February 15, 2016
West Palm Beach to Ft Lauderdale
I know you are tired of hearing this, but I am not. Yes, another beautiful day. We've had enough iffy ones that I really appreciate getting up and seeing bright sunshine and warm, short-sleeve weather when it's around. Especially for so many days in a row. I've learned that in Florida, there are no guarantees, and in fact, while we were biking down from Jacksonville several weeks ago, southern Florida was getting torrential downpours, tornadoes, and less than sunny weather. But it all beats what we have back home. Snow and temperatures in the 20s° F!
So off to breakfast. We picked a place that was on the route and would also allow us to cross easily over the Intracoastal Waterway to A1A . . . the Pelican Restaurant about three miles south of us.
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Happy left a little ahead of me and, unbeknownst to me, chose to follow US 1 . . . I chose a parallel route, FL 5, about two blocks east of US 1. So when I arrived and didn't see his bike (nor him ahead of me), I was a bit concerned but surmised he had taken US 1. His arrival about 15 minutes later confirmed that suspicion . . . and he had chosen to ride the sidewalk the whole three miles. That must have been excruciating. Sidewalks are OK in the "country" and near suburban developments where you have few interruptions but not in the urban locale we were in.
So after a very good breakfast, we headed east, fortunately for only a short distance. The wind was strong again, stronger than yesterday, and out of the east, so crossing the bridge to the barrier islands and A1A was a chore.
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Ft Lauderdale was expected to be worse, with gusts of 20 to 25 mph! More on that later. As it were, we only had a short distance straight into the wind, and we then turned south/southwest and were on A1A for most of the rest of the day.
Happy and I had biked this section going north last year when we did the East Coast. It's a bit different going south, as you pick up more right turn lanes, which can complicate the cycling (at least compared to northbound). But southbound also has more facilities for some reason, like the trail seen above. But it can also get quite busy with pedestrian traffic, especially on a holiday (or weekend, I imagine). We were biking on President's Day, so that may have generated more activity.
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And while the wind was strong from the east (and sometimes southeast), it didn't slow us down much. There was some protection from the buildings and also our direction of travel, which was slightly more southwest than south. But you see the effects it was having on the ocean and the vegetation.
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But all that, be as it may, on arrival I saw my average speed was pretty good, 13.3 mph! I suspect that I had the benefit of a certain amount of tailwind at times. Nice job for our last day of cycling.
So we were back at the Coral Reef Guesthouse and were checked in pretty quickly. RW, the proprietor, took a shine to us, and we were off to lunch in short order, a drive to a dive that has a reputation as one of the better seafood houses in Ft Lauderdale, Catfish Deweys.
I love gumbo . . . and it was very spicy. I also had the mahi-mahi with collards and a beer, of course! Then back to the guesthouse for fun and relaxation.
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Tonight, drinks and dinner with friends also down from Washington . . . and then tomorrow, drop the bikes off for shipping, and after that . . . nothing till Thursday except sunshine and more hot tubbing.
Today's ride: 38 miles (61 km)
Total: 1,857 miles (2,989 km)
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