Day 39: Cocoa to Fort Lauderdale: One step closer to home

March 13, 2015

We have been busy reading and re-reading the Guestbook and Forum messages. We already had some inkling about how it feels to be following a blog and then to read about the ride and the riders in pieces. This came to us last year with Cindy Weber. The thought of what happened to this person we had actually never met brought us to tears more than once, and a year later the memory is fresh. So it's not surprising to see the eloquence and feeling of many, actually most, of the messages we have received.

A question remains, how can we acknowledge and express our appreciation for these messages? There have been so far 81, and 36 posts in the "Disasters" forum here on Crazyguy. This is not trivial, people have put their hearts into these trips and this situation.

One advice we got was to let people help us. So that's one good route. We want you all to know that your messages have helped, and that we appreciate the effort that is behind each one.

One of the routes by which the messages have helped has been as a sort of antidote or counterbalance to the force and cruelty of the actual blow. There was no malice or cruelty from the actual driver, but the system that created the situation - the callously unsafe federal road, the overall mentality of drivers, the speed of traffic, the lack of public transit here (for us and for the space workers) is a manifestation of malice and cruelty, and so opposed to the vibe of gentle, quiet, smooth, healthful, cycling.

So about the messages and the traffic, we are reminded of some lines from the typically unknown Canadian singers Eric and Martha Nagler:

"It's the gentleness in living that makes it all worth while. It's the tenderness in giving, that keeps us from going wild." Harold and Francine made it to Cocoa at just the right time. Vinnie is fully booked and would have had to work on the room pretty soon. To make it here, Harold and Francine had left Fort Lauderdale extremely early. They had rented a Chevrolet Suburban. It's the kind of large and heavy vehicle that I can see people choosing here to do battle on the freeways. That or a large pickup. We passed a Hummer on the way. Looked fairly puny by comparison.

In this case, though, the Suburban was a good choice. For all its size, there was no room to spare when our sorry butts and all our gear had been loaded. We said goodbye to Vinnie and Mina, who had been so sweet. Mina said to be sure to let them know how we made out. Then it was down the road to Dave's motel, where our bikes were still stashed. There was no hope of fitting the bikes as is into the Suburban, so they needed to be folded. This is something I can do with no effort, in my sleep. But no one (properly) would let me try to touch any part of them. So as Dodie often remonstrates me and the kids, I had to "use my words". This is not totally easy when it comes to moving mechanical parts in 3D. My three engineers caught on fairly quickly, though, and the monster car then swallowed the bikes as well. Had they not been folders: trouble.

We were now set to head down to Fort Lauderdale. But first, some sustenance. Harold and Francine had noticed an Olive Garden restaurant. We have never tried it, but Harold says it was a favourite of our parents when they visited here. The chain is famous with us because of subtle advertising on the Big Bang Theory, where Mrs, Wolowitz often suggests it as an alternative to the Cheese Cake Factory. It turned out to please our whole party, with unlimited soup and salad and some flavourful low cal chicken fillets.

The ride down I-95 seemed awfully long, though it is only about 300km. Had we tried to implement our Greyhound and taxi and Fedex plan, it would have been a real horror show.

We passed by Marilyn Dennison's place, where the spry woman with the lovely bike has been laid low with back problems. Ed brought out the stuff we had stowed, and there was no chance to see or try to cheer Marilyn. We sure wish her a speedy recovery and back on the bike soon!

The GPS in the tablet was helpful as a single wrong turn entangled us in freeway spaghetti. But we did arrive at an airport motel, with a free shuttle to the airport when needed, and carts for moving luggage to and from rooms. Harold and Francine loaded two of these with all our stuff. Yikes, what a pile! We do have two days now to put it in order to travel. With one of us gibbled and one glitched, the time will allow for slow slow but deliberate movement.

There are still some hurdles between us and healing at the farm, but today was a big step forward. Thanks Harold and Francine, and everyone!

I may have to recant statements about no public transit. This man is going ...somewhere?

Harold was tickled to be in Cocoa Beach - training ground of the Montreal Expos

There are lots of signs on the freeway for injury lawyers. How does this square with the "no fault" law?

Ed was ready with the stuff we stashed in Fort Lauderdale

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