Who Can Find the Route?

Day 44, May 15, 2011, Who Can Find the Route?

102.2 miles, averaging 13.7 mph

Route from Key Largo to Trinity Lakes RV Resort, Hollywood, FL

Best Moment – So today (and yesterday) was the South Florida MS 150.  I don’t know how many riders there were, but their overnight stop was in Key Largo and today they started in Key largo, took a tour of Homestead, and had their finish line near my route (I could hear the celebratory music for all of the riders.)  For about 50 miles I was on the same route as they were and had a terrific time passing (a lot), drafting (some) and getting passed (not too often) by these riders. My average mph for those first three hours was over 17 – I think it was 17.2.  AMAZING!!!

I also received notification about another generous donation to the Lance Armstrong on my behalf.  That always is a Best Moment event!

Worst Moment – To see a sign such as below brings on dread – I mean they don’t show any detour or alternate route.  Where should I go?  How would I know?  It is a big frustration, but I went ahead anyway – even though the bike path was closed and there was not much of a shoulder.  What choice did I have?  My route map doesn’t show any second choices.  There were sections of the path completely missing.  Other times it was only three or four inches across an intersection where the pavement had been cut out.

Much of the early morning route was in the opposite direction from where I started into the Florida Keys – I even went past our campground in Homestead.  Outside of Homestead, there are acres of palm trees grown for resale (maybe that is why they call the road “Palm Drive.”

Once I got into the city, my speed really slowed down.  There were lots of lights, stop signs and traffic.  Also there were lots of turns in order to stay on the right route.  I know that I missed an important turn at least twice when I had to retrace my progress to find the right road.  Other times I knew I was on the wrong road, but going in the right direction so I just kept going and looking for the road I had intended to travel.

In Coral Gables, there are incredible mansions.  Gotta love that pink stucco with all of the tropical foliage.  It really out does the Beverly Hills look.  (Maybe Beverly Hills was attempting to look like Coral Gables.)

The skyline of Miami was also quite a site. 

Rain was threatening most of the day.  I only had a few sprinkles, but Neita really got hit by a monster thunderstorm.  I could see the black sky and was waiting to be drenched, but I managed to dodge the worst of the storm and only had to pedal through some major puddles.

Drawbridges here go up every thirty minutes and always for emergency vehicles.  I went over three drawbridges and had to wait for two of them.  While waiting, I snapped a few photos of the sites of the Miami area.

As I went further north, the mansions turned into condominiums.  It is fun to actually see what I’ve only seen in the movies or on TV.