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The Finish Line
We managed to complete our round the world trip and not even get run over. Quite an achievement even if I do say so myself… I was sure I was going to get run over at least once! I’ve updated all of our ‘Cycling Stats’. For anyone still interested in how far we cycled here’s some of the more interesting stats from the trip: In the sebring race we cycled 328.24km For 11 hours and 16 minutes we managed to average 29.1 km/h (about 18 miles an hour) and burned 8117.6 calories during the race. Something we both needed to do after too many cocktails in Miami. The trip (including the race) totaled at 13583 miles (21860km) and took 163 days of cycling. That works out at 83.33 miles a day. We spent an average of 6 hours 19 minutes in the saddle every day we cycled and no real saddle sores! I still can’t believe that myself. After our race in Sebring we had a couple of days before our flight home and spent our time partying with some friends, dressed as mimes, obviously. (Sorry but the pictures aren’t uploading) Thanks to Maite and Lee for such a fun weekend. The only downside to all the partying was lack of sleep. We still had more cycling to do before we’d actually finished. And a long haul flight. We were met by a huge crowd of our biggest fans at Stanstead. Namely members of our immediate family, waving banners and holding ‘welcome home’ helium balloons. We had a great evening catching up with more family at my aunts house. We were fed like kings (or should I say pigs). Something we were now far too used to. I spent a while putting the bikes back together. Most of the bits went back in the right place. More thanks to both our families for meeting us at the airport and to Stella and family for your fabulous hospitality. Our last morning of cycling of the whole trip and we woke up to snow. The British weather was also there to greet us. For the last time we donned our thermal gear, layered up and set out to City Hall and the finish line. As it happens, the ride into the city was quicker than anticipated and we were early. Time to say hi to all from Nokia, Solar Century, Solar-aid and warm up with a cup of coffee before the hoards arrived. Met by litterally tens of our family and friends we had a fun photo frenzie and reunion by the bank of the Thames. We were presented with plaques and solar panels to commemorate our journey. Check out the articles from Solar Century , We support solar and an interview by Luke Walsh. A nice lunch by the Thames with more family and friends paved the way to the real finish line, the party. Would either of us make it through unscathed? The evening was fabulous and a huge thankyou to everyone who came along. Especially those who traveled long distances and surprise appearances. It really did make the evening great. It was so nice to catch up with so many people after spending such a long time on the road. Somehow we both managed to make it through to the finish line without ‘falling off the bike’ as it were. I can only put this down to all the partying we did in our last week in the States. Thanks to everyone who helped us build our resolve in the States! I think we’ve both just about recovered from the party and are now trying to come to terms with the temperature. Having cycled through deserts for 9 months it is quite clear we’re not used to the British winter. The sun rules! We hope you’ve enjoyed our journey following the sun, right through to the finish line. It’s not quite the end yet. There will be another blog or two at least. I’m going to be posting a bumper photo blog with some of our favourite shots, coming soon… In the meantime please find time to donate to Solar Aid if you havn’t done so already. We’ve managed to make it round, I hope you can make it round to donating! ta ta addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesolarcyclediaries.com%2F%3Fp%3D1279'; addthis_title = 'The+Finish+Line'; addthis_pub = '';
Tweet This PostOn your marks. Get set…
