Day 5
May 19th 2004
First of all, I'd like to apologize about the lack of an update yesterday. I was in a 2-bit hotel and I wasn't able to unhook the telephone, as it was hardwired to the phone lines. Usually I just unhook the hotel phone and plug the line in the computer, but not this time... Funny how a couple of you have told me that my saga feel just like a "soap opera". What misfortune will befall upon our hero today ?
Well, for one thing, more rain. Since I've started this trip, I've only had one day without rain, and that was yesterday. I keep watching the weather channel and it's like rain all over the states except in the Southwest. Geez, I can't wait to be in the Southwest... It's a good thing that Key West was a mandatory checkpoint, or else I would have cut the Florida segment right out of the trip. You see, I've come to the conclusion that there's just too many people living in this state. Everywhere you go it's full of traffic. Would you believe that on my return run from the Keys at 06:00 AM, there was almost as much traffic all along that road as there was yesterday afternoon ? At least the pace was a bit quicker, except of course when the skies opened up, everybody just slowed down to a snail's pace, you know, to get the biker good'n'wet.
Okay, all wasn't doom and gloom for our weary traveller. There was a while where it wasn't raining in the Keys and I stopped for what I think is a neat picture
The picturesque bridge you see there is actually the old, disused one. That's what the Keys are all about, a bunch of little (some as small as 2 to 3 km across) islands linked together by a bunch of bridges. The longest bridge is seven miles or so, but all the quaint cutsey bridges are closed, you cross on good old concrete ones. I'm glad I've been there, but to me it was one of those experiences that no matter how nice the destination is, getting there is just too darn frustrating.
This picture says a lot about my impression of the Keys
Lots of trinkety, tourist-trappy places along the way. I thought it funny that it is a very familiar "Roadside Monstrosity", especially for those of you in Shediac. Personally I think the Shediac one is better. What's with the lobsters with no claws ! Fairies !
After jubilating as I was exiting the Keys, I decided to give Florida another chance, rather than Interstate-it all away. I spotted a secondary highway through the Everglades that had everything going for it on the map; no towns or villages along the way, another more convenient route to get from point A to point B (a big freeway just to the north of it) and the promise of seening another part of the state. I'll admit that traffic was lighter (I guess compared to the Keys anything is lighter) but there was an infestation with LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers). This combined with the low limits (45) made for slow progress. Scenery wasn't that great, although I must have seen about 20 places that offered "airboat tours".
This was pretty much what it was all about. Straight, flat and bordered with trees.
No, Time to get going. I had also consulted an internet site called "Motorcycle Roads USA" and checked out all the "good" roads. Most comments about them were along the lines of "this one has some elevation gain" or "scenic coastline". Nothing too inspiring there. After this I decided to "Slab-it" to Tallahassee.
One more note about those 'Splatty' bugs. There they were again, around the same latitude as they were yesterday. Funny thing about them is that I think their innards are made of glue. Normally you can just add a bit of water and easily clean up bug splatter from you helmet faceshield, but not with these buggers. When I stopped at the service station, it took a lot of windshield washer and elbow grease to get the crap off of my visor. I guess the bike is going to be fun to clean as well.
Speaking of clean, I've got a pretty good "Dingy Biker" thing going on right about now. With all the bug innards on my suit and bike, combined with the really hot weather around here (today was up to 34.5 degrees), I'm quite the prize. I'm sure the hotel clerks are quite impressed when they see me walk through the doors. No sir, I'm sorry but we don't have any more rooms for tonight... For the first time I took a shower after the day's ride, partly because I arrived early, but mainly because even I couldn't stand myself...
Some of you (Paul) are probably wondering how my tires are holding up. As is the rule with me, I always try something new just before a big trip. this time I went to some tires that aren't the right size for the bike. The rear one is a bit wider and the front one is a bit taller. This is because it's the closest size in which they make these "touring" tires (Metzeller ME880 Marathons for those so inclined). After the first few days I wasn't too impressed. When new, the rear had 7.4 mm of tread in the middle. After one day of riding it was down to 6 mm and after the next day it was down to 5 mm. At this rate, I expected to have to find a replacement in 5 more days, but for some unexplained reason, they've stopped wearing out. In the last 3 days tread depth remained at 5 mm (I've brought my little vernier caliper to measure it - Nerd ? ME ?)
My body is doing pretty well too. My sore arms from the Blue Ridge Parkway are back to normal. My bum is hurting though. Each day it starts hurting a bit sooner. D'Oh ! Like a more experienced Long Distance Rider once told me "After a while it stops hurting" it is true, on long days if you can just bear through it, after 12 to 14 hours, your bum usually stops hurting. The problem is that my days are usually 11 or 12 hours long. Hopefully it will "harden-up" over time.
My spirits are also doing well, despite all the rain. I'm really glad I have the chance to do this trip. I met some fellow Long Distance Riders in North Carolina (they had just completed a "50CC" or Coast-to-Coast in 50 hours or less). They were quite impressed about my 3-week "kitchen pass", they thought their 10-day one was pretty good. Seriously, though, I do miss Hélène and wish she could be experiencing these things with me. this trip is very similar to the Road Trip we took last summer to the Grand Canyon, which was probably my most enjoyable vacation ever. I don't think she would be happy here though, she doesn't "dig" the "Dingy Biker Look".
Well, time to head out West. We'll see what that brings.
Day Stats
Total Mileage: 1 103 km (Key West, Fla to Tallahassee, Fla)
Total Time:10 h 38 min
Overall Average: 101.38 km / h