Before I get into how my day was I’d just like to say thanks to everyone who has been keeping in touch with me throughout the trip. I couldn’t have possibly done this trip without the help and support from my friends and family so thanks.

In the weeks leading up to my first day I could not sleep and was absolutely terrified of what could happen to me on this tour. I even told my friend Amy a few days before Day One I wasn’t going to go and then went to talk to my boss and tell him the trip was off. He talked me off the ledge and thankfully he did because this trip has been great in every way. It turned out I wasn’t going to be raped, axe murdered, hit by a truck, kidnapped, eaten by a bear, or any of the other things I was told would happen to me. I didn’t need a gun, knife, or mace (well, at least not for people) nor did I need a spare bike. I went a bunch of places I’d never been before and would never have gone to and met a ton of great people along the way. Thumbs up to bike touring!

I had a hard time sleeping last night in my shitty motel. I’m not sure if it was because of the 8,000 calories I consumed last night, the uncomfortable bed, or excitement of completing the trip. Whatever it was, it got me out of bed at 6:15am. I headed south in what would turn out to be by far the warmest day of the trip and stopped for breakfast. I went for the same ham and cheese omelette with oatmeal on the side that I had the day prior.

The first half of the 50 mile day was on US1 into the wind which was boring for the most part. The excitement came in the form of a leather skinned lady who nearly killed me as she turned into some strip mall. She saw me about to go into the crosswalk, honked at me because she saw me, and then sped up to beat me through as I slammed on my brakes. I came too far to be killed by this lady damn it! I flipped her the bird and called her some things and moved on. This is what the first 20 miles looked like.

The other excitement of this part resulted in my first fall of the trip. Here is a reenactment.

Scene: I’m whistling loudly to Willie Nelson – “Hands on the Wheel” while riding at 8mph into a stiff wind on a sidewalk in shitty ass Stuart
My brain: Well this isn’t exactly taking laps on the Champs Élysées but what the hell I’m only 30 miles from home! Hrmmm, wouldn’t it be cool if there were Tour de France chicks waiting for me when I got home? I’m going to google Tour de France chicks when I get home.
Fire Ant Pile: Hey uhh Jim? That bike looks like it’s coming right for us… Oh god no… No not at my new bedroom!
My brain: Oh crap I’m about to fall off the sidewalk… No problem! I’ll just — oh shit a fire ant pile!!!! Turnnnnnnn!!!!
I go crashing through the fire ant pile destroying the entire ant village
My brain: I’m going down! Please don’t be into that pissed off fire ant pile anything but that… Oh good it’s not the ants… Phew… Oh shit it’s going to be concrete instead!
The fire ant village looks on in shock as all they have built had been destroyed by some imbecile

Anyway, I didn’t get hurt and I ended up just keeping on going. Nobody stopped to see if I was okay or anything (and there were a lot of people around). I hate you Stuart. I plan on not going back there ever.

Side note: everyone in south Florida is on their cell phone while driving. I spent way more time on sidewalks than bike lanes down here because I rightfully don’t trust these drivers at all.

The beach showed up around mile 30 and I rode by it for about 12 miles. Once again an absolutely beautiful day down here.

I eventually made it to Palm Beach County after crossing the Intracoastal for the 3rd time today.

I rode down all familiar streets for the last 10 miles or so and eventually made it to my neighborhood and took another bike glamour shot.

My mom saw me shortly after this in her car rushing home to beat me there which made me laugh. I eventually got home and had a swig of Jameson from the flask I’d brought with me. (Once again not quite sipping champagne in the Tour de France but I’ll take it!)

I then dove into some victory cake my mom got me.

And so here I am! Sitting on my back porch sipping coffee and watching golfers shank balls into the lake behind my house. Home sweet home. My sister gets in later tonight and then we are all going to go out to dinner.

All in all an amazing journey. I hope that you’ve enjoyed following my trip as much as I’ve enjoyed writing about it. Anyone want to go for a ride?