‘Woefully underprepared’ is the only way to describe our first ever cycle race. We had entered a 12 hour endurance race in Sebring to mark the end of our trip through the States. At the time of entering it was a great idea, with only a few minutes until the off, it suddenly didn’t seem such a fantastic plan. A grand total of 4 and a half hours sleep hadn’t set us up as well as we’d hoped. A nice breakfast took the edge off but the freezing conditions weren’t helping. Especially as I’d left all my thermal clothes back in Miami. It was still pitch black and time was getting short. Fifteen minutes until the whisle blew… I’d only just parked the car and taken the bikes out. Now we had to put the wheels on, attach the electronic tags and get the sports tracker set up. Ten minutes to go… “Where’s my phone? Bo#^%cks! It must have fallen out of my pocket at breakfast.” I left Susie to head to the start line where they had already started giving instructions for the race. I cycled back to the hotel. The phone was not at reception, not at the restaurant, not in the bathroom. Five minustes to go… Back to the car, the phone wasn’t in the car. “Sh&t!!!” Too late to do anything else so I headed back to the start. Three minutes to go… Found Susie on the start line. Her saddle was in the wrong position and I’d gone off with the multi-tool. Everyone else was set, primed and ready to go listening to vital final instructions on how not to get lost on the course. Susie was frantically adjusting the seat post on her bike. I was standing there in my baggy trousers and a T-shirt under my cycling top as a futile attempt at keeping the chill from reaching my bones. I realised I hadn’t got my race ID number on. Two minutes to go… I was having my race number pinned to my back by a kind spectator. Susie was fiddling with the saddle. We still hadn’t checked if our electronic tags worked. Thirty seconds to go… Susie’s passed me back the multi-too and we checked our tags worked so our milage could be recorded. I’d like to say that our countless hours on the bikes had prepared us and that, at this stage, we looked calm and professional. Unfortunately I can’t. My baggy trousers were tucked into my socks and my exposed arms were goose bumped. Susie had her hoody on with one leg rolled up on her trousers. Neither of us had lights for the Sebring race track, still pitch black. We clearly looked as though we’d taken a wrong turn and somehow ended up on the start line. Go! Off we pedal with nothing to be done about the numerous things we have overlooked. 12 hours to the finish… 12 hours to tally up as many miles as we could. We weren’t sure who to cycle with in order to keep a good pace but the second group that formed seemed to suit us fairly well. Pace was fairly swift but having racing bikes and no paniers to haul meant we were keeping up. By the end of the 3 laps of the Sebring race track it was almost light. We headed out on the roads of central Florida for 100 mile loop that would lead us back to the start line. 25 miles in… Flat tyre. Well, not flat, but very low and after 25 miles I stopped to pump up my tyre get food from my saddle bag and take a leak. I told Susie to stay with the pack so as not to lose energy. I intended to catch them. Not as easy as I’d thought. Conditions stayed cold and the wind was directly in our faces. After 20 miles of pushing and almost catching the pack I resigned to the fact I wouldn’t manage before the turn around point and eased off slightly, reserving some energy. 9 hours to the finish… Susie was waiting for me at the turn around and we took 10 minutes to chomp some food while I got my tyres inflated. My attempts with my hand pump were taking way too long. Susie got her seat post adjusted as it was still in the wrong position. 7 hours to the finish… My saddle brakes and starts moving from side to side. Nothing too worrying but quite irritating. We headed back to the race track and roughly the half way point. This time we took it in turns in the lead as we have been doing for the past 9 months. The wind was with us and we kept a good pace. 6 hours to the finish… Lunch time, it wasn’t a pretty sight. Both of us trying to get pasta, banana’s and sugary snacks in our mouths as swiftly as possible without it coming straight back out. I went to fill up my water bottles only to find on my return two of the mechanics fighting to massage susie’s legs with their ’special stick’. Susie finally got her seat in the right position and popped some painkillers for her knees, now killing from the previously cramped riding position. 10 minutes rest in total, then straight back to the job at hand… racking up the milage. My aim was to try and see if we could do over 200 miles in the alloted 12 hours. This meant a high average speed and precious little rest time. The next part of the course changed, smaller circuits of 11.7 miles. The sun had emerged and we found the cycling very pleasant. Our first 30 miles was great. Susie would invariably be singing out loud when drafting me. In fact I was getting a little embarrased as we passed rider after rider with her screaming out lyrics from behind, as if saying “this is a breeze, I’m passing you and not even out of breath”. Show off. I took this as a cue to pick up the pace a bit as she obviously wasn’t working hard enough. After the next and final break though Susie started to feel the burn and the one hill on the circuit coupled with the head wind meant she wasn’t a happy bunny on that section. The next part of the route had a long stretch of downhill with the wind on our backs and was much more her style at this stage. 