Lake Day Getaway in May. Marianna, FL

5/29/22

Thermaressssssst sleeping pads hiss in the morning as we roll over to pack away our things and get on the road. Today’s wakeup call wasn’t at 3am, but still dark enough outside to see stars and feel like it’s capital E early. We’re leaving Tallahassee, with tunes from last night’s Big Papa and the Shuffle Brothers concert (an unexpected lucky free show that we walked to in town) still stuck in our heads and 82 miles ahead of us until Marianna, FL. We’ll be camping at the Florida Caverns State Park, our first camp night of the trip, and one of our last days in Florida. One Bike & Build day is like three in the “real world,” but time is flying.

Things we’ve learned today: it’s possible to accidentally swallow more than one bug a day while riding, Florida highways are full of long stretches of crawling vines but also pickup trucks that like to go Fast, my ride partner for the day Caitlin has a knack for finding taco trucks and is like a cycling encyclopedia of musicals, and our team can finish an 80 miler day and still have energy to bike for fun to a swimming hole! Just to make sure we hadn’t forgotten we were in Florida, there were alligator crossing signs posted on a bridge not too far off. The water was deep green and so refreshing. And definitely smelled like lake.

Wins: all of the ride groups on the road today finished out the day (sometimes not possible due to weather or spacing, etc.), our tan lines are getting extreme and growing stronger, ride groups filmed short dance videos for our sweep challenge, we had time to decompress, look for turtles, and figure out how to set up all of our tents. Ice packs for sore everything.

Grateful for: the communication we have between ride groups, time to get to know people and what makes them tick when out on the road all day together, sun, shade, extra spf sunblock, chickens waiting to cross the road, dogs on leashes, healthy bodies, our team coming from 19 different states + Canada, teammates challenging themselves in new ways. Taking it day by day.

Looking forward to: sleeping outside tonight under the stars as constellations poke out, getting back into build day mode and hopefully seeing the caverns tomorrow. There are also a few ghost stories about the area..

Next stop: DeFuniak Springs the day after tomorrow.

Big Bike & Build love,

Jessie