Today was a much easier day than the previous. I had only 50ish miles to go and I wasn't fighting the wind nearly so much. I got breakfast at Lorelei's, where I had gotten dinner last night. There was a man just in front of the restaurant brooming the massive pool of water from the storm last night into the drain, because with no slope, it wasn't going anywhere on its own. Iarrived just after they opened and was the only customer there. My arrival was greeted by an egret standing in the middle of the outdoor restaurant. He apparently is a frequent visitor and has been for many years, getting customer's scraps. He hung out close by during my whole meal (a very good vegetarian omelette) and several times scared off another egret who came along, very territorial about "his" restaurant.
I didn't hit the road until after 9, lounging in the hotel room a bit watching television. Since my face mask on my balaclava is torn to shreds and my nose has started to burn, I decided to use my hankerchief for face protection today and tomorrow, and styled the new look in the mirror before heading out.
I made good time and few stops. Things went relatively well, but there was a stretch where for some reason I had one incident after another with drivers. I had a driver neglect to stop at a stop sign in front of a trail crossing, another driver turn right in front of me while I was in a bike lane, forcing me to slam on my brakes, and best of all, someone in a stupidly oversized pick-up truck spew a plume of diesel gas in my face, clearly on purpose. It was frustrating.
I took highway 1 this time around rather than Card Sound Road. It was the much, much better way to go. There is far more traffic, but a wide shoulder, over the bridge we're talking interstate wide, and still plenty wide after as well. I felt much safer that route, and I strongly recommend it to anyone heading to and from the Keys, no matter who else says Card Sound is the way to go. For awhile, perhaps from a slight wind shift, or the slight westward slant of the road, I was flying along at 18mph. It was great. There was scarce to see, just like with Card Sound, but it went much quicker.
Then suddenly the shoulder was gone at Homestead and it was a frantic bid to get off as soon as possible. That done, it was a quick meandering route to get back here to the same host I had before, here at Paradise Farm, arriving in advance of 2pm. There was some temptation when I was really moving along that I should just go all the way today, but I don't think that would have worked out for me, not with all the stop lights and with rush hour traffic, not at all.
I don't look forward to getting back through Miami tomorrow, but at least I have a couple days inside to look forward to after that...before the horror of the 48 hour bus ride. Non-bicycle travel really is a drag. I am somewhat torn about my decision not to bike it back to Lincoln. But the choice has already been made, so there is no sense regretting it. It's too late into the Summer to be riding like this. And I'll also be able to attend the family reunion I had previously expected to miss. I know it's the right choice, I just have to keep reminding myself of it. And once all the stress of packing and enduring the bus ride is done, I know I'll feel a lot better about it.
One more day of riding to go.
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