May 11, Day 51, riding day 44, DeFuniak Springs, FL to Mariana, FL, 62.7 miles, 2,673.1 miles cuml, about 370 miles to finish

We rode a bit over 60 miles from DeFuniak Springs, FL to Arrowhead rv campground near Marianna, FL today.

The roads were mostly great, with smooth wide shoulders, until we got to Marianna, where they turned into city streets with no shoulders, two narrow lanes each way, and nasty high sidewalks with a rough one foot trough separating the sidewalk from the lane. This is the area where Phil, who left at about 6:20am on his own, and was about 3 miles from the campground and had nearly completed the ride, got sideswiped at 10:13 am by a 94-year old lady in a Buick. He scraped down the entire car, leaving scratches, and fell to the left as the car passed, landing on his left shoulder, head(helmet), left hip, knee and left shoe. His bike is virtually unscratched. Witnesses helped him, and others followed the lady. Police approached her car with guns drawn at a bank three blocks down the road where she stopped. When they saw who it was, they put their guns away, as they all knew the driver.

Phil was taken to the hospital, a drive of about half mile or so, in an ambulance, and had x-rays, etc. He has a broken left collarbone scrapes on his left elbow and knee, a bruise on his left hip/thigh. His helmet is cracked in three places; it clearly prevented a severe injury. The lady was a retired schoolteacher and had taught all the policemen. They helped her home, and she will likely lose her license. Phil will be picked up by his sister from Orlando near Tallahassee tomorrow, and will find his way home to Boise when he can change his flight. He made it almost 90% of the way, and will return in the future to finish the ride, probably with his son. It is very disappointing for him as he was riding very strongly and is probably the fittest 65-year old person I have met. He is an animal.