Day 15 - Lake Worth to Fort Pierce

Wednesday.

It's easy to wake up early after going to bed before 10pm, it's another thing to get rolling. The amount of condensation that accumulates is mind boggling.

Since I'm certainly not on a 'tight schedule', I've been able to enjoy the peaceful mornings while letting my things dry out. Packing wet tents is a recipe for funny smells down the road.

Somehow, this campsite had a small collection of sunflowers. I briefly thought I was back in Kansas. Nope, still Florida.

After packing back up, I rode to the coast again and resumed my trek to the north. I cruised through South Palm Beach, and then into Palm Beach proper. Somehow, I missed my turn and wound up lost in 'fancy' neighborhood. Within four blocks, I saw three different Rolls-Royce's sitting outside in driveways.


I feel like this one should be in Cannonball Run.


Once back on the proper road, I made good time and cruised up to the Stuart/Port Salerno area. Coincidence would have it that both my friend from college, and my potential Warmshowers host are teachers and on spring break. So it goes. Luckily, I felt good and kept riding along the Indian River.


There was a county campground to the south of Fort Pierce, and I pulled into the campground with about 45 minutes of daylight to spare. Once I got settled, my error became painfully obvious. I hadn't stopped for dinner, and just assumed that there would be food close. However, this campground is a decent ways outside of town. I didn't have the energy, daylight, or desire to ride 5 miles into town and then 5 miles back. My lame dinner consisted of 5 granola bars, 8 fig newtons, and a bagel with nutella. Lesson learned.


Day 15 - 79 miles (new record)
Trip to date - 662 miles

Day 14 - Miami Beach to Lake Worth

Tuesday.

The local bike shop in Miami Beach opens at 10am, so I got packed up and rode down there just after they opened. I purchased a 28mm Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase tire, so we'll see if that works out better. It was a good thing I caught the problem, the tire was actually cut all the way through. In the photos from the previous day, the little bit of black in the middle is the tube. I'm amazed it never went flat.

Once I installed the new tire, I hit the road and enjoyed more great riding. Miami Beach is still a little crazy for my taste, but things seemed to relax more and more the further north I rode.

Eventually, I reached Fort Lauderdale, which brought back all kinds of funny childhood memories. I'm pretty sure I've never been there before, and my only reference to the town is from a movie. Flight of the Navigator was one of my all time favorites growing up. I must have watched it 100 times. Funny how each persons brain keeps certain memories, and what it takes to trigger them.

Back to riding.

Riding highway A1A north from Ft. Lauderdale is fantastic. Great scenery, good shoulders, smooth roads, no hills, it doesn't get much better. As a result, I saw dozens of other riders. I was able to leech onto a few, and caught some free speed for a few miles before I'd get dropped. After repeating that process a few more times, I checked my odometer for the day to see that I was already over 50 miles and was barely tired. Good deal.

I continue to be amazed at the magnitude of some of these houses. Incredible. Miles and miles and miles and miles of enormous estates, right on the ocean. Hillsboro Beach was by far my favorite. It was also in Hillsboro where I saw my first Lamborghini of the trip. It was Skittle green. I didn't get a picture of it because by the time I got my camera out and on, he was out of my sight. Oh well.


What do these people do?


As I hit mile 66 for the day, I turned away from the ocean, and found a county campground just outside of Lake Worth, FL. Another enjoyable day in the books.


Day 14 - 72 miles (garmin link added 4/4/2010)
Trip to date - 583 miles

Day 13 - Rest Day in Miami Beach, Part 2

Monday.

It's official. I took an actual rest day. No 95 mile 'fun rides', no running, no nothing. It was weird. I finished the book I started reading, and then packed up the laptop and made it to one of the 374 Starbucks in Miami Beach. The rain was pouring down, which made me appreciate not riding today.



Eventually, the rain stopped, and I walked around for a bit. The Starbucks I chose just happened to be 1 block away from the New World Symphony Campus Expansion. That poor project gave me many headaches. At least they are finally getting close to finishing it.


I took a nap in the afternoon, then decided to clean up my bike a bit, and give it a good once over before I resume riding tomorrow. It is a good thing I did that, because I happened to find a pretty exciting gash in the rear tire. Since I generally begin my projects unprepared, it makes sense that I didn't have a spare tire, only spare tubes. I walked to the two local shops, and both were closed for the evening. I'll have to get a new tire in the AM, before I head north.


