2009 May 10th: Happy Mother’s Day! I woke up around 7am this morning, feeling well rested. I took my time getting ready and I had everything ready to go and I was on the road by 8:30am. I decided to just get going and not go back to the southernmost point and take more pictures. I wanted to get through the only part of my trip that I had been dreading. Miami. I don’t know why I was concerned, but I was.
After riding the Overseas Highway, I took the Card Sound Bridge to get to Miami. I came into the Miami area via some beautiful residential neighborhood where the roads were lined with Banyan trees. They were so big that it was literally a tunnel of shade. All of these homes were very large mansions with very well groomed yards. I was enjoying this nice easy slow pace with lots of beautiful yards and flowers.
Things turned very bad very quickly. The next thing I knew is that I was in a downtown area with all kinds of cars, and everyone wanted to get through. The problem was that there were cars trying to park and other cars blocking the road because they were waiting for valet service and people everywhere. It was insane. A scooter passed me and drove through between cars and got around some of this mess. I decided to turn the aggression knob up a few notches and follow some cues from the scooter rider. I started to weave and bob my way through this mess and in the course of things I almost took out a bicycle cop that was crossing the street against a red light following his buddy. I had to lock up the brakes just to keep from hitting him and I had the right of way. People were crossing the street whenever they wanted and this just added to the mayhem. I realized then that I needed to go full volume on the aggression meter, so I cranked it to the max. I know that I broke several laws, but no one got hurt and I made it out of there alive. Before too long, I was in smoother traffic and moving a little easier. It still took many miles for me to calm down after all of that.
I think that the Mother’s Day holiday really was to blame for all of the craziness because every park and beach access area was jammed full of cars and people. There were lines of cars trying to get into all of the parks and people crossing the streets whenever and wherever they pleased. I also think that some of the problems with the traffic was caused by the long legged scenery walking around being a heavy distraction.
The only smell that I can remember today was the smell of charcoal brickets and people barbequing on the beach. There was one point where I could smell suntan oil but that was brief.
The ocean was a beautiful blue every time I was able to see it. I now know where the color aquamarine comes from. The water in the Keys was that exact color.
The GPS locked up and stopped on the same screen. I could not turn it off and it would not respond to any of the buttons that I pushed. I did not really need gas but I stopped anyway to fill up and to take a well deserved break. I broke out some tools and removed the GPS from the bike and I had to remove the battery to get it to reset. Once that was fixed, I put everything back together and got moving again.
I rode for about another hour when I came upon a RV park that looked like a good spot to stop. They had a pool and laundry facilities. I took a shower after getting everything setup and then washed some clothes. The site had power and I found some wireless internet.
I had a bite to eat of some more jerky and a tin of kippers. I took a walk around the park a couple of times after a swim as a way to dry out my swimsuit. I met a couple of nice residents here. When it started to get dark, I got in the tent and started to work on the blog and my daily journal. I made a couple of phone calls, but nobody was available until later.
Tomorrow, I’m headed to SpoiledBiker.com, where I got the StarComm system and see if he knows what to do to fix the problem with the GPS and the music fading in and out. I will be able to see the shuttle launch from just about anywhere within 200 miles of Cape Canaveral. Since I will be in the area I should be able to see it when it happens.