Apple bottom jeans, Boots with the fur

Leaving our hotel room at 0915hrs, Kat decided to take a quick stroll down to the beach and take a few early morning photos of St Simon pier before we set off on the 73-mile ride to Flo’rida. They call Florida the Sunshine State! We weren’t to know what lay ahead of us but the Sunshine State didn’t disappoint. It was freezing in Georgia when we set off and it continued to chill our bones (particularly when we crossed a scary 20-storey gigantic bridge) all the way to the Florida

The trek through the last stages of Georgia was made all the more interesting when we met Richard! With an authentic “I haven’t had a decent wash for 4 nights” look and an infant-sized carbon footprint that would inspire any wannabe urban surfer dude, you could tell Richard was the eco traveller type. We always felt quite pleased with our efforts to embark upon a cycling challenge facing each day without the luxuries in life we have taken for granted in the past, but meeting Richard redefined our beliefs of ‘giving up luxury!’ With 155lbs of all sorts of paraphernalia skilfully strapped to every inch of his bike, we were sure we had spotted our first UFO. Somehow (don’t ask), Richard even managed to balance a solar panel the size of a billboard to the back of his bike. We couldn’t help but be reminded of our favourite childhood storybook character, ‘Stig of the Dump.’ We would like to pay respect to this Stig who has cycled 10 times across America, circumnavigated its perimeters once and every night camps out in the woods.

After a quick bite to eat at a gas station and loaded with The Stig’s sage advice, we rolled on to the Florida state line; and then as if by magic the temperature increased by 10 degrees Celsius, and the Sun decided to put its hat on. Struggling the last 20 miles against a headwind coming from all directions (how does that work), enjoying the sunshine was becoming more difficult with every mile. Irritated, Anthony decided to vent his annoyance and pick a fight with a “16 Wheeler”. Thankfully, Kat saw this forlorn challenge for what it was worth and saved Anthony from a fate worse than ‘… a smelly thing on a smelly day.’

In one piece we arrived, unpacked, showered and headed out to the nearest Italian for pasta with garlic, garlic bread, garlic chicken, garlic wine… did we mention garlic?

Us x