Sand Is Overrated. It’s Just Tiny, Little Rocks.

With my day of rest behind me, today was a return to my bike to resume my quest. I did most of my preparations last night so that I could get an early start without making too much noise – as expected, the hostel was pretty quiet at 7:00. Just to be clear, 7:00 wasn’t my departure time. Even if I wanted to leave that early (which I didn’t), it’s still dark at that hour and riding in the dark is something I tend to avoid.

Today was to be another in-between day with the two-day destination being about 220 km away. As of last night, I assumed I would have to find a motel at the midpoint; however, that changed this morning when I received a favourable Warm Showers response. My accommodations and destination were now set for the day. All I had to do was get there.

Ok. I have to interrupt this update as a bear just walked by my tent – which is about 20 metres (60 ft) from where I’m sitting. My camera is in said tent so I didn’t get a photo but it was definitely a bear. And it was definitely close. Very close. Fortunately, he either didn’t see me or wasn’t interested in me. Something tells me I won’t be getting a very good sleep tonight as every sound I now hear sounds like a bear – even though the bear in question was very quiet. One might even say sneaky quiet. They really are fascinating animals – assuming they aren’t in the process of eating you.

Ok, so … where was I? Oh yeah … my destination was set, all I had to do was there. “There” was about 110 km from here. About half of the ride would be along A1A before the route would head inland.

Given the modest distance for the day, my somewhat early departure of 8:30 wasn’t really necessary but the forecast called for another day of somewhat warm temperatures (28C or 82F) so I thought I’d try to get some pedalling in before things heated up.

When I hit the road at 8:30 is was about 23 degrees (73F) – a vast improvement over the 9 degrees (48F) I woke to a few days ago. By 10:30, it was up to 28 (82F) and I had logged about 40 km. It was a truly beautiful day to be on the bike. At this rate I would be at my destination by 2:00 – about two hours earlier than planned. With that realization, I decided to continue on until the next collection of restaurants appeared and take a leisurely lunch break. The restaurants in question appeared about 30 minutes later, with those 30 minutes being as enjoyable as the first two hours. Now, I’m not going to say it was the nicest morning ride ever, but it was certainly very enjoyable.

I declared lunch to be over around 12:10 and once again was back on the road. According to Google, I was 51 km from my destination. If all went well, that would be about a two hour ride. If all went well. Four simple little words. Sigh.

About 15 minutes into my afternoon portion of my ride I had my first wildlife encounter – if not for the bear, it would’ve been my only wildlife encounter. Fortunately, the wildlife in question was not remotely threatening as it was just a turtle. But it turned out to be a precursor of the road ahead. Shortly after leaving the turtle behind I was greeted by a “Pavement Ends” sign. Apparently Google doesn’t know all. In hindsight, I should’ve gone back to the highway and taken the long way. But I didn’t. I didn’t because I didn’t think the “Pavement Ends” sign actually meant “Road becomes the equivalent of a long straight sand dune upon which no touring bicycle has any chance of traversing.” … but I guess they can’t put that on a sign.

To say that the next 5 km (3 miles) was unpleasant would be a gross understatement. Note to other cyclists – do not take Old Haw Creek Rd. Riding the bike was impossible. Pushing it was gruelling. It would seem the road maintenance crews in Florida follow the same rules as some areas of Quebec. I really wish someone could explain why one road needs so much sand. Seriously. I just don’t get it.

To add to the fun, I also had a couple of encounters with dogs along the way. Fortunately, as guard dogs go, these guys weren’t very good. Especially the first one. Perhaps he’d never seen a bike before. He really did look more puzzled than threatening. I didn’t even notice him at first until I just happened to look behind me only to see this not entirely happy looking dog. And he just stared at me as I walked away. Perhaps he sense the mood I was in and that messing with me at that point in time wasn’t in his best interest. Or perhaps he was confused as to why this human kept yelling at the sand. Whatever the reason, he just watched me walk away. Until I got about 100 metres away at which point he started barking constantly as if he had just spotted an intruder. He continued to bark for another 100 metres or so. It was very weird.

The next dog encounter involved two dogs – both of which probably went to the same K-9 Academy as the previous pooch. At least these two were barking as they charged from the house. Of course, by the time they got to the road they seemed generally uninterested in what they found – although, that didn’t stop the little one from barking some more.

The rest of the walk down the sandy beach, uh … I mean, road, was uneventful. Enraging. Time consuming. But uneventful. To say that I was ecstatic when I arrived back at a highway doesn’t even begin to express how I felt.

The remaining 35 km (20 miles) were much like my morning ride – flat and generally effortless. Part of that was because I opted not to follow Google’s directions to take Lake Winona Drive. In all honesty, I didn’t know if Lake Winona Drive would have paved sections, but it certainly wasn’t paved where Google wanted me to turn and I wasn’t about to lug my bike through another sand dune. I opted to stay on the highway even though it added about 10 km to my ride. They were easy kilometres.

And now? Well, now I’ve got my tent set up behind the house of my Warm Showers host as I prepare for a quiet evening. And yes, with a bear lurking around, the little food I’m currently carrying is now being stored far from my tent.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 118.16 km
Time on bike: 5:19:37
Maximum speed: 44.32 km/h
Average speed: 22.18 km/h

Side note (actually, I guess it’s more of an “end” note: My Warm Showers host, Karlos, wasn’t home when I arrived. In fact, he just arrived and I just met him. Very nice guy. He primarily does off-road cycling – and has done the dreaded Old Haw Creek Rd. His bike is much more suited to such a task.

Final note: Yes, the headline for this update is a movie quote. Any guesses (without asking Google)?