From One Warm Shower To The Next

I don’t know if it was yesterday’s 130 km (82 mile) ride, the more than a few beers with Becky and Tom, or perhaps a combination of the two, but I slept REALLY well last night.

When I went to bed last night I knew my plan for today was to continue south towards Key West with the goal of being somewhere around Port Charlotte. There are a few Warm Showers hosts in the area so I sent out a request and hoped for the best. I don’t like sending out more than one request at a time as I don’t want to have to turn down someone’s generosity in the event I get multiple replies. As the song says, you can’t always get what you want.

I was a little late in sending out the first request so when I didn’t get a response before I was ready for bed I decided to send out a request to a second host. As you’ve probably figured out, I woke this morning to two replies. Actually the second reply came in a bit later but that’s not really important. The upside was I had a place to stay for tonight. The downside was that I was going to have to turn down someone’s offer to host.

With my accommodation secured, I could now focus on today’s ride. According to Google, I was looking at a 110 km (68 mile) ride. Shorter than yesterday’s ride so certainly manageable. As I mentioned yesterday, Becky and Tom would be joining me on the first portion of the ride and would be taking me off of Google’s suggested course and along a much more scenic route. It would also mean my first glimpse of the Gulf of Mexico.

We were ready ahead of my planned 8:30 departure so at 8:10 we were on our way. We only made it a few kilometres before Becky noticed that Tom had forgotten his helmet. Moments later Tom was heading back to the house while Becky and I carried on. Catching up wasn’t going to be a problem for Tom.

Along the way, we stopped briefly at a small inlet where manatees frequently visit. Having never seen a manatee I was hoping for the best – apparently some of them are 1,300 pounds! Sadly, hoping for the best didn’t do much good as there were no manatees on this day. C’est la vie. We resumed our ride towards the Gulf of Mexico.

Tom eventually caught up with us and by 9:30 we arrived at a beautiful beach along the Gulf of Mexico. Lots of white sand and only a few people. We didn’t have the whole place to ourselves but it sort of felt like we did. It was really nice. There were a few obligatory photos taken before we resumed our ride south along the coast. Clearly this was a much more scenic ride than Google’s direct route along the highway.

We were about 40 km (25 miles) into the ride and approaching Sarasota when we all heard that distinctive sound. A sound I’d not heard in a long time. Long time. Yes, it was the sound of a spoke breaking. Fortunately for Becky and I, our wheels were fine. Unfortunately for Tom, his rear wheel wasn’t. Fortunately for all of us, there was a bike shop nearby.

The bike shop in question, Ryder Bikes, wasn’t able to replace the spoke while we waited but they were able to rent Tom a rear wheel which would allow us to continue our ride. So, with Tom’s bike functional again we continued south towards Venice. Much of this portion of the ride was along the Legacy Trail. Another former rail route which was very much like the Van Fleet Trail from Quest Air to Lakeland. It was very easy riding.

There were no further issues with our bikes and we enjoyed a leisurely ride to Venice. With my bike being the only one that was fully loaded, it sort of looked like I was the support vehicle for Becky and Tom’s ride. Either that or I was travelling with an official escort – which I guess I was.

The end of my escorted ride came shortly after 1:00 as we neared Venice. This is where Becky and Tom would head west while I continued south. It was hard to believe that we travelled 78 km (48 miles) together – the longest I’d ridden with anyone. Ever. It was undecided if Becky and Tom were going to ride all the way back (into the headwind) or just part of the way before getting a ride. From where we were, Becky and Tom were actually further away from home than I was from my destination.

Before we headed off on our separate ways, photos were taken and goodbyes were exchanged. Thanks very much to Becky and Tom for being great Warm Showers hosts and excellent travel companions (and guides).

The rest of my ride was significantly less scenic (and enjoyable) than the coastal route. Much of it followed highway 41 which was generally very heavily travelled. Sometimes there was a bike lane, other times not. I pulled off the road a couple of times when I saw a truck approaching from behind that looked like it wasn’t going to be able move around me – at least, not easily. However, highway 41 was also far from being the busiest road on which I’ve travelled and so I pedalled on.

The scenic route along the coast ended up adding about 20 km (12 miles) to the day’s ride. A very worthwhile and enjoyable 20 km, but it meant it would be a second day of over 130 km (80 miles).

I arrived at my Warm Showers host around 4:00 as planned. Barb wasn’t home at the time (as expected) so I gave her a call to check in with her. I was told to go inside and make myself at home as she was in Fort Myers with her granddaughter and wasn’t going to be home for a while. I felt a little awkward doing that but I did. The generosity of Warm Showers hosts never ceases to amaze me.

The rest of the day was completely uneventful. I eventually met Barb and her granddaughter later in the evening and, as you would expect, they were both incredibly friendly. Another great Warm Showers experience. And another great day.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 132.60 km
Time on bike: 5:46:21
Maximum speed: 37.66 km/h
Average speed: 22.97 km/h