Arcadia, FLA Days 13 – 17
A Man and his Laptop Before resuming the nearly stone-cold thread of this subtropical cycling epic, let's have a quick round of applause for my humble macbook, only just back from death's door after having weathered many thousands of miles over at best, asphalt, and at worst, plain old ass. but it is back, and collectively we are in business. it required a two week trans-american journey to some miracle worker on the west coast who possessed the last of the weapons grade logic boards. Miraculously he was convinced to part with one of them for the modest sum of $300. But, as i say, what's $300 between a man and his laptop? so please forgive the interlude. I hope this makes it a little more comprehensible to the one or two of you left out there reading this thing. And so, we resume. Arcadia - March 12th, 21:20 Just got in to Arcadia, after a brutal 70 mile pull straight into the wind. many things hurt. I have found a cheap ass hotel run by a Gujurati family. it's the usual trade off: shabby, breeze blocked, some atrocious design decisions, really poor finishing - but cheap. $30 per night. The town itself is a total throwback. Some super-outlets and fastfood restaurants at the intersection of two highways are the main concession to the current planning craze in Florida. But there is a charming old Main Street (completely abandoned at all hours of the day) and a smattering of older style bungalows which are slowly falling into disrepair as the town creeps closer to the WalMart . I’ve heard rumours of a Rodeo somewhere to the west. After a day that hurt more than it probably should have done, I've been totally foxed for a decent place to have a beer. Had to resort to buying a six-pack of Yeungling from the grocery store - this one’s rather charmingly called…