2 and a half hours to go… Over three quarters of the way through and I was expecting time to drag and my energy levels to drop. However I was getting used to snacking on the go and despite pushing our pace I was surprised to find I had lots of energy and that time was shooting past. I was clearly more concerned with getting over 200 miles of tarmac under us. In the last couple of laps I took the majority of the headwind in order to keep our pace up. 40 minutes to go… In the final hour we rejoined the race track to complete circuits of 3.1 miles. We figured we needed 4 circuits to get us over the 200 miles. Just about possible. Unfortunately Susie’s energy levels were low and she urged me to try for the 4 laps without her. I sped off like a madman, surprising myself how much more I had left in my legs. It wasn’t enough though and I could only make 3 circuits in the time we had left. I then waited on the finish line hoping Susie would make it round three laps as well. 2 minutes to go… Susie crosses the line after an exhausting final lap. We congratulated each other on how well we’d done but secretly more because we’d managed to finish. One of the officials told us that 8 laps of the small circuit and 3 laps of the race track meant we were just shy of 200 miles. Half hour later… After getting the bikes packed and changed we eventually found the award ceremony. Susie had managed to win her category… yay! Our friend from the race told us that all the serious male competion was in my category and I didn’t place anywhere. Looking more closely at Susie’s medal we noted she was marked down for over 204 miles. I had to check if I’d done the same so asked the organiser if I could find out my times for the race. It turns out I had won my category too with the same milage as Susie and that our lack of organisation meant we had undermeasured the circuit distances… double yay!!! Totally knackered and ready to drop we headed off to get the bikes back and try to get our hire car back before midnight. Luckily for us we had met Chris, a local cycling fan and owner of Velocity Studio in Palm Beach. He had lent me his bike for the race and helped to organise one for Susie. We sped to meet him where he was enjoying a couple of Saturday evening beers. We can’t thank him enough. Not only had he brought his jeep out to rescue the bikes but also assured us that - though we returned them to him dismantled (and with dodgy seat post) - all was well and waved us off. Once again we have been amazingly lucky to meet such a fantastic guy. It just added to what was already an incredible experience. Susie is still complaining that she feels like she has been “hit repeatedly with a big stick” and she never wants to do anything like that again. I, on the other hand really enjoyed the experience and can only hope I learn from this and be a little more prepared the next time. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesolarcyclediaries.com%2F%3Fp%3D1260'; addthis_title = 'On+your+marks.+Get+set%26%238230%3B'; addthis_pub = '';
Cocktails, South Beach and legendary Scottish warriors…
Just under the 9 month target and today is the day we hit Miami South Beach, Florida. What a ride. Technically we aren’t actually going to be home until the 19th as we have signed up to do a 12 hour endurance race next weekend (of course - what else would you do after cycling round the world but stick another 220 miles on… in one day) but we’re pretty much there. Crazy days indeed. Even more excitingly we are getting a cavalcade to welcome us in as some of our beautiful friends are hiring California Crusers and pedaling the last 5 miles down the coast. To somewhere we can have a pina colada! Though, if I am being honest, the celebrations have started already. Especially on Saturday. Otherwise known as ‘William Wallace Day’… Well, otherwise known as William Wallace Day in Del Ray Beach after Pete and Blake made it up and we managed to attack half the towns inhabitants with lumionous face paint shouting “FREEDOM” at regular intervals. Celebrating 'Wallace Day' (Blake, whose Scottish lineage is sketchy at best, was delighted to be informed by one