Cycling the Atlantic Coast

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2115615575?share_unique_id=134 The adventure ended yesterday in Key West after and interesting 54 mile ride.  We planned to start at 8:30, but it was raining.  I caught a picture of a rainbow and if you look closely,  you can see Rob cycling. The ride was again assisted by a nice tailwind and the quickest ride of the tour.   We got to the southernmost point at about 1 pm, completing the 2900 ride. We took photos at the famous marker (damaged by Irma) and then did the customary dipping of the front wheel. It was a lot of fun competing the journey with Rob.  It was quite an adventure from start to finish.

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 o...

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, ...

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.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2068048560?share_unique_id=120 Another hot ride today with the heat index of over 100.  We had a ride down highway 1, which had some views of the barrier islands.  To be honest,  it was a put your head down and get it done day.  Not a lot of sights, restaurants or attractions.   It was nice that Sunday morning traffic was light. We are in a hotel tonight,  which is really fortunate.   Both last night and tonight, the low temperatures are about 80, which is not good sleeping weather in a tent.  Also, I hope to catch the Packer game, which is a treat. Go Pack Go!!!

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2061573867?share_unique_id=118 Well, it had to happen, and today was the day.  We rode 60 miles in a constant 10 mph headwind.   The wind was not bad, but combined with high humidity and near 90 degrees temperature, it was a long day. On the positive side, it was flat and along the ocean just about the entire day.  Traffic was not bad and the roads were good. On the even more positive side, I got to ride my bike down the famous Daytona, which was fun.  Also on the plus side, we started our 7th and final map.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2048445017?share_unique_id=116 Today was a quick run down the coast to St Augustine.   We had a wind out of the east at 25 mph, with gusts up to 40, which meant that it was time to hang on and stay on the road.  Fortunately,  the road was lightly traveled and had a 8 foot bike lane. The ride was nice, routing us through beautiful golf communities and a nature peeserve.  There was a statue of Ponce de Leon where he reportedly sited the new world on his quest for gold and the fountain of youth. Near the end of the day,  we went through a beach community that showed lots of signs of storm damage.   The blowing sand made us all happy to end the ride and get a warm shower. Tomorrow is a day off.  There is rain in the forecast and hurricane Nate is causing some mischief.  It will be nice not to sleep in a tent.  We are in a kitchy hostel called the Pirate Haus whichis actually quite nice.  ...

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2043462844?share_unique_id=114 Another fantastic day of cycling.  We had a nice tailwind for much of the ride and lots of variety in scenery.  We departed the lowlands of Georgia and arrived in our destination state of Florida.   The roads in Florida showed a significant improvement over the past couple of states.  The main road, A1A has wide shoulders, low traffic and a good surface.  We have been told that it will continue. We saw more storm damage today in the form of piles of trees and branches 10' high on the side of the road.  There are a lot of trucks halling debris and crews working along the roads. Right now we are on the coast east of Jacksonville.   The ocean is being affected by 25 mph east winds.   It is not a good day for swimming,  but I got in a nice walk along the beach. It is exciting to be in Florida and see the end in sight.  It is time to stop eating anyth...

We had a fun ride through south Georgia today.   We crossed a bridge and I got high enough to get a view of the terrain.  It is flat as a pancake, with lots of swamps and tidal rivers.  We had a wonderful 15 mph tailwind which made the pedals very easy to turn.  We have begin to see signs of wind damage from Irene.   I got a  picture of our shopping ritual.  The store was about 10 miles from camp, so we all meet to help carry groceries.   I am sure it is quite the sight in these small rural towns to have 10 lycra clad cyclists and loaded bike show up at the local IGA. Tomorrow we enter Florida.   Our last of 13 states on this journey.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2034790848?share_unique_id=112 I am afraid that I have not been doing a good job keeping up on the blog.  I had a day of cooking, a ninty mile day and a visit from my lovely wife.  All of which took time and energy.  Since I last wrote,  I have cycled through the lowlands of South Carolina and Georgia and visited the elegant southern city of Savanna. The cycling has been a little challenging. The infrastructure in South Carolina is not cycling friendly.  The people are fine, but 4 lane roads, posted at 65 mph, with no shoulders are not a cyclists friend.   Today we were in Georgia which was an improvement.  I did see porpoises from a bridge in South Carolina on the way into Savanna, which was a treat.  We did two walking tours of Savanna which were fantastic.   One was on the general history of the city and the other one was on the civil war in the area.  It is a lovely city where hist...

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2003720028?share_unique_id=110 Another interesting ride through South Carolina.   We spent much of the day in Francis Marion National Forest on the way to Charleston.   Our lodging was no available until 5 pm, so we hit the beach for three hours.   It was a fantastic way to spend the day.   That finishes off to  days in a row of cycling and 440 miles.  So far, we are over 2000 miles for the trip. 

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1998297541?share_unique_id=108 Big day today at a little over 86 miles.  It was through the lowlands of the South Carolina and not our most interesting ride.  We got some cloud cover, tailwinds and had cool temperatures thanks to hurricane Maria being offshore,  so that was a bonus. About the only things of note are that we entered South Carolina today.  Also, the fact that we are staying in the birthplace of Chubby Checkers (and Chris Rock)

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1994152261?share_unique_id=104 https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1994152261?share_unique_id=106 Well, I have slacked off the blogging for a few days.   As you can tell from the blurred photo, looks like I have stopped cleaning the lense on my phone camera too, sorry. The last week we have cycled about 400 miles through North Carolina.  The trip total is over 1800 miles. While not blogging and riding, we have had lots of fun.   For the past 5 days, we have been able to swim in the ocean after cycling (or on the route) which has been wonderful. Tomorrow is a big day.   We enter South Carolina and will cover nearly 90 miles.   Also, it has been decided that the ride will end 4 days early in Fort Lauderdale.   The Key's are still in  very fragile condition and if it is even possible to get to the end, it is doubtful it would be much fun. The map shows the next week or so of our adventure.  ...

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1992243817?share_unique_id=102 Today was the second time in as many weeks that we circumnavigated a Marine base.  Last week it was Quantico and today it was camp Lajune.  It was not the most interesting ride with lots of places to get your hair cut and strip joints.  I went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and was surrounded by clean cut 20 to 30 year old men (presumably marines on their day off). We are right on the beach again tonight.  It was wonderful to end the riding day with a dip in the Atlantic.   As you can tell from the photo,  it was a combined wash/swim for Derald, Shell and Tom.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1990725873?share_unique_id=100 Today we left Ocracoke Island on the 7:30 AM ferry.   It was a 2 1/2 hour crossing to Cedar Island on the near empty ferry.   We used the wind and opportunity to dry out our tents and towels after they were drenched last night by an unexpected downpour. Most of the ride was very quiet, through a nature preserve and through relatively uninhabited lowlands.   We were assisted by a slight tailwind which lessens the load.  As we approached our lodging for the night, we were showered by another squall.   The dark clouds and thunder on the horizon made us feel lucky to get away with just a shower. We got a swim in again in the ocean.  The waves were light and regular,  very different from the storm tossed ocean of two days ago.  The water temperature must be near 80.  What a way to end a day of cycling.