After my failed tire purchase, I walked on the beach for a bit, enjoying my last hours in the crazy town that is Miami Beach.



Cab companies have real easy phone numbers. If you need a cab, just press 4 for a while. When the cab company picks up, you will know you have hit 4 enough.


Tomorrow, I ride north, I hope to reach a campground in a town called Lake Worth.
Luckily, I'm not towing as much as this guy...

Day 12 - Rest day in Miami Beach

Sunday.

The entire day was cloudy and breezy. I didn't take a single picture all day.

I cruised around Miami Beach, and found a pretty sweet farmers market/antique show along the Lincoln Road Mall. Many cool things for sale, and there were people all over.

After lunch, I took my book and walked down to the beach. Even though the weather wasn't so good, the beach was packed. I found a place to sit, and read for a few hours. Last week, I was given a book to read by one of my hosts. It's called Honor Bound. It's generally not a type of book I'd generally pick up, but the story is entertaining. It's a WW2 story set in the South Atlantic. Specifically, about the interactions of Argentina with both the US and Germany.

And again, taking a whole day off seems silly, so I went running on the beach in the afternoon. I made sure to do a bunch of stretching before hand, and my legs felt much better than during my previous run. 4 miles on Miami Beach

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain. Perhaps I will really get to take a whole day off.

Day 11 - Florida City to Miami Beach

EDIT2 -- Pictures appear to be working.

Saturday.

I had intended to stay for another night at the hostel in Florida City, but when I called to change my reservation at the hostel in Miami Beach, I was informed that I'd still be charged for Saturday night. That settles it, I'm going to Miami!

My legs were still pretty tired from my 95 mile "rest day", but the ride to Miami Beach was only ~40 miles. After packing and saying good-bye to those at the hostel, I hit the road a little before 2pm.

The ride was casual, and mostly uneventful before I hit the city. I did ride by a small 'go-kart' track next to the proper Nascar track. However, these 'go-karts' were fast. Like, really fast. I watched for a little while, and then tried my best to peel-out on my bicycle. I don't think they were impressed.

The Miami dump is huge. Why do I enjoy taking pictures of the dump? Who knows.

I rode many miles through fancy suburbs south of Miami, and saw all kinds of big houses, fast cars, and generally intimidating displays of prosperity (or debt).

It's the lions.
Once I found myself entering the city, I began getting excited at all the cool things I remembered from last time I was in Miami. In January of 2008, I visited the city as a start/end point for the Barenaked Ladies cruise. I also ran the ING Miami Half Marathon that trip.

As I passed by the downtown start/finish line area, I was reminded that this happened to be the weekend of Ultra. Oh boy. What timing. For those of you who aren't familiar, Ultra is just about the biggest outdoor electronic music festival in the country. Later in the day, I heard estimates of 70,000 people attending. The people attending this festival tend to be, eclectic, for lack of a better word. I wish I had taken more pictures of the concert goers, there were some characters.

From there, I rode the home stretch across the bridge to Miami Beach. I checked into the Clay Hostel and took some time to relax.

After dinner, I cruised the town for a few hours. Saturday night on Miami Beach is crazy. I saw easily a dozen Bentleys, three Rolls Royces, a Ferrari or two, and more Mercedes 550's than I could count.

There were other electronic concerts all over, and many of the DJ's would put on a set at a new venue after their set at Ultra was over. If I was on a different budget, and had a different energy level, and had some other partners in crime (ahem... Brad) this could have been a crazy night.


Tomorrow will be a real rest day.

Day 11 - 46 miles
Trip to date - 511 miles

PS. See below for a few cool photos that I had forgotten about while writing this up previously.

1. Hummers are for wimps. Real men drive these.

2. What a cool yard decorations.

3. Random art installation. Bike made of crutches and wheelchair parts.

Day 10 - "Rest Day" to Everglades National Park

Friday.
Once again, I seriously lack the ability to just sit still. The hostel I am staying at is just outside of Everglades National Park, so I decided to see it on bicycle. Of course, taking a bus in to the park is completely unreasonable, why not go for a ride.

Oh yeah, because it's a 90+ mile round trip. From the hostel to the end of the road is about 47 miles. Sure, sounds like a great idea. I won't have any gear on my bicycle, so I'll be able to go way faster. Besides, it will be great training for the IM.

