Palatka to Gainesville

5/23/22

Today, our group biked from Palatka to Gainesville, but I didn’t bike!

However, I can provide a look at what goes on behind the scenes on bike days. While our bikers ride, we have two support vans on the road, helping scout the route, providing lunch, carrying supplies, etc. Each support vehicle has a driver (me!) and a safety nav (Taylor!), the latter who helps the driver follow the bike route and attend to errands. Taylor and I started the morning by dropping off our riders’ supplies and belongings at our host in Gainesville.

We stopped for lunch at the University of Florida and found some food on campus provided by the Gainesville Krishna House. Afterward, we headed back to the second support vehicle, which was stopped along the route to provide the riders with lunch. After all the riders filter in and leave for lunch, our van stayed posted on the road behind them to endure everyone made it back home safely (they did!).

Along our drives throughout the day, we made several calls trying to find a donated dinner for the group - but our second support vehicle driver (Hannah!) and safety nav (James!) came through with a fabulous stir fry meal donated by the East End Eatery that ALL our riders could eat (including our gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, and food allergy riders!)

- Erin