Hit Somebody!

Summary of Today: Crazy day! Radio interview. Head wind. Rain. Jacques got hit by a car. Jacques triumphs over car. Free dinner at crab shack. Done!

We had enough adventure today to fill another Indiana Jones film.

After some breakfast with Sherry and Jeff, we headed over to the local talk radio program for a quick interview. The studio was buzzing because it was election day as well. Had we planned things better, we would have ran for office concurrently with this trip, and therefore maybe have drawn more publicity. Nicole interviewed us, and we hope we were good advocates for Beautiful Gate.

We hit the road knowing it was our last day. Although we were only 80 miles from the beach, the ride seemed to last an eternity for many reasons. A headwind was present throughout the day, the shoulder was a little on the narrow side, and it was raining. This may have otherwise put is in a poor mood, but the excitement of finishing kept us going.

Soon after we entered Jacksonville and passed the St. Johns River, something unbelievable happened. It happened in slow motion. Slow motion with me. Jacques was riding in front of me as usual. Even though it was still raining, we felt safe because we could now make use of the bike lanes that are found commonly throughout Jacksonville. Just as Jacques was crossing an intersection, I saw a small volkswagon cut in front of him. I thought, "this could get interesting." Then I saw Jacques' rear tire skid out a little, and then boom.

Jacques, meet car. Car, meet Jacques. "Nice to meet you Jacques," say car. "You're about to end my trip across the country on a bicycle 15 miles short of my final destination, you stupid car!" says Jacques.

Anyways, Jacques got the driver's info, checked over his small bruises and scrapes, and we "hit" the road again.

(an aside: While at a Boerne, Texas middle school football game, a very calm-looking parent started shouting "Hit somebody!" to his boy's team. Jacques and I have frequently shouted that at each other as we attempted to embrace Texas culture and the memories of a couple weeks ago. However, apparently this driver was on that same middle school team and decided to transfer that order from field to road. All to the dismay of poor Jacques.)

Moving on, we rode deeper into the rain, our first good downpour of the trip. The wind didn't let up, but we still had the excitement of finishing to push us through.

At around 4pm, we made it to Jacksonville Beach! George, Bobbie, their three grandchildren, and friend Bethany were all there to welcome and congratulate us. George and Bobbie are our surrogate parents in Jacksonville whom we found on warmshowers.com. Also, their son is crazier/cooler than us and is also currently doing a cross country ride for AIDs awareness (check his blog out: sea2mia.com).


Joe's Crab Shack comped Jacques' and my meal. We headed back to George and Bobbie's for a warm shower and cozy place to sleep.

The end.