Day 4
May 18th 2004
This will be one of those short reports. I can't really say anything exciting happened today except that I reached my first checkpoint for the tour. My original plan was to stay overnight in Miami, but in the last few days I've been riding a bit ahead of schedule, so I figured I could camp out in Key West tonight and get a head start for Leg 2 tomorrow. I'm pretty glad I did this, because Highway 1 between Key Largo and Key West is 180 km of riding Hell. I hit it in mid-afternoon and it really is one long town, multiple restaurants, fishing shops and resorts. Very heavy traffic with little to no opportunities to pass because of the constant barrage of oncoming traffic. I think if I had done the return trip on the same day it would have driven me insane.
My ride today was all Interstate except for the last bit to Key West. Speed limits were generally 70 MPH and I was able to keep a very good average. It was fun to maintain good time after the last few days of long riding and not much progress.
Interesting tidbits, you don't really see wild palm trees until you're near Miami. Sure there's the planted variety near stores and such, but to see some in the forest it's only further south. I also hit about 50 km or so of really big splatty bugs just south of Orlando. I have no idea what they were, but they were about bumblebee size, but thinner. The service stations actually had a "windshield washing" facility, basically a fire hose mounted on a frame that you could drive up to and let it spray your windshield. I was tempted to try it with the bike, but it looked a bit too "high pressure, high volume" for me.
The Keys certainly have a Caribbean flavour to them. Really hot weather (up to 33.6 degrees according to my bike thermometer), tropical birds, little lizards everywhere and tonight as I went out for a little walk, there were roosters walking in the streets. I felt like I was in Mexico, only with more money in the local economy. Stuff here doesn't come cheap. I chose to stay in a lower class motel because I wasn't feeling like spending over $ 100 US for a Comfort Inn.
Here's one of the only pictures I got today
This is the official site for the Key West checkpoint. It was a very busy spot when I was there, constant tour buses and mini-trains stopping there, lots of tourists taking their pictures with the marker. There I was in my Aerostitch suit sweating like a pig and waiting for a moment where there wasn't a flock of people around the marker. I think I'll do a drive-by tomorrow morning before leaving and I might try again for a better one. I also took a picture with my Polaroid camera to go in the envelope that I mailed back to the SCMA (Southern California Motorcycling Association), along with a gas receipt that says "Key West", my odometer reading and a public telephone number taken from a payphone at the other end of town. They really want to make it difficult to cheat...
Part of my daily routine when I am sitting down to write these little reports is that I have a glass of scotch (I'm on vacation after all). I had brought a little flask with some Laphroaig 10 in it, but unfortunately the gauge was hovering around empty. Since I really enjoy this little routine, I set out to find a liquor store, which there are plenty of around here and purchased a replacement bottle of the same thing. Only problem is that my flask only holds like 6 oz. I decided to buy a water bottle and will put the rest in there. Was either that or drink it all tonight, which would probably not have been a good idea.
So that's pretty much it for tonight. I'm ahead of schedule by one whole day, and don't feel the need to rest just yet. I think I'll put that day in the bank because it looks like I'll probably have to get a new rear tire before the end of the ride. It's not close to being gone now, but I'm keeping a close eye on it. I figure somewhere between Las Vegas and Washington I'll need to find a replacement.
Day Stats
Total Distance: 1 131 km
Average speed: 100 km / h
Total time: 11 h 03 minutes