I left Will before 9 and got out of Pensacola after a pathetic Subway breakfast. My motivation was down the crapper and I must have been trudging along at 11 mph. My emotions were strong, knowing that in less than an hour I would be out of Florida, my home for 22 years. The scenery was bland, the hills steep, and it looked like just another day of drizzle from a sunless sky. And then I saw a cyclist.
The cyclist, gender I could not tell from afar, was westbound of US90 probably a hundred yards ahead. Bright yellow jacket, two rear panniers! Yes! Panniers: the universal symbol for crazy people and those who like to go far away. I hurried my pace, and she soon saw me. "Are you crossing the country?" I asked. I couldn't hear her response with my face mask on so I just told her we can stop at the border, grab some pictures and have a chat.
She's Lois from Sydney, Australia. Having been on the road for months, crossing Europe and now the U.S. before flying back to Sydney, she's had experiences. She shared them with me as we pedaled on and I shared mine. She left from Savannah, GA and was looking to go to Los Angeles. Where was she stopping tonight? Mobile. She had a motel and we split the cost.
We also met two cyclists coming from Maine east of Mobile. They were on their way to San Diego.
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