Day One

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By the numbers:
Miles Traveled - 58
Number of cold gas station drinks: many
Maximum Speed: 20.6 mph

A key revelation of today was never to rely on uncertain sunscreen while baking in the Florida rays. We're both a bit crispy but with new sunscreen for tomorrow's miles.

After I finished wrapping my bar tape (whoops, meant to do that in Los Angeles) we set off at a strong clip just about 9:30 this morning. The bikes were rolling smoothly as we passed the blue green waters, mangrove trees, and iguanas skirting along the bike paths.

At mile 12 I was feeling sluggish and began to think I may have made a very grievous error in preparation. It was only a temporary situation and Rach and I each traded off finding second, third, and fourth winds throughout the day.

We saw a lone pygmy deer while riding through the nature preserve. Other wildlife spottings include more fish, a snake along the road, and birds of all stripes. The dreaded Florida drivers were behaving themselves today to our appreciation.

Highway 1 is the one major road through the Keys so we traded off between a generous shoulder and occasional bike paths that separated and re-converged with the highway. Navigation has been very easy.

There are broken boats washed up into the mangrove trees, motels and resorts being rebuilt, motor homes torn asunder, and the clank and hammer of hurricane reconstruction all throughout the area. Plenty of homes here have private docks along miniature canals. Mostly power boats, less interesting for those passionate about sailboats.

Toward the end of the day we rode high above the water on the literally named "Seven Mile Bridge." We concluded our efforts by pulling into the Jolly Roger campground. (The single most expensive tent site we have ever paid for...) But, they had a wonderful pool and that alleviated the sting to the wallet.

All for now. Thanks for following along.

Ready to go

In the Keys

Happy Rach

At the Jolly Roger

Pensive Pelican








Comments

  1. PamelaApril 24, 2018 at 8:41 AM

    Hi Mike and Rach! Looks like you're off to a great start. That's an excellent pelican.

    I'm so excited that you're blogging about your trip. I'll hopefully see you when you ride up to Boston!

    ReplyDelete
  2. the Old GuyApril 24, 2018 at 2:41 PM

    Interesting. There was a garter snake in our garage this morning. I hope he's gone by now.

    ReplyDelete

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