suspiciously American sounding gent that he ‘never celebrated Wallace Day’ as he ‘is English’.) Anyway, we have had an incredible weekend with Kim, Lara, Chloe and the guys but are finally getting back on our bikes to burn up the last few miles in the sunshine. Which is a fantastic change as when I last updated we were hiding out after being soaked to the skin. Again. Having had an amazing time at the University of Florida’s SolarCycle Week. We headed out into the storm to make our way through Lake Country to the coast. Battered by the wind we hurtled past the orange groves in a desperate bid to outrun the weather. Vaguely successfully. Note the suspiciously water logged field The second day out of town we hit an epic 130 miler with just a few showers, the next we got caught out in only the last twenty minutes. On the final push into Fort Lauderdale we basked in sunshine right until we hit the coast… where another torrential downpour engulfed us and I won the wet T-shirt contest hands down as we arrived at our friends, Mark and Chris’. There was only just time to change though as we immediately turned around for our reception by the Mayor at City Hall. How wonderful and unexpected. We are now grateful recipients of commendations by the City. And got to cycle right into the Chamber meeting. Nearly taking out several officials and constituents with our paniers and getting some footage for America’s funniest home videos. Assessing just how many people might be injured... It was a wonderful end to our last long day cycling. In which we had got lost and nearly eaten by alligators (we accidentally went down a 30 mile farm track flanked by the beady eyed beasts… desperately praying not to get a flat!) Gators either side It was fabulous though (check it out here - click on the Commission Meeting Video, February 2, Regular Meeting at 9.50 mins) and the guys took us for beers after by the water. The perfect way to fend off the nerves and excitement and celebrate being so close to the finish line. I have to confess that - following those beers - the last couple of days have not been the most productive but they have been brilliant. We are so lucky to have our friends meet us at the fnish line and join us in terrorising the neighbourhood. We went to parties, danced till dawn and lounged in the sunshine. (Aka turned hundreds of people yellow, stormed the stage of every band in town and attempted to surf on a little girls Hannah Montana boogie board.) Testing out the 'shot ski' It’s going to be a struggle to pull it all back together for the Sebring race on Saturday. But pull it together we will. I am determined to win… or beat Jamie at least! Will be starting the pre-race training any minute now. And the solar based promotion for our return to the UK. After maybe just a couple more cocktails by the Beach… Susie xx addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesolarcyclediaries.com%2F%3Fp%3D1240'; addthis_title = 'Cocktails%2C+South+Beach+and+legendary+Scottish+warriors%26%238230%3B'; addthis_pub = '';
It’s the final countdown
We’re going to Miami… Seems so strange, after 159 days of pedaling, over 13,000 miles on the clock and one small incident of man handling Orlando Bloom yesterday, our last stop is just a hop skip and a jump away. Well, a 180 mile pedal through the rain at least (damnations, why? evil weather. where is the sun?) But first - Orlando Bloom… For anyone who doesn’t know, Orlando Bloom is a keen fan of solar with some on his roof (someone once told me - I promise I haven’t actually been stalking his home - honest…) Anyway, I hope he has solar on his roof as 1 - I like to believe that all things I like to believe 2 - he was in Lord of the Rings with Cate Blanchet who is the Patron of SolarAid (you can donate to this great charity here. right here. go on…) 3 - it gives me an excuse to google pictures of him for this blog. Yesterday though, no picture googling was required as stopping at the tourist information, I got the shock of my life to find him there. Over here Orlando. Orlando? Orlando? Are you playing hard to get... Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I thoroughly disgraced myself by cavorting for some time with a life sized cardboard cut out. So did Jamie… The guy running the place claimed to have “seen worse” but sounded most unconvincing. (We tried to get him on one of the bikes. All to a running commentary: “But no Orlando. You just don’t fit. I know we could snuggle and get on but it’s just not practical for pedaling. What was that you say? You don’t mind how impractical it is… But Orlando. It could be dangerous. Danger means nothing to you if you can be with me. Oh my. Marriage you say? And children… This is all so sudden.”) Before the police were called though, we were back on the road, right up until we stopped to mess around in yet another tourist information and I nearly got stuck in this ‘ever so slightly too small for my tiny bottom’ aeroplane. Looking a bit special Anyway, other than making fools of ourselves at a variety of locations throughout the state, all has been going fantastically. The last post was from Panama City as we waited out a storm, eating obscene amounts of doughnuts and going to Hooters (it was the only thing open close enough not to get soaked - or so Jamie told me…) It meant though that we had two 125 mile days to get through to reach Gainesville on schedule. Fortunately the wind and the sun eventually smiled on us and we had an incredible ride around the Emerald Coast. This is what it's about All the way to Alachua where we were picked up by the Gainesville Cycling Club who rode with us into town (thanks so much guys - it was a fantastic morning). Escort to the SolarCycle Week! And after our first ever basketball match that night (a resounding victory for the Florida Gators) it was blind panic in order to get ready for our presentation as part of SolarCycle Week. Jamie taking a close interest at the cheerleaders routine A while back the team at the University’s libraries had got in touch to discuss an event idea. The plan was to promote both cycling and solar power and as a part of this we would present on our trip. And it was so much fun. Finally pulling ourselves and some slides together we found ourselves in front of a wonderful audience nattering about our journey. The whole thing was recorded so feel free to check it out here (though for some reason the camera appears to have given me a double chin and made me babble?). It was a wonderful couple of days. We were totally spoiled by Christine (thank you so much) and everyone there and also had a chance to talk solar and find out what was going on in the area too. Gainesville has the first solar feed-in tariff in the US. Brilliant. Also, being back at uni, we were able to take part in one of America’s other ‘cultural’ pursuits: Beer Pong! Filipe and James you are absolute nutters but thank you so much for taking us out. Also for being such keen supporters of cycling. Even if not in the more traditional sense… The guys on their morning ride Anyway, after saying a sad farewell and despite the torrential downpours we set off south once again. Dave had braved the conditions to ride us out of town and we managed a whole 40 miles before I refused to get any wetter and stopped again for the storm to pass. Everything was soaked. 6 hours in a thunderstorm certainly tests the ‘waterproof’ abilities of your kit.. Yesterday, it was therefore a big old day to get as far as possible (130 miles) before the rains came back which - they have done. Grrr. Still - only a couple more days on the road before we hit the bright lights of South Beach, Miami. On the Home Run… xx addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesolarcyclediaries.com%2F%3Fp%3D1221'; addthis_title = 'It%26%238217%3Bs+the+final+countdown'; addthis_pub = '';
Thunder, thunder, thunder…
Horizontal palm trees, torrential rain, two metre visability and whipping sand… ah the Gulf Coast. Though the temperatures are finally too high for freezing, once again the elements are pitted against us. Of course. (Bad weather follows me. I went to Ayres Rock in July, 2007 and there was snow for the first time in recorded history. Rubbish.) We are meant to be on the road today but the severe weather warning has put us off. It was the Tornado Watch that did it. Luckily, tommorrow’s forcast shows sun and tailwinds so - though it means we have a couple of 200km days in a row - it seems worth it. Previous experience has shown that going 5 miles an hour, soaked to the bone, receiving an all over exfoliation, loses its excitement quite rapidly. Anyway, it gives me chance to catch up on here and so… back to last week and Louisiana. We hit the road from Lafayette early and headed straight onto the interstate. Though we have been cycling on these intermittently it began to dawn on us that it might not be such a great idea. Sadly there was nowhere else to go. Ah well. Busy roads and miles of thin bridges doesn’t make for the most relaxing pedaling but it was above the swamps so - if you cycled with music on, looking away from the traffic- it was pretty awesome… Just don't look the other way! Eventually though, we