Yet another great day to be in the saddle. It was sunny and warm with a 10mph cross wind blowing in from the ocean. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the ocean or the intracoastal for a lot of the ride because there were dunes and plants blocking the view. That coupled with the fact that the area I was biking was basically a desert of beach homes and developments made it a slightly mind numbing 67 mile ride. This is what I stared at for the majority of today.

Since the Candlewood Suites does not offer a continental breakfast I decided to bike for a bit and stop at a beach breakfast place on my route. I decided on the aptly named Beachside Cafe and got a ham and cheese omelette with a side of oatmeal and brown sugar. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m hungry all the time of not but the food I’ve eaten on his bike trip has been amazing. (Side note: I currently weigh 185 pounds… Holy crap! I’m usually 195-200)

I won another battle of man vs food and continued on my way south. As I mentioned above there wasn’t much to see for a lot of the ride but every now and then the beach or intracoastal would show up.

A few days ago Joe said to watch out for alligators on A1A that might pop out and eat me. Well, it was close but it turned out just to be a statue. Needless to say I survived the skirmish.

I saw on my GPS that I was near “Hang ‘Em High” which was one of my favorite Halo 1 maps so I stopped to try to find the street sign but to no avail. Ended up just taking another glamour shot of my bike.

I stopped at Publix when I got to Fort Pierce and got two subs, a huge Gatorade, some chips, donuts, cookies, and fruit. I like Publix a lot if you haven’t figured that out by now. I had just weighed myself and found out I weighed what I did in high school and decided I needed a ton of food. Here is the aftermath.

Tomorrow is the grand finale of the bike tour. I plan on stopping at Cafe Sole for lunch and taking the non scenic Donald Ross to Central Blvd route home instead of the increasingly miserable and dangerous PGA Blvd. I figure I will stop a number of times at CR Chicks in the coming week so I can wait an extra day for that. It should only be a 50 miler tomorrow so hopefully will be arriving around 2:00 if I go at a leisurely pace.

Today was yet another great day to be riding south in Florida. The wind was blowing hard but was in my favor and once again there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I knocked out the 60 miles to Melbourne at a leisurely 12.5mph pace.

I fell asleep just after UF crushed Memphis 77-75 and woke up feeling pretty refreshed despite the fact I forgot to turn the heat on in my hotel room. I ate all the things at the Best Western Plus’ continental breakfast and headed south. The first 30 miles was pretty boring as I was just following US1 on the shoulder. There were some cows and palmettos which was probably the highlight of this segment.

I tried to go to the KFC in Titusville but it wasn’t open yet which was a bummer. About half a mile later I heard a glass bottle shatter and then a woman emerged from behind some trees to the road and casually said “Excuse me sir? Can you call the police on him??”. Uh what? Why don’t you call them? Or walk to the police station? I watched The Wire so I know the correct answer is to not give a fuck when it’s not your turn to give a fuck… So I kept going without getting in the middle of their domestic dispute. Nice place this Titusville though.

Anyway, I eventually made it south of there and ate a Pub Sub and then made my way onto Indian River Road which was very scenic. I stopped a couple of times and just hung out on the benches that lined the river. This was the good part of today’s ride.

Even saw a bunch of birds hanging out on the water like sitting ducks! (Dada Ching!)

I’m currently sitting at my hotel since there are no decent coffee shops that are walkable and I don’t feel like biking or cabbing anywhere. I’m going to walk to an Asian restaurant for dinner and grab some food for breakfast around 5:00pm or so. They don’t have a continental breakfast here so I have to cook something myself or find a walkable breakfast spot. I am going to bike for an hour before eating tomorrow and then go to The Beachside Cafe in Indiatlantic. Looks like a good spot.

Only two days left and then I will be home. Tomorrow is going to be a potentially difficult 70 miler if the wind does not cooperate. It will be along the beach on a path for almost the whole ride though so I am not too worried.