Molino 68mi

Yesterday my son, a friend, and I rode my Molino 68mi route. It was a nice day. I dressed warmly, but never got hot, just nice and toasty. I did get cold at a rest stop. This was the first time I have ridden some of these roads in over 20 years. Not much has changed, just more traffic in some areas and a few roads have better pavement. But, some roads appear to have the same pavement as 20 years ago.

Our friend is a student from FSU and is on the team there. It was the strongest rider of the day. I came in last. Towards the end of the ride going down Scenic Hwy I had very little left in my legs. To think that our friend had wanted to ride the 200k, there's no way I was ready for that.

We got a 9am start and ended at 1:30pm with 4 hrs of riding time. There was quite a bit of traffic on Pine Forest and the turn onto 297A. After we turned up 97 the traffic thinned and the pavement was good pretty much all the way to Muskogee Rd. The pavement all the way to Molino was about average with some good pavement thrown in from time to time. Molino Rd was pretty good.

The stores on Muskogee Rd and in Molino on 95A were open which is good. But we didn't stop until we got to Five Points. Quintette Rd is no better than it use to be. I take that back. The first half had good pavement, but the Santa Rosa part was numbing. I've never been a fan of Quintette Rd, but it does connect the two counties which opens up the possibilities of nice long rides without having to double back.

The traffic on Woodbine was intense at times, but it was around 12:30. The traffic on Hwy 90 was heavy and it was difficult to make the left onto Scenic Hwy. Some were saying how cruel it is to finish up the ride on Scenic Hwy. I think it is a good way to finish up the ride; although my legs were screaming at me.

We had a great ride! It was about the right distance for me for this time of year. I might make some modifications to the course to avoid Pine Forest Rd and the 297A intersection, but we'll see. This was the first time my son has ridden this course. He enjoyed it so much that he thinks it should be a weekly ride. BTW, I designed this version of the route just for him by going directly to Summit Blvd instead going via Bayou Blvd. He doesn't much care for riding Bayou Blvd.

Our friend will be in town until after the first of the year, so I'm sure we will get some more nice rides with him. It sure is nice having a 3rd riding to ride with; especially since he does a lot of pulling too. Thanks Joe!