Day 35 - 71.8 miles - Tallahassee, FL

     Leaving Marianna was harder than I thought it would be. Even at 6am the 4 lane highway going through this town of 6,230 people was very busy. On the east side of town I stopped at Salt Spring Park which had a lake on one side of the street and then a dam and a river on the other side of the road. I took a walk around the boardwalk that went into the woods and along the river. 

Back on the bike and once outside of town, the road seemed less travelled and the shoulders become wide and smooth. Another day of many small towns and country roads. I could have stayed right on route 90 but decided to ride the the route my maps have laid out. The country roads were rolling hills but had little traffic and the pavement was very good. I had in my mind that Florida was going to be flat, but so far that's not the case. It's not like I'am climbing mountains all day but these rollers add up, and believe me there are a lot of them. 

     Once I crossed over the Apalachicola River I was back on home time. I finally crossed into the Eastern Standard Time Zone. Now thats a good feeling. Another milestone down and that much closer to my destination. The town of Chattahoochee is on the border of Georgia. I have never biked in Georgia and had thoughts of going through the border just to say I biked there. The border is only about a mile north, but after thinking about it I decided to past on it. I continued on route and pushed into a headwind towards the towns of Gretna, Quincy, and Midway. Next I was into Florida's Capitol City, Tallahassee, and my days end. I just made it to the far west side of the city, where tomorrow I pick up the St Marks Bike Trail which is 20 miles and then I may go off route for a day or two.

     Towards the afternoon I could barely sit on my bike seat. My rear end is killing me. Not just because I have been sitting on this bike seat for the last month, 8 hours a day. It's not that, and it's too gross to go into detail here but I had major problems biking the last 20 miles today. I had to stand and pedal most of those 20 miles which is not what you want to do. I hope things heal up over night and tomorrow I'll be fresh. I really hope so, because I was in a lot of pain this afternoon. Just another crazy thing to think about while bike touring. No one ever said this was going to be pain free and easy. 

Photos: Salt Spring Park in Marianna (photos 1-3) - Apalachicola River and Eastern Time Zone - Mural in Chattahoochee, FL - Quincy Court House - Hello Tallahassee, FL