to the road I’d just left. Optimistically, I circled back to try again, but fortunately a man realized I was a lost cyclist and informed me that the trail hadn’t been built yet to the point indicated on the map. However, if I just rode another mile down the road I’d be able to find it. He was right.

Several miles later I passed the Melrose convenience store, which I took to be in Melrose, a waypoint on my route. Unfortunately, the store is 5 miles from Melrose to the north, which fooled me into riding 2.5 miles to the NW when I should have been going SW. My fault! I got back on track but was feeling the heat and effort by the time Melrose actually appeared.

I thought I’d been drinking enough fluids, but about 30 miles outside of Gainesville things started getting difficult. I’d projected a day of about 70 miles, but I was still in the wilderness when the odometer hit that number. Both legs started cramping, even though I was drinking entire bottles of water at once. The only way to relieve the spasms was to stop and stand up every few miles. Even then, it was iffy if I was going to be able to make it into Gainesville by sunset.

I began to think how much riding sucked, but the thought of getting into a comfortable air-conditioned hotel kept me going. As the sun set, I found a nice spot at the Gainesville Lodge, an older place, but comfortable, clean and on tomorrow’s route. The rooms look like this:

I didn’t feel hungry at all, but downed numerous glasses of water for the next several hours. In the end, it was a good first day on the road. It could have been better, but I learned a lot that should make the coming days easier. Destination tomorrow is undecided, but I sure won’t be doing the 96.5 miles I put in today!