Tuesday, June 5, 2001: Brunswick to Fernandina Beach, FL
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Stats
70-95 SE 0-15 Mainly Headwinds
ET: 7:00:00
DST: 80.98 miles
AVG: 15.2 MPH
RT: 5:19:32
MAX: 23.9 MPH
(2391.7 total/108.71 daily average)
Cities traveled through: Brunswick, Spring Bluff, Waverly, White Oak, Woodbine, Colesbury, Kingsland, Yulee, FL, Fernandina Beach
Remarks
Today I left around 5:30 trying to take advantage of a little cooler weather. It was cool and comfortable as I left...about 70 degrees and no wind. About six miles down the road all of a sudden my back tire just stopped moving. I looked back and noticed it was rubbing on the frame. I moved it around a little bit but no matter what I tried to do it didn't want to spin normally without titling back and forth as it went around. It turns out a couple of my spokes had broke and put everything out of alignment. I didn't know how far I could go on the tire like that. I could ride but every revolution it would hit against the frame a little bit. I was riding like this for about another 12 miles down the road when I was going down a hill and the tire went completely flat. So I stopped and changed the tube. The only tube I had left was one that I wasn't sure would work. I think it had a slow leak on it. I put that one in and changed the tire and it seemed to work okay. I kept riding and made it all the way to Yulee, FL when I had to put more air in it. Finally I made it to Fernandina Beach when the tire went flat in town. I figured the rim was already ruined and I was only five miles from the ocean so I just rode it there like that. It's a good thing my trip is done today because I don't think my bike could last another day. There were a few times I thought I might have to stop by a Wal Mart and just buy a cheap bike to finish the trip with. When I went over the bridge from Georgia to Florida I thought my tire might go flat there too because part of it was made up of some metal that looked kind of sharp. On another note, I once again found cheaper gas prices down here. I can't remember where on the trip but I think it was somewhere between Brunswick and Woodbine I saw a station selling unleaded for $1.399. I got to the hotel around 1 PM. The temperature was already in the 90s. Despite all the problems this trip was one I will never forget.
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