Right out of the gates, I was blasted by winds in my face. They would continue all the way to the end of the road. No fun.

The second challenge of the day was a pack of stupid dogs. Gosh, I'm barely into this trip and dogs are already firmly planted in my 'least favorite' list. I was a few miles away from the park entrance, and all of the sudden 5 dogs are chasing me. One from the left, and 4 from the right. Adrenaline spikes, the hair on my arms is tingling, and I'm desperately trying to ride as fast as I can into the wind. All of these dogs were at least 60lbs, and were barking viciously. Some dogs that chase are wagging their tails, and acting like it's a game. This situation was not the case. Dog on the left cut in front of me, almost getting run over in the process. They proceeded to chase me for approx. 1/2 mile, which seemed like forever.

Onwards to the park.

Everglades National Park is a huge park, and most of it is only accessible by water (canoe, kayak, or fan boat) but I was still very pleased with what I was able to see. The change in landscape from the edge of the park to the water is a cool thing to witness, especially when travelling as slowly as I was. The outer edges are somewhat like a Kansas prairie. Lots of open fields of grass. Then some coniferous trees begin to appear, and it feels almost like Cape Cod. Soon enough, the coniferous trees are being overtaken by ferns and other more tropical species. The feeling of the Cape is gone, and the feeling of the jungle has arrived.



As I was riding, I was convinced that I'd be able to see some alligators, and maybe even catch one Steve Irwin style. Nope, they are crafy animals. Each time I'd pass a small watering hole, I'd peer in to see if there were any leftover dinosaurs. The first time I passed one, I slammed on the brakes, pulled out my camera and turned back to see nothing more than a few ripples in the water. Rats!

The wind continued to punish me, and with each passing mile, I was getting closer and closer to giving up. I hadn't seen any alligators, and I had a terrible feeling that the wind was going to shift and give me even more headwind the whole way back. However, soon enough I saw another little baby alligator, stopped quickly enough to take a picture of him before he dove back into the water. Success! My energy levels were quickly lifted and I started to ride with a positive attitude again.

No more than a mile later, I saw a huge alligator sunning itself outside of the water. Again, I slammed on my brakes, turned back and snapped a photo, expecting him to slither away quickly.

Only this guy (or gal) could care less about my presence. I was able to walk up and back the road, taking as many pictures as I wanted. My bravery started to climb, and I took one step closer, then another, then another...


The 'gator still wasn't phased. It barely moved its head, but that was enough for me to give up on this silly game of chicken. While the odds were high it would go for the water, there was enough of a chance in my mind it would come for me. You win, alligator.

With even more new found excitement, the last few miles to the turnaround went smoothly. I ate some snacks, reloaded the 3 water bottles I finished on the way in and turned back.

I saw a few more 'gators on the way out, and I was only fast enough to get a picture of one. Look closely, you can barely see the eyes.

Even though I had the wind behind me on the way out, I was pretty spent after the ride in. Some stretches would go smoothly, others not so much. The riding in Everglades National Park is pretty great. Flat as I could possibly imagine, and zero stop signs or lights. The only part that wasn't perfect was the road surface. Many miles of chattery paving started to give me a headache. Luckily, there was a 4" wide strip of smooth asphalt on the very edge of the road for most of this. A good way to work on holding a line I suppose.

The end of the park was reached, and then I was back in civilization. Now my worry was those stupid dogs again. This time I outsmarted them. As I got close, I slowed down and waited for the next passing car. Once it passed me, I went into a dead sprint, and tried to tail the truck as closely as I could. It worked! The dogs didn't hear or see me until I was already past most of them. By the time the barked and started running, I was way ahead and they gave up quickly.

Back to the hostel where I enjoyed my final night there. Off to Miami tomorrow.

Day 10 - 95 miles
Trip to date - 465

Day 9 - "Rest Day" in Florida City

Today was mostly slow. I enjoyed my pancake breakfast, did some internet checking and then quickly proceeded to get bored.

I struggle with not doing anything, so I just wandered around the hostel grounds. Eventually, I started helping the volunteers with some hostel improvements. They are having a folk concert at the hostel on Saturday night, and were moving some things around to get ready for it. So, my afternoon consisted of moving stumps, logs, and dirt. I love it.