hit a bridge too far (no shoulder, no way of crossing the lane of lorries and no hope of survival). Standing daunted at the side of the road it was only seconds before the roadside assistance arrived. And - after only a slight admonishment for our presence on the motorway - we were packed into the back of a van for the last three miles to Gulf South Solar. Brilliant. As founder of the Louisiana Solar Energy Society, Jeff had kindly answered my email and had welcomed us with open arms, energy bars, steaming mugs of coffee and extra solar panels. Truely the stereotype of southern hospitality could not be more accurate. After trying out his electric bike, meeting the team and chatting with Mark, who heads up the local cycling group, we headed straight to… pint night! Pint night The next day, after more cake and kindness, we were waved off on our final push to New Orleans. Here we were meeting Niall and Marian, our lovely friends from G24, we stayed in LA.We had also been put in touch with Maite and Lee, the brother and sister-in-law of Ann we had met the previous day. They had offered us a place to stay. It was a wonderful long weekend. We drank a few too many cocktails (absinthe? Marian…), checked out the French quarter, jogged the levee, saw some aligators, went for beniers at Cafe du Monde, were taken for an amazing long ladies lunch (with 25c martini’s - and Jamie), checked out the carnival masks, costumes and music, saw the Saints win, given a fleur de lis and taken to visit the Make it Right Foundatation. French Quarter - New Orleans The Make it Right Foundation was set up to rebuild the Lower 9th area of the City after hurricane Katrina. Established by Brad Pitt (who sadly was not around at the time), it is also being built sustainably. Gulf South Solar have provided solar panels for many of the homes. It is a fantastic project but covers only a corner of the work needed to restore a city after such an incredible catastrophe. Four years later the area still provides a stark reminder of the destructive power of the elements. Finally dragging ourselves away from Lee and Maite’s (thanks guys - it was so brilliant) we hit the road once again. This time heading to Biloxi. And - after only a small blip (I was in charge of directions) all was going well. Ish. Well, that is, apart from the fact that I had started to feel a bit queasy. We stopped at Fort Pike for lunch. I couldn’t eat. My stomach was in my throat. Back on the road to Biloxi progress was not much better. We stopped for me to lie down and to check what was up ahead. Nothing for 30 miles. Hmmm. 3 miles of excruciatingly slow pedaling later we stopped again. I had no energy. I tooka sip of lemonade. BLEURGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Spot the vomit... Disgusting. We were still 27 miles from Bay St Louis but feeling marginally better with nothing in my stomach, we plodded on. As soon as we got there I headed straight to bed and Jamie went out for supplies. The following morning (and a packet of jelly babies later) I dragged myself up. Overnight, another storm had hit. The rain was torrential. We hung out for it to stop and then scooted off into the mist. Jeff had put us in touch with his brother, Kevin, who lives in Mobile and who had offered us a place to stay. We were also going to visit his son’s school to speak about the trip. Things did not go quite to plan… Twenty minutes later the rains began again. Even stronger than before. Despite wearing waterproofs, we were soaked to the bone. The wind was driving against us, we couldn’t see the road ahead and the cars could not see us. Pedaling on the beach front we got stuck in sand drift after sand drift and Jamie got a puncture. Stormy weather Four hours later, we had only gone 25 miles. At that rate we would never get to Mobile until late and there was nowhere to stop beforehand. The idea of camping in the tropical thunderstorm was not all that appealing. Exhausted from the day before, I called it a day. I slept some more and awoke the next morning refreshed and ready to get back on the bike. Unfortunately, it was Jamie’s turn to feel bad. He had been up all night with toothache. Getting back on the bikes regardless, we stopped at the first dentist we saw. Fortunately they had space immediately. A couple of hours later he was fixed and feeling much better. The sun began to clear and the afternoons pedal was gently rolling and relaxed. Despite the dental emergency we were making good time. Time even for me to get a puncture without worrying too much. Which was lucky as it took an age to locate the hundreds