From The Road

Day 13

Our next stop on the trip was South Miami. We planned on staying with my friend Branden and his family. The total mileage for the day was only going to be about forty miles so we took our time getting there. The day was hot and humid and the clouds looked fierce. We were traveling down Krome Ave. a small two lane road that goes through swampland with no gas stations or stores along the way. We made it about twenty miles before the sky opened up and started to pour. Luckily we could see the Indian Casinos in the distance to we road only about twenty minutes in the rain before we made it to the Casino. We decided that since we were not crunched for time we would wait out the rain while we got some food.
After the rain stopped we only had a short 15 miles until we got to Branden's house. We spent the afternoon in the pool, playing corn hole, and grilling out. It was a really good time and Adam and I felt very welcomed. After dinner we shot some pool and went out for drinks with a few friends. We decided to take tomorrow off and see a little bit of Miami. Until next time...

From The Road

Day 12

This morning started off slow going, we cooked bacon and eggs in the hotel room and didn't get on the bikes till about 10:30am. Adam was still feeling sick so we took it slow. I called my good friend Colby Williamson who offered us to stay at his house in Weston with his wife Nichole, so Adam and I decided it would be nice to sleep in a air conditioned house then try and find a place to pitch a tent in Ft. Lauderdale. Since we had felt so late and were moving so slow in the morning we had only made it 40 miles by 3:00pm and still had another 50-60 miles before we got to Weston. So as we ate lunch we made the desicion to step up and go for it. So after lunch we started hammering out the miles toward Weston, stopping only when we ran out of water.
Adam and I agreed that Colby and Nichole went above and beyond to try and make us feel welcome and made sure we were comfortable. For Adam and I anyplace that is dry and where we don't have to worry about getting kicked out for trespassing is a great place to be but Colby and Nichole insisted on giving us the star treatment. We can't say how thankful we are to all the people like Colby and Nichole who opened up their house to us.

From The Road

Day 11

We left Harley's house bright and early but after a few miles without food in our stomaches we decided to wheel into a Dunkin Donuts and plan out our day. As we sat at our table with our coffee in hand and maps spread all over we tried to come up with a game plan for the day. When you are carry 80lbs of gear on a bike everyone wants to know where you are coming from and where you are going. As we ate our breakfast the man at the next table started to talk to use about our travels but then almost mid conversation he got up and went to his car. We thought he just had some place to be and wasn't very good with goodbye's but about two minutes later he returned. He said "I know you guys said you didn't have a GPS and you can use this a lot more than me so here you go." and he handed us a Garmin GPS and left without even giving us his name. These are the experiences that make bike touring so enjoyable. For some reason bikes with panniers bring out the best in people. We have had so many people offer us places to stay, food, drink, and local advice that have been so helpful on our trip. Most of these people weren't cyclists and didn't know us but they were always more than happy to help us out.
We made it to Stuart but Adam had come down with a cold so his mom paid for us to get a Hotel room. (thanks again Ms Duce) It is too bad that Adam had to have gotten sick but I really did enjoy the Hotel room. Hopefully Adam will get better soon so we can get back on the bikes.

From The Road

Day 10

After a day of rest we were ready to get back on the road so we loaded up, said goodbye to Mike, and headed East. After just a few minutes of riding we accepted that these head winds would continue for who knows how long and that we should just get used to it. We cut over to the east coast and turned south on US-1. By the time we hit Melbourne we had put in 75 miles so we decided to start looking for a place to camp. We stopped into a few bike shops in hopes of getting some good local advice but unfortunatly we struck out. I was hungry so we found a little hot dog stand (Mustard's Last Stand) and grabbed some food. While we were waiting in line we had a gentleman ask us if we were local because he was looking for some guys to ride with, we told him we were touring and when we asked about camping he offered us to stay in his back yard. Harley was a great guy and we really appreciated him letting us set up camp in his backyard.

From The Road

Day 9

When Adam and I looked at the map to try and pace ourselves so we would hit Key West when my sister Sarah and girlfriend Kaitlin were going to be there to meet us at the finish, we found we were way ahead of schedule so we decided to take today off. We borrowed a car from my cousin and drove around Orlando taking in the sites and stopping at every bike shop we passed.

(Sorry about not having pictures but it was a pretty uneventful day.)

From The Road

Day 8

Because of the wind we had experienced the day before we had planned to get on the road as early as possible with the idea that the winds would be lighter in the morning hours. I set my alarm the night before and rolled out of bed just before the sun was about to rise only to feel the gusty winds I was trying so hard to avoid. Since Adam was still asleep I decided to take advantage of the park's shower. Once Adam awoke we were making breakfast and coffee as Donnie pulled into our campsite to see us off before he went to work and said that when we come back to Santos to mountain bike he would show us around.
The winds were tough and mentally draining. Up until a day ago we had been making such great time with little effort now that we were up against 25mph winds we were fighting for every mile. We planned to stay in Orlando with my cousin Mike Thompson that night so we pointed in that direction put our heads down and grinded through the miles. When we started to hit the city we were greeted with rush hour traffic on some pretty busy roads. Because we have such bad maps I had to keep getting on the phone with my mom as she navigated us with the help of mapquest to my cousins house. (Thanks Mom) When we arrived at my cousins we were tired and hungry as always so we rounded up some burgers and hot dogs and grilled out.
Even though today was harder than the past few days and on multiple occasions Adam or I commented that we wanted to stop riding for the day, it was still a great day and touring on bike could be one of the greatest ways to travel

From The Road

Day 7

After a day of rest Adam and I got back on the bikes and started towards Orlando. We left the Simpson's house around 8:00 and headed into the town of High Springs in search of a bike shop. After a few warm up miles we rolled into town only to find that the bike shop didn't open till 9:30. We wanted to wait it out till it opened so we found a local coffee shop and kicked it untill the shop opened. When the bike shop opened we tuned up the bikes, filled the tires, and were on our way.
Day seven was a day of 25mph winds and longggg rolling hills. We were excited to be back on the bikes but we were not prepared for the wind. The miles seemed to get longer and our once steady groove we had found was now blown to the way side. I was happy when I met Donnie at a red light in Ocala. Donnie was riding his bike through town when we met him at a red light, he told us he worked at a local bike shop and had a place for us to camp. After 75 miles Adam and I were ready to call it a day so we followed Donnie to his shop, Greenway Cycles, and was able to find a campsite across the street at Santos State Park. Donnie and his boss Dano came over to the camp site for a cold beer and a warm fire. They were a great couple of guys and really helped us out. After a long day in the wind we were ready for bed. I hope tomorrow will be less windy.