7 Hills, Jim Morrison and the First Christmas

75 miles today through the Tallahassee Hills area of North Florida. Someone at one of my stops today was from Tallahassee. He kept telling me about the 7 hills of Tallahassee but wouldn't discuss details, simply that I would figure it out. With a little research and peddling I realized he was talking about Tallahassee being known for 7 hills....seems like I climbed everyone of them as I rode through the city. He also claimed that Tallahassee was the Southern beginning of the Appalachian Mountains. I couldn't find any evidence of this other than much of Florida's sand and sediment are deposits from erosion of the Appalachian Mountains to the North of Florida. Tallahassee has a long rich history, from the original people who inhabited the area centuries ago to the Spanish explorer De Soto who wintered near present day Tallahassee during 1538 and 1539. The De Soto encampment is believed to be the first place Christmas was celebrated in the continental United States although there is no historical documentation to back this claim. Lastly, I have always been a huge fan of Jim Morrison and The Doors and Tallahassee was Morrison's home...so getting to Tallahassee has been somewhat of a "pilgrimage" for me!!!

Interesting scenery today. If you look closely at the first pic you will see the tree limbs are made from bottles. An old bridge to nowhere, a mushroom I almost stepped on during a brief stop, the muddy waters of one of the many rivers I crossed today and ponds on the outskirts of Tallahassee.

The last two days I have been riding on Florida Highway 90, which is dedicated to biking across the Florida Panhandle and Northern Florida. It has great shoulders, bike lanes and no rumble strips....what a joy to ride....many parts of the road are like riding through tree lined parks. And, best of all, traffic is pretty sparse and everyone seems aware of bicyclists. Best roads so far of the trip. Had to replace my rear wheel today which was starting to crack and I'm lucky the spokes didn't pull through. About 5,000 miles on the wheel so it was definitely time.