Monthly Archives: February 2011

Floridia / Tour de Florida / Uncategorized

Heading Orff…

well, it seems that only road travel elicits anything like regular blog contributions, hence the plan to see a fair swathe of Florida using that most unconventional of vehicles (in the US at least): the bicycle. at 1000 miles, the proposed route could be called a tad ambitious, and i am reserving the right to tailor the course to prevailing mood and circumstance (likely to be driven by the size an insistence of the saddle sores). but let's just see how we go. i've been fiddling with the bike setup for about a week now, and am well pleased with the Batavus i spotted while in Bali and kept on hold for a rainy day. although it's fairly clear that it hasn't exactly been designed for touring -- a fact underscored by the many raised eyebrows on the part of the fine gents from Orange Cycle in orlando when they fitted the rack. my other essential bit of kit is the all-in-one hammock, which meets the weight criteria but possibly not the security or stability criteria that have been stipulated by the missus. thankfully Florida is the land of the cheap roadside motel, so i should hopefully be able to credit card my way out of any unsavoury or unlikely camping scenarios. It all sounds a bit like folly, but i guess there's only one way to find out. As ever, i'm grateful to the Missus, and to her dad Farouk, for doing the parental bit while i get to go and have 'fun'. I will be on standby, and have promised to be back within two days of any emergency. will also be travelling with the essentials: laptop and broadband stick, so, in a way, it will be like i never left. Hoping to document a fair bit of it here, but will turn off the email notifications so everyone can carry on with their lives in peace. hasta…

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February 28, 2011
Floridia

The Culture Mulch

It's been a tumultuous week. Thankfully the missus has documented the horrors of our transit so thoroughly that i need not go into it here -- nor hopefully think back on it ever again. Instead, we consider what it means to be washed up in Daytona Beach at the father-in-law's lovely ocean-side flat. Three days in and the midgets have neither worn out their welcome, nor the plush white carpets...although limits are being tested on both fronts. As for what else has changed, it struck me today, as I was hoovering up several small mountains of food-based debris, that this time last week i was undertaking a similar task, only I was using a broom made of bound sticks. Eating is still done waterside, but there is a lot more use of cutlery here in Florida. Transportation (for me) is still two-wheeled, but i'm having to do a lot more of the work myself now that my cycle is motorless (i am still regarded as a freak in the streets though -- in India it was for obvious reasons, but here, judging by the looks i'm getting, i'm a fool to attempt battle with SUVs and millions of farting Harleys using only the power of the human leg). But, perhaps the most telling difference is that we are back to full time childcare, as both boys bid a fond goodbye to their schools last week. So far, i think we're enjoying it (long journeys aside), thanks in large part to the ministrations of aunties and grandpa's on various continents. However, this morning, after a few successive days of chaos, i felt compelled to draw up a daily schedule and for once the Missus, who normally hates these things, didn't object.That may have something to do with my plan to cycle down the coast next week. i'm hoping to get as far as the Keys, but will be loaded up with…

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February 20, 2011