January 1, 2016
Ft Myers to Port Charlotte
Another early morning (relatively speaking). Today that is a good thing! Need to see Jim off and thank him for his hospitality and maybe get an earlyish start for Port Charlotte.
Jim and Kathy are absolutely the best hosts, and I hope I did them justice as a good guest. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with cheese and pop-ups, a delicious mix of eggs, flour, and milk. I took the recipe with me!
Jim was off to "work" (I use quotes only because he enjoys it too much to be work work) by 8:15, and Kathy and I had "coffee chat" till maybe 9:30 as I helped myself to more pop-ups and coffee (of course!). Kathy is off to the farmer's market later, and I was busy collecting pointers for rewiring (I had gotten Jim's perspective yesterday!). All of this is, of course, good perspective. Rewiring, rewiring, rewiring!
So I made my goodbyes and pushed off around 9:30. I only had to do 43 miles, so the day promised to be easy. And mostly it was.
The first five miles or so were mostly a retrace of our ride last March. Except this time, I captured the whole length of John Yarbrough Linear Park. Which is a very nice park and well-shaded at this time of day.
Unfortunately, it is still not complete, so at some point, you need to jump off onto the local roads. I don't recall where we peeled off last year, but I was headed north, not east, so I tried to follow it as far as I could, which was to the Edison Bridge crossing the Caloosahatchee River!
That is one wide bridge. Three lanes in one direction! I don't know where people are headed, but it was pretty light traffic this morning, New Year's Day! I was fine with that!
After the crossing, it was pretty much no-man's land. Not quite, but close. From there to Punta Gorda. They are trying really hard on the bike lane side of business, but I see all the challenges, and I'm sure it's not easy. That said, the efforts (their efforts) are commendable.
Unfortunately, and I researched this well, there are not many options, so Route 41 is it! But it has good shoulders and bike lanes. But the traffic is pretty regular and intense. For me, it is just another day. Yesterday was fantastic; today, a mixed bag. The life of the traveling tourer!
Once you arrive in Punta Gorda, things improve dramatically! Why, you ask? It all has to do with jurisdiction and funding. It seems on the "state-owned" portion, they favor bike lanes, whereas in the "city-owned" portion, they favor bike trails. Given the right-of-way available on the state portion, they could have easily separated the bike lane off as an adjacent trail. Yes, it may have cost a hair more, but given the money spent globally on transportation (and the lack of alternative routes), it would be money well spent! Remember, these facilities are near permanent! Money spent today defines and informs money spent in the future, making decisions much more critical than otherwise apparent! OK, off my soapbox! Except! Look at the money spent on this section of roadway for right-turn lanes. Phenomenal. Yet they could not separate the bike lane. OK, now I'm done!
And we are only talking ten miles, maybe! Because by then I was in Punta Gorda, where they spent the money and did a pretty nice job! I turned off onto Shreve Street and made my way to the riverfront, Peace River. And not only along Route 41 but also along Shreve Street, they had bike lanes. Good for Punta Gorda!
Then it was across the Peace River. The second major crossing today.
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That was pretty easy, as they have both a pedestrian way AND a bike lane. After crossing, I made my way to the Banana Motel, a funky 50's motel with friendly staff (ask for Anand) and a good facelift of the property!
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I arrived early, before 2:00 PM, so chilled poolside for a bit before hitting the nearby Sunset Grill for drinks and dinner, and of course, the sunset!
Then early to bed. Tomorrow, Sarasota and the meetup with Mark, Wayne, and Brad for a week of casual cycling!
Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 317 miles (510 km)
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