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.
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