I woke up in a good mood today because I figured my luck had to change. When I got on the road and encountered my first hills of Florida. It was fun because these hills were tailored for me. They here gradual inclines that I could just power up. It was so peaceful riding them in the pitch-black on a quiet side road. It was at this point that I was thinking, “This is going to be a good day”.
At 7am I passed a subway, which means one thing fresh purified water and unlimited ice. This only added to my good mood. Nothing is worse then when you are looking for refreshment and are greeted by chlorine.
I had just taken my first sip of my new water when I felt it. I looked back and you guessed it a rear flat. After dropping a single f bomb I pulled over and changed it. Today’s first flat was courtesy of a nice small nail. I got the tire inflated and was back rolling… or so I thought. I get 20 metres down the road and I had this huge hop in my rear wheel. The dang tire wouldn’t seed on the wheel right. After spending 15 minutes fiddling with it I got it to a point where I could deal with it.
At this point it was getting hot again and I was sweating profusely. Because I have been changing so many flats and getting so sweaty standing still that I converted my tent towel to my sweat rag. After one day it already smells like roses.
Trying to put that behind me I kept pedaling and knew that with the road was going to turn the next 5km were going to suck. Before I could even start the punishment of that I had to stop again. A front flat. I was contemplating throwing my bike over this small fence and letting the rabid dogs chew on it for a while. Alas I did not. As much as it has been a pain the past few weeks I love my bike. When I took the tube out and felt for what caused the flat I had to laugh when I found out was it was. My new tires centre-bead started to come apart and sent a poky metal piece into my tube. Not able to yank the metal out without ruining the tire further I had to use this magical thing called tape. I think that you can officially call yourself a bike tourist once you have to use tape in a serious situation.
After passing through a couple one-shop towns I finally hit a small city. This was at 130km and I was cooked. I also figured that the next two towns one the map wouldn’t have anything that I needed for the evening. Pure stupidity made me continue after getting some food in my belly.
My target was cross-city and I was going to tank it there because I need a good nights rest. I was not getting in at 6:30 again and rushing to get my stuff sorted. I was zoned out pedaling like a beaver when I got a sign from the heavens that my luck was going to change. Not only were my tires holding but as I rode my dream car drove by. Passing me at a little above the speed of smell was a 1974 Gremlin X. It had seen better days but I still was in awe of this beauty.
In cross-town I stopped at the first place instead of riding and rolling the dice to see if there is anything further down the road. Turns my animal instincts were right on this one. Even better I got my grocery shopping done tonight so that I do not have to stop tomorrow. I figure that will add about 25 minutes of time to my day that I can use to change a few more flats.
Trip Distance: 163km
Ride Time: 7:10hr
Avg. Speed: 22.83km/h
Total Distance: 12492km
Total Ride Time: 581hr
Destination: Crosstown, Florida
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The love of a Gremlin is something unusual and very mystifying to many of us. Remember the Anton's Grem? Now THAT was a classic!
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