Cycling the Atlantic Coast

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2109258295?share_unique_id=132 We got a late start today.   What was a leisurely morning was extended when the electronic lock failed and it took the hotel maintenance 2 hours to open our room.  We got a free hotel room out of the deal. We made up the time easily and today was the fastest ride of the tour.  We rode  47 miles at 16 mph.  I was helped by a nice 10 mph tailwind and a lighter load.  I sent all my camping and extra gear home by FedEx on Thursday. It was an interesting ride going through where the hurricane hit the hardest.   Some property is barely affected and others are destroyed.  The process seems to put all the debris on the side of the road where it is picked up and brought to central locations.   The road is clear of storm detritus,  but has a lot of things like shredded truck tires that you need to watch out for very carefully. Overall,  business are open and the local people want the tourism activity that drives the lo

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2105280366?share_unique_id=130 Whew.....what a day yesterday was.  We had nearly 100 miles to cycle.  Fifty of the miles were through cities..... Fort Lauderdale,  Miami Beach,  Miami. We left at 6 AM, thinking that the streetlights in addition to our bike lights would allow us to survive until the sun rose at 7:30.  It had rained heavily before we left and was drizzling as we hit the road.  After a couple hundred if feet we realized that the streetlights were off.  As we later learned, the lights were off to allow the sea turtles to lay their eggs.  That made the first hour and a half very challenging. We powered through the day with very few and very short breaks.  Most of the ride was urban.  We finally escaped the city at mile 70 and were on the road to the Key's through the Everglades.  We got rained on pretty hard on the way,  but we finally made it by about,  3 pm,  which was our best case pre-ride estimate. I got a  couple of p

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2094897526?share_unique_id=128 It was a very short ride into Fort Lauderdale and.the end of the official tour.  We could not find a welcome to Fort Lauderdale sign, which made things a bit anti-climatic.   We got a quick picture of half of us at the finish. We had a very nice farewell dinner.  One of the other guests at the restaurant asked if we were Canadians,  because we all looked the same and were suntanned. Tomorrow morning we begin to go our separate ways, which is a little sad.  As evidenced by the fact that 5 of us had ridden before as a group,  I am pretty sure that I will see many of these folks again.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2088349772?share_unique_id=126 We had a beautiful ride today right down A1A, aka Ocean Drive.  We did pass by Mar a Lago on the way.  The wealth in real estate, cars and boats that we saw was astounding.  Tomorrow is our last day of riding the official tour.  We have 13 miles to go.  There are very mixed emotions about ending the adventure.  It is a special privilege to be able to do this and tomorrow it all ends and we go our separate ways.  I have spent 9 weeks with these folks in a very close group  (and double that with 4 of them).  It will be sad to see it end. Rob and I have decided to keep going on the trip.  We will travel on our own to Key West.  Rob had planned from the start to meet his wife and friends in Key West.  I have no good reason except that I want to end the trip as I planned, in Key West at mile marker 00. So, there will be a few extra days of riding and blogging. 

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2082806868?share_unique_id=124 Another day, another 63 mile day in 100 heat index weather (with headwinds).   The good news is that we are getting used to these conditions and mileage.   Also, as the tour winds down, we have given up camping in favor of motels. We spent a lot of the ride on barrier islands, which was nice cycling, but not a lot of picture opportunities.   We rode through Jupiter Island, the home of Tiger Woods.   We did not see him.  Lots of beautiful homes. One of the riders from this part of Florida was escorted to his home by members of his cycling club.  Ron is in the middle of the group of the Treasury Coast Cycling Club.  He will join us Thursday night for our celebration,  but his ride is over.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2075842692?share_unique_id=122 We are working our way down the Florida peninsula at 60 miles a day.   Today we had a feeling of deja vu with it being hot, humid and a headwind.   I think that the NY Yankees used to have spring training here, so perhaps in honor of Yogi Beara I should say "deja vu all over again." We are staying in very nice accommodations near the beach, so I got some ocean swimming time in.  That never gets old for me. The tour is beginning to wind down.  Rob is cooking tonight, and is going to try a Wisconsin theme,  brats, sauerkraut and maybe some beer.