A beautiful morning greeted us as we biked the 2-1/2 miles to breakfast at the Sand on the Beach Motel Restaurant. We arrived at about 8:30 and enjoyed the early bird special (it's a very good deal, but you have to be there before 9:30), afterward took our time over coffee, and finally pushed off close to 9:30 or 9:45.

The ride through Melbourne Beach was pleasant but not overly exciting. Happy found some energy and really took off, so we were separated by the time we made the first turn westward toward the causeway. I mistook this for our primary crossing but was quickly told by Garmin I was off course, so  I corrected and returned to a fairly residential street that took me to the next crossing further north.

Happy was truly gone by now, and I didn't catch up with him again until lunch in Cocoa Village. I maintained the course and enjoyed the ride up Rockledge Drive, which gives you a very scenic view of the Indian River and the mixture of new and older homes built along the waterfront. Plus, there are no homes on the riverside, so the view is truly unobstructed. A local rider joined me along the way, and we chatted all the way to Cocoa Village, where he lives.

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By now, I had determined Happy was well off course, having returned across the river on the next northern crossing (FL-404) and gone as far east as the Atlantic Shoreline! A hard lesson learned by him in navigation and sense of direction (not to mention understanding all the apps we have that will keep this from happening!). Regardless, after his seven-mile scenic tour, we reconnected in Cocoa Village and had a nice pizza lunch before setting off for the last 26 miles or so to Titusville and the KOA campground north of there.

The road north of Cocoa Village, Indian River Drive, was almost as pleasant as Rockledge Drive, with a clear view of the river and no homes riverside.

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Unfortunately, this route drops you on US-1, a much-disparaged highway from Maine to Florida. It truly looks the same everywhere. Following it will at least take you to historic Titusville, but there is no bike lane and minimal shoulder widths. During this segment, Happy and I separated again (I ride a bit faster, plus he was carrying those extra seven miles). I took US-1 north to FL-46, where I turned west to the KOA campsite. Happy happily found the ECG (East Coast Greenway) and followed that and a few bike-friendly roads that placed him pretty close to KOA. We arrived within 10 minutes of each other.