Day 7 Monday 5-18-15 - Dothan AL to Chipley FL

Short ride (37.7 miles) and downhill to boot.  -137 feet of elevation for the day. We cross the State Line from Alabama into Florida at mile 19. As you can see from the Google Street View picture, the pavement seems to improve in Florida.

Google Street View - Hwy 109 in AL becomes Hwy 77 in FL

Peak elevation is 328 ft. at mile 3.2 and no grade higher than 2.1% the entire ride. Chipley is a small city ( population 3,605) and is the home of Florida's highest waterfall - a 73-foot (22 m) waterfall located in the appropriately named Falling Waters State Park . The water actually falls into a  sink-hole that is a 100-foot deep, 20-foot wide cylindrical pit into which flows a small stream that drops 73 feet to the bottom of the sink. The water's final destination remains unknown. Chipley is also the county seat of Washington County, which was created in 1825, and was nearly twice the size of the State of Delaware. It is named after George Washington. Here is a picture of me in the eighties taken by Bill as we entered Chipley. No bicycle clothing back then. Bill wore a helmet that looked like a cross between a football helmet and a motorcycle helmet. I never wore a helmet, just flip up cycle hats. When it was real hot and we stopped at a country store, I would use their water-hose to soak my hat and shirt and  put them in their outside ice-machine. By the time we left the store, they were almost frozen and the wind coming through them felt like air-conditioning. Our shorts were just gym shorts or regular shorts. No cleats... notice the toe-clips.

80's trip - me as we entered Chipley FL

Washington County was an entirely dry county back then - and it still is! That means the sale of alcoholic beverages is banned in the entire county (all 616 square miles :(  So we will drink cokes and stay at the Quality Inn 1130 Motel Dr, Chipley, FL 32428 (850) 638-3996. Fast Food and Walmart are the only meal options tonight. Need to stock up at Walmart with energy snacks for the next days long, hot and barren ride to the beach.

Day 7 Elevation and Grades