Later in the afternoon, I went on a short run. My legs felt like lead, oh well.
4 miles. Lesson learned, I still have a long way to go (in both physical distance and physical preparation) before my half and full Ironman races this year.

The day ended with a casual evening of conversation and a little basketball watching. I also saw a small note from the UMAINE alternative spring break. Small world.

Day 8 - Islamorada to Florida City

Saying good bye to paradise wasn't easy, but it was time to keep moving. Once again, I took my time getting packed up and on the road and finally had the wheels turning by 11am.

As I traveled northward in the Keys, the landmasses got a little wider and the development became denser. I made it a whopping 16 miles before I stopped for lunch at McDonalds (hooray for free internet).

During my 2.5 hour lunch break, I got a lot of pictures loaded, and a lot of blog writing done, so that was good.

I also met a British bicycle tourist who had left his job in London and is looking to become a nomadic journalist. I gave him my card, so hopefully he shoots me an email so I can follow along on his journey too. He has a similar path in mind beginning with a trip to Key West, then San Diego, and he wants to continue up the coast to Vancouver. Perhaps we will cross paths again.

He did tell me about a cool hostel in Florida City, called the Everglades Hostel. This was another 40 miles from my current location, and it was already nearing 3pm. I figured there was a chance I could make it before dark, and even if I rode slowly, I shouldn't have too much in the dark.

I checked in at one State Park in Key Largo, just in the off chance they had space. No dice. That particular park has 3 'first come first served' campsites and they were long filled by the time I arrived. The Florida State Park system isn't really set up for bikers who aren't on a set schedule. That said, this particular park hosts the overnight for the Southern Florida MS Ride. No offense to Sedalia, but this place has a little more appeal. Anyways, off I rode, racing daylight.

Eventhough I started the day with a headwind, once again, the winds changed in my favor. I was able to scream (relatively) up Old Card Sound road at about 17mph for a several miles. Then, I made a left turn and found that the wind hadn't been directly behind me, but rather at a cross. After the turn, I was able to cruise along at 20-21mph while fully loaded, and with only moderate effort.

As a result, I rode the last 42 miles of my day in well less than 3 hours, and got to the hostel well before dark. The hostel is great and I have a nice spot for my tent. They have a communal dinner for $5 each night, and I ate like a king.

To wind down, I took some photos using a nifty setting on my new camera. It takes multiple shots in low light, and stitches them together to produce a single image. This reduces the need for a tripod because the shutter isn't open for very long. After my first few sample shots, I am very pleased.



Rest day tomorrow and probably the next day. I only have 380 miles before I reach St. Augustine and a full two weeks to do it.

Day 8 - 58 miles
Trip to date - 370 miles

Day 7 - Geiger Key to Islamorada

Took my time packing up my stuff, and finally got on the road around 10am.

Riding in the Keys is amazing. The roads are generally pretty good. Highway 1 has a reputation for being scary and dangerous. I can see why, but have found that from a cycling standpoint, it's not too bad.

There are lots of bike paths, which is part good, part bad. Some of them are fantastically smooth, and are shielded from the wind. Other parts have root bumps that will knock your teeth loose. Some of them feel like hitting 2x4's.

Today, I also stopped at Bahia Honda State Park. If you didn't have to make reservations 11 months in advance, it would be an ideal camping spot. I cruised around just to take a look. There is a reason it's always full.




After Bahia Honda came the crux of today's bike ride. Seven mile bridge. It was pretty nerve wrecking. I've certainly gone 7 miles with no services, but never on a highway where the left presents 60mph traffic, and the right presents a 60 foot drop into the water. I cranked and cranked and cranked to get over the bridge as fast as possible. The thought of having a flat on this shoulder was not a good one. While the shoulder was wide, it wasn't that wide. I passed to the other side without problems, and felt a good sigh of relief.



The miles continued to click by, and before I realized it, I had come upon my rest spot for the evening. I met an awesome lady named Linda on Facebook, and she's the manager of "Best of Both Worlds". It's a great piece of land right on the water. They have a small cottage to rent, a small house, and a 3 bedroom townhome too. With each rental, you also get to sail on one of their sailboats.



When I arrived, I was planning to camp in their yard, but Linda made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I got to sleep in one of the sailboats! So sweet. With the hatch open, I looked up to see the stars and moon as I fell asleep.


What a day.

Day miles - 72
Trip to date - 312