The day started beautifully. We already had a sweet camp spot. And we had enjoyed last night's moonrise. The sunrise held nothing back. It was a quiet day at the campground. As I walked around a bit taking in the day, I was able to capture a few shots. First, the Key Deer were walking around the campground. I saw three, though only two are shown here. Then the sunrise colors were every bit as beautiful as sunset colors.
I noticed as I readied for today's ride the state of my tires. I have over a thousand miles on this set of tires. Quite a bit more. These are tires made for road or light off-road. My back tire center is now a slick. I have worn every bit of nub off of them. The back carries my pack and the bulk of my weight, which is no small amount. The front is getting there, but there is still a bit of nub to the center. Alternatively, the sides of the tires still have the original little prongs, which typically wear fairly quickly when one rides a lot. Not much off road contact to wear them away.
Most of the ride today was shared on a bike lane on the highway. The road going through the Keys has quite a bit of traffic. It would be one thing if one could willy-nilly swap from one side to the other. However, moving from one sidewalk to the other side of the road's sidewalk or bike lane is not necessarily the safest thing.
I added a few items seen on the bridges' shoulders. I forgot to mention the number of locks I saw. Startling, actually. Today's ride reminded me of that. Maybe only ten or so the entire ride. But doesn't that seem like an odd thing to find on the side of the road? Added are what I will call building supplies. This can include the other things like bolts. But also, today, little scraps of wood. At least one I saw had a nail facing up. I missed that one, but I did hit about a one-inch square block. My tire didn't suffer, so perhaps it had no nail. The other thing to add is Mardi Gras beads! They looked to be broken, which may have landed them on the side of the road.
One of the times I chose to switch to the side of the road, I had to wait for a "parade" of about a hundred motorcycles coming North. Many waved or saluted. That was cool. Maybe they thought I was taking their photos. Or maybe they just thought, "Hey, a person on a bicycle riding to Key West!" It was cool. I didn't mind waiting for the group to pass.
There was a coastal flood advisory for lots of the Key areas today. Low areas flooding, I am assuming due to astronomical tide differences. Perhaps with the full moon. But sure enough, the Overseas Heritage Trail was not immune. Luckily I had seen another cyclist precede me through this flooded area. I could tell it was passable. I had hoped to share a video of my ride through the water. But the crappy internet is not letting me upload it. I shall try again later. That may be a few days.
(retry 11/14 without success)
On Cudjoe Key, this marker talks about State Road 4A (which is a good portion of the Overseas Heritage Trail). Worth a read if you don't know about it already.
Note the barrier in the background. That is part of the trail that is not complete. There was water on the other side of the barrier.
There is nothing more special than the end of the ride. I actually stopped the ride at the campground, and DL joined me to finish the ECG ride at the southernmost point. Here I am.
We celebrated at a restaurant we had enjoyed when we were in the Keys for my 60th birthday--Blue Heaven. Shout out to Merrill Morris for the delicious cocktail--if I could only remember the name of it! It was a coconut rum drink with fresh fruit juices. What I most remember is that I wish I could have had another one, but we had to ride back six miles to the camp. It was one of those dangerous drinks. One could only taste cold deliciousness. Makes it easy to drink several.
Now, all that's left is the section from Bridgeport, CT, to Savannah, GA. The middle third, we'll call it. Not sure how we'll finish it off yet. I'll probably attempt a few of the sections this winter. Then maybe in spring go south to north. If you're following me, you'll get an email about it. And I'll add pages for the days as I go. Will try to alert with a post so you'll get the email.
This is big, folks. No matter how you cut it. Even cutting out the middle part, it's still big.
34.66* miles / 1064.7
(Actually rode 42.65 miles today, but not counting the ride to the campground or back from the southernmost point)
Well done my friend!
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Annelle! It's quite an achievement.
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