GTD 2016 - Day 1

Gainesville, FL to Apopka, FL

Starting GTD 2016 in Florida in late May presents its challenges.  The number 1 challenge is the heat.  The number 2 challenge is the daily distance I will cover in the heat.

To offset these challenges I, for the first time ever for GTD, will have a support vehicle and I will be riding my Trek Road Bike.  My Support Vehicle is being driven by Qinggela, one of our English Corner students from China.  I was fortunate that he was able to take the time off to support my ride.

Today was a typical ride down 441 to mom's house.  It's downhill out of Gainesville to Paynes Prairie, majestic across Paynes Prairie then lots of countryside in between the towns along the way.

Because of the heat I find myself stopping more often for a cold drink, an AC break or to refill my Camelbak with ice and drink.  I am blessed that Supporters blessed me with Starbucks Gift Cards so I can enjoy an ice cold drink or Frappucino along the way.

441 is a straight shot to mom's house but in places there is a lot of road debris due to the high volume of vehicles that travel up and down it every day.  This creates a concern for flats.  Because of my Support Vehicle I have all the necessary supplies needed to address this situation if it arises.

Because of my recent travels I was not able to train as much as I would have liked but my base as pretty good.  This was evident today as I began to get fatigued around 70 miles.  Qinggele had driven ahead so I contacted him and let him know that as soon as I entered Apopka I would stop and we would drive the final miles to mom's.

Qinggele wasn't exactly sure how to get back to me so I talked him through the map and directions.  Though he is driving I am having him use the Bike Mode for Google Maps, I can see this might cause some issues down the road.

He made his way back to me via a Toll Road so we loaded up and headed to mom's.  After a refreshing shower we enjoyed dinner and visitation before hitting the sack.  I was tired from the 90+ mile day in the heat.  I was a bit sore so I took 800 milligrams of ibuprofen before going to bed.  I was hoping this would eliminate some soreness tomorrow's long ride to Lake Placid.