Bicycle Tour of Florida, Part 1
It started with the idea of a bicycle trip to Kentucky. I’d hit up every skatepark I could along the way, and finish in a big hurrah at the Louisville skatepark, a 24 hour world famous park. But I’ve got too many awesome friends, so I never ended up leaving Florida.
It was a late start. I wasn’t on the road until 3PM my first day, with a 56 mile bike ride and an hour long skateboard session planned in Fort Myers. I could have just done some more pedalling and waited until the next day instead of trying to push things, but I was too anxious to move.
My route up north to Tampa from Naples was entirely on US41, getting off only to skate a few parks or stay at a friend’s for the night. I got about 10 miles out on US41 before I realised just how bad of a road it could be.
There were sidewalks that just ended nowhere, potholes everywhere, a shoulder sometimes, other times not. Construction everywhere, and no place for a bicycle. Taking a trip is supposed to be relaxing, but it’s difficult to relax when you’ve got mack trucks passing within inches of you at 55 miles an hour. Yikes. Biking would turn out to be a whole lot more different than hiking (what I’m used to).
When you’re hiking you can go into autopilot, relax and just let your consciousness really go. Just really get inside your head and think about everything. Your body takes care of itself, just putting one leg out in front of the other, and then you get to your destination. Not so with a bike.
It’s 100% attention all of the time. There’s constant danger - potholes, cars, exhaustion, dehydration. You’ve got to be aware and present. It was nerve wracking at first, but I got used to it, and now I like it.
In a few hours I was in Ft Myers, skating the local park. It’s a great one, with a euro, a half-pipe, hip, just lots of transition. Did a few nosegrinds, a few 360’s, and just overall had an awesome skate. The park has some serious flow. Thanks to the guys at Ramp Doctors for building that one.
I left at 6:00PM and I knew I was in trouble. It was going to be getting dark soon, and I shouldn’t have taken that hour to skate. I would be riding in the dark or camping on the side of the road tonight.
In between Ft Myers and Port Charlotte there’s a stretch of US41 where for 22 miles there is nothing. Just long stretches of trees and nothing else. And 65 mile and hour speed limits with a small shoulder. I was about 4 miles into this stretch when the sun started to set.
One thing I’ve learned from trips, it’s that when things look their worst, you need to push through anyways. So I pushed. Hard. I did the last mile just as it got dark, and then I was back into the city, and could go on in the safety of the sidewalk and streetlights.
I made it to Jessie’s house at around 10:30. My good friend Quinn was coming down from Colorado and he was on his way to pick him up. Party tonight.
And that was just the first day.
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November 1st, 2006 02:20
You are crazier than I thought. I met this one guy in Argentina who was just happily riding his bike around most of south america.. maybe that’s next for you? Where’s part 2?