Daily Diary 40: Perry to Gainesville FL - 96 miles

Second to last day!!! Another long day in the saddle, started a little late to wait out some storms but then took off on nice roads with no wind! Started out great, at the gas station getting water and Gatorade an older lady gave me $5 for my ride, so nice!  First half went well, mostly divided highway but with good pavement and nice shoulder. Thankfully I found a nice break in the weather and rode ahead of the storm all day. An occasional tail wind helped me keep up my speed. No real towns to speak of, but some very nice sections of (empty) bike path. I was tired from a chest cold I am fighting but kept in trucking. On the bike paths I usually pop in my music and zone out a bit. As I was doing that I noticed two long black sticks on the path, as I moved to the edge to get around them one took off into the woods! They were two 4 ft long swamp snakes!! Yikes. Luckily I survived but was on the look out for snakes the rest of the way (and saw at least one more in the swamp that ran along the path). At about 18 miles to go I was just tired so found a coffee shop, ordered up a strong mocha, and relaxed for a while. It helped. The final miles went pretty quickly and I arrived at my hotel around 7 (just in time for the free happy hour drink!). Having a hotel with a bar and restaurant is always a bonus and on the recommendation of the bartender, I ordered the fish poboy. Good recommendation I am definitely a fan of poboys in the south! Last day tomorrow!!