of metal shards that had attacked my wheel. Jamie sunbathed while I worked away, shocking the passersby who could not believe his lack of chivalry. (We always fix our own punctures. And actually Jamie often ends up helping when I mess mine up.) Totally oblivious to the trouble he is causing! Many people stopped to check he was ok as it didn’t cross their minds that I could be doing the hardwork while he lay listening to music in the sunshine. I deflected much of the consternation as he remained oblivious to the glares. Eventually, though, one guy got out of his truck to offer help. I declined with thanks and explained that I was fine. “Well Mam, I have just one more question.” “Of course.” “Why isn’t HE doing this.” Jamie was lounging, eyes closed, singing along to the Beastie Boys. I toyed with several responses but settled for something that would emasculate him even further in this gentlemanly region. Leaning in and adopting a conspiratorial whisper I explained. “Well, he’s just not very practical. I just don’t want him to do it wrong…” On the last leg in, Kevin called. He had been in touch with the local news station who would meet us on the road to do a story. Half an hour later and we spied a camera on the verge. It was the man from Fox 10. We videoed a short interview and chatted to Stephen, a guy passing who was interested in our journey. As we pushed off he called out to Jamie. “Hey man, I don’t know how safe it is cycling round here. Do you want to borrow a gun?” Such a kind offer but such a strange one for a us to recieve, Jamie responded as only an Englishman would. “Erm. No. But thank you very much. You know, I would love to but - um - we don’t have much space in our bags…” A few minutes later we pulled into Mobile and followed the GPS to Kevin’s house. What a stunning home. Wonderful home, wonderful company We were welcomed in and had a fantastic evening with his family eating fresh Mexican food and laughing. Right up until the time for our news debut… We decamped to the living room. 9.15, not up yet but there was a good feature on dress code in a local elementary. 9.29, still no sign but there had been a big car crash. 9.38, the local council had an important ruling on pavement levels, obviously that would supercede. 9.52, well, there was bad weather and people need to know about the weather. 9.58, “and after the break last piece on some very adventurous people”. (Finally our moment of fame and fortune was imminent…) 9.59.5, “Local men in Bejing brave the icy temperatures to take a dip in the river.” What? What? They weren’t even in Mobile!?!?! They were in Bejing. Going for a swim. We were cheated. Totally cheated Anyway, the next morning we had been invited into school with Stephen and Walker, Kevin’s two sons, to speak about the trip in their morning assembly broadcast (they have a video link to announcements and the kids do them as a show - man- they never had anything so cool in my day). Back at School We didn’t have much idea what we were doing but it was fun nevertheless and great to talk afterwards to two of the Forms. Once again though, we had to drag ourselves away and move along. It was another beautiful sunny day and as the afternoon drew in we hit Florida and the coast. Bring on the Sunshine State! For the last leg of our solar journey, it could not be more appropriate. Sadly, after catching a glorious sunset that evening, the sun has been a bit ellusive. What there has been though is plenty of wind, fog and rain. In case of any doubt, I can can confirm that the best place to be in the face of a storm, is not a narrow sand bank with nothing between you and the ocean. Stunning though it was, it was not the swiftest riding either. The raging headwind was compounded by the sand that had been blown onto the road. Really? Many long miles later though we made it to Panama City Beach just before the heavens opened. Which is where we still are. (Well, Sunday is a day of rest.) Fingers crossed the weather forcast is right. After slacking today we have some pretty big miles to do before we get to Gainesville on Wednesday. It is very exciting though as our stop there is at the University of Florida who have kindly asked us to talk at their first SolarCycle week. They are holding all sorts of events around solar power and cycling. Can’t wait. Just 250 miles to cover first…. As ever, will let you all of the adventures we have along the way. Susie xx addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesolarcyclediaries.com%2F%3Fp%3D1184'; addthis_title = 'Thunder%2C+thunder%2C+thunder%26%238230%3B'; addthis_pub = '';
