despite being months behind in other happenings, the Tour de Florida has been playing on my mind a little. here’s the last few scraps. next up, Panama!
10 Things:
1. A journey of 1000 miles really does start with that first step/stroke/revolution, although there are easier ways to prove it.
2. Americans, at least the ones that I met, were genuinely nice, courteous, friendly, fat and incredulous that someone would want to make such a journey. They also showed due respect to my two wheels, and, with the exception of two separate ladies driving Escalades, never even came close to running me off the road. Even when there wasn’t much of it.
3. Bike Fit! Don’t be tortured by various niggling elements brought about by second guessing the many parameters that need to be figured out in order to cycle pain free. Do your knees/back/arse a favour: pony up and get someone to measure it out.
4. Multiples: these mean what they say. Ten miles is a long way, one hundred is a hell of a lot further. No amount of dividing, adding and subtracting what it says on the computer is going to make you get there any faster. Especially if it’s windy.
5. I just assumed my brain would work loads of things out as i rode — characters, plot, the meaning of life. It didn’t. Mostly it was just sweating punctuated with the odd bit of groaning.
6. It is only just possible to live for two and a half weeks on American Roadfood. Much longer than that, and parts of your body will start to fall off. Associated with this is my index of Evil Substances: Gatorade -7, Redbull -8, 5-hour energy – off the Richter. drink at your peril.
7. Key West is multi-layered and expensive. If you want to get past the typical drunken Duval-street stumbling-and-Hemmingway experience, you will have to apply yourself to some persistent digging. Your reward will be freaks in surprising numbers (and frequently, house coats).
8. Completing the trip doesn’t seem to have killed the desire to go further, longer, harder, dumber.
9. Journey’s end was surprisingly anti-climactic. I realise that I was operating at greater-than-average levels of excitement throughout and that, in itself, was the reward. As with most things, the journey really does trump the finish.
10. Tubes. You never have enough of them. (a sub-clause of my own particular mechanical law: whatever tool you need, you’re almost certain not to have it.)
Chronological:
the whole trip becomes a little more coherent when viewed in order.
Televisual:
over and out.