The question now was; was it safe to ride or should I just stop here. The conditions were actually no worse than I had ridden in before so we felt good about me pressing on to the finish.
Celeste was going to drive ahead of me and wait for me to catch up; it was comforting to know that she was close by in these conditions.
Shortly after starting to ride the rain and wind picked up. I got to the next small town and pulled into a Convenience Store. At that point I was ready to pack it in and call it a Ride but when I talked to Celeste she had taken a different route and many miles ahead of me. Therefore, I had to press on. That turned out to be good; shortly after starting to ride the rain and wind let up. I met Celeste at the next small city and we got something to eat at McDonalds.
I was now getting ready to enter FL and the rain and wind were picking back up. I was also encountering some road construction so that made it extra fun. Celeste was a bit worried due to the conditions and the traffic. I assured her everything was fine but I was now wondering if I could make it all the way home.
That question was answered when I met her in Baldwin; it wasn't going to happen this day. I told her to go ahead to Starke and we would stay there for the night and I would finish in the morning. She went ahead and got us a hotel and I met her there that afternoon. I was happy that my ride in Tropical Storm conditions was coming to a close for the day. I got to the hotel and out of the rain. I had to dry my bike, trailer and bag as much as possible before moving it into the room.
I was excited to get this done because the sooner I was moved in and cleaned up the sooner Celeste and I would be eating at Laredo's Mexican Restaurant; our favorite!
Laredo's was great and our night of rest was great; there was only 28 more miles to go to finish GTD 2012. Of course my hope and prayers were that the next day the Tropical Storm would be gone that that the weather would be beautiful; we'll see.
