Monticello to Lake City

After sharing a hearty breakfast with Zef and Oona, I headed off as it got light outside.  It was one of those mornings where I was utterly pleased to be awake at that hour and on my bicycle.  

An hour or two into my ride, I saw what might have been a cyclist off in the distance.  For about the next hour or so, I could tell I was slowly getting closer and eventually did get close enough to yell out a friendly greeting.  Timone, from the Netherlands, was near the end of his stint of cycling around the world.  He had gone from his home country over to China, flown to California, and then cycled across the Southern Tier of the USA and was headed to southern Florida.  It was great to have a riding partner and we even had tail winds!  We passed two separate cyclists who shared similar characteristics of being middle-aged men wearing fluorescent gear heading West wanting company with sore Achilles heels.  A bit funny at the time, but we chatted with each of them and wished them happy riding and coincidental stumbling upon a riding companion.  

Timone and I rode along at a nice pace including several health breaks (aka I needed water, he wanted to have a smoke) and a roadside grass lunch of bread and cheese and Oreos courtesy Zef and Oona.  I called Amanda, a CouchSurfer in Lake City that I was planning to stay with, and asked if she might have room for Timone as well as he had mostly been camping.  She was kind enough to agree and even met us in Lake City to give us directions to bike out to her house.  

Timone from the Netherlands, around-the-world-cyclist and a lovely companion for the day. Best of luck on your journey and hope to see you  again in the future!

I really enjoyed spending time at Amanda's place, along with her two daughters and their rabbit, and a hearty dinner and good conversation (along with a game of Apples to Apples) was followed by an early bedtime.  I decided that I would head out early in the morning, tempting promises of Amanda's delicious biscuits and gravy, as I wanted to get on the road to Jacksonville.