After getting little rest because of the constant screaming matches, doors opening and closing, and a swarm of people coming and going I was ready to leave.
It was 5am my regular wake up and I was tempted to sleep in but then I gave myself a goal. Leave now and I get to my rest stop earlier. I promised myself a treat today to splurge the extra 10 bucks for a room that does not smell like an old mans backside or have something crawling on the floor when you open the door (not a joke). As a side note after seeing that all my bags were tightly sealed that night.
The first 15 miles today were nerve racking because I was fighting with airport traffic and dump trucks along a road with no shoulder. Thankfully as soon as the sun came up I got a shoulder. As well I had some tree cover which gave me some shade to avoid baking. Really it was shaping up to be a good ride.
Well with me saying that you can probably guess it was not a stellar ride. And it started to turn that way at saw blades airboat tours. This was the last stop before hitting what I thought was a 41-mile gap with nothing. The operator of the tour boat company, which strangely was open at 7:55am, said that it takes her an hour to get to south bay… which then means its 60 miles.
I started the gap with a negative spin on it. I had 60 miles, and my water tasted of stale alligator. The terrain was mentally exhausting because it was dead flat and my bush cover was gone. I was left to cook.
An hour into the ride I was done. I was out of my good water and started on alligator water. I kept focusing on a point roughly a mile away. Low and behold I saw a single building. I pulled in and encountered a no trespassing violators will be shot sign confronted me. I saw no one on this farm so I went in the open gate and snooped around for someone to ask for some fresh water. It sounds worse then it was I swear. Luckily I found one guy leaving and he pointed me to the water jug. It was so awesome to have bottled water that was cool.
I decided to make this my rest point. I was just starting my cinnamon bun peanut butter sandwich when 7 cats crawled out from under this house. Willard had rats apparently I have cats. They would not leave me so I had to give them a little bit of love before I pushed on down the road.
Before I left I encountered another guy who was a little hesitant looking at this tiny red and white spandex figure in his driveway (I assume he has the gun). I asked how far the town was from that point and he told me the good news. My initial distance was right so that meant that I did not have conserve the energy I had left in the tank.
I started to eat up the miles and made it to the gas station in south bay in stellar time. The only thing I could complain about was the fact my lunch was a pre-packaged microwave burrito.
After my burrito I had 16 miles to round out the day. I made them quick because I had chores to be done. Nothing was really pressing but I wanted to pre plan everything. So thinking ahead I got some white gas did my laundry two days early, and grocery shopped one day ahead. This means that I don’t have to worry about that stuff for a while which is nice.
Trip Distance: 138km (another good rest day)
Ride Time: 6:00hr
Avg. Speed: 23.01km/h
Total Distance: 11942km
Total Ride Time: 557hr
Destination: Clewiston, Florida
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Your cat at home misses you, too!Thank goodness your day today saw you find some new feline friends and the humans all had their guns stored out of sight!
ReplyDeleteNo trespassing signs don't apply to cycling Canucks looking for water and directions, I would hope ....but please be careful.