Florida apes

Yes there are apes in Florida living in the wild. In south florida we hae ape colony in Fort Lauderdale next to the airport. And we have wild apes in west florida in the panhandle. One is called skunk ape or bigfoot. So probably I will ride by the florida big foot. If I do I will try to get a selfie.  https://www.csicop.org/sb/show/tracking_floridas_skunk_ape

 

The long ride.

I like riding long rides. My next long ride will be from mobile alabama to My home in miami just over 800 miles total. There are many things to look at before  riding long ride like this. One thing was car rental. First I was thinking to ride my bike  from miami to Mobile and rent a car there  back to miami. Then when I looked deeper into this the best way was to rent a car in Miami and drive to Mobile and ride from there because of few things. Car rentals in this area are small and sometimes empty. When I am finally in Mobile there is a possibility I can not rent a car there and need to ride somewhere else even all the way to Luciana to rent a car. Easier to rent it in Miami. Second reason is I will ride this distance in 10-12 days in november. This area gets cold during the winter and the temparature drops badly in november. So I will start the ride the 4 november while it is still warm in Mobile and ride into even warmer conditions in miami.  

changing bikes

One story about getting a new bike. I remember going slow on my old bike that I got on amazon many years ago. I was doing 12 mph and uff it was hard. Then I got a new spezialized rubaix carbon bike light as a feather and super fast. Suddenly I was doing 20 mph and even faster on my new bike. I increased my mileage alot too. No carpal tunnel issues. No back issues and all the issues from my old bike gone. 100 miles was like nothing. I started doing 100 milers every sunday. Then one day I had to return my rubaix for maintainance and had to use my old bike again. And was surprised that my average was 18 mph even near 20 mph.... Getting better bike increased my speed on the old one.

Riding plan

I am planning to do a long ride from Miami to New York in the spring. Thinking about doing it in May.May is a good time for it because then the temperature is not too hot in Florida and not too cold in New York.The distance is around 1500 miles. I plan to do it in 18 days. And my plan is to do a full randonneur SR series next year and hopefully a long rando ride too. My training now is I am pumping up my miles per week and my goal is 500ish miles per week. Most of the rides are short rides. But in between I do long training rides. Miami-Ft Pierce and back is a 300 mile ride and one of my favorite routes. Miami to Key West and back is fun too. In between I will ride centuries and rides with various bike clubs all around Miami.

training ride to ft pierce

I am now doing training rides. . Cycling is a great training for ultra swimming so I continue riding. My first training ride this winter was from Miami to Ft Pierce and back. It is a 320 mile ride up and down A1A. A1A is one of my favorite routes with beaches on one side and hotels restaurants and clubs on the other for 60 miles. The first stop was meeting other icelanders in fort lauderdale watching the icelandic soccer team play with turkey. the icelanders won. After the game I continued up A1A. Around Delrey beach around 40 miles in my right crank broke. It was dark and no hotels near. So I biked with just one crank for around 10 miles to the next hotel. The staff at the lobby there told me they were fully booked. I finally found a hotel 20 miles from the hotel and took a taxy there. The day after I made it to the next car rental and rented a car to Miami. So only 100 miles done but it was ok. Next will be key west ride from Miami to Key West and back

When I do this ride I use 3 hotels. More about hotels. Few years ago I did a list in my mind what I need from a hotel when cycling. Here is the list

1) A clean bed and room with no bugs.

2) Space for my bike and a hotel that allows me to keep my bike inside my room. Many hotels does not allow you to bring your bike in the room. I remember once the manager wanted to have my bike in his and his wife bedroom...

3) Shower.

4) for long rides washer and dryer

5) Vending machines 

The 3 hotels I use on this way are 

Motel 6 Dania beach. It fills all 5 requirements and is central to everywhere that I need to go. Easy to ride to us27 on my way to south florida randonneur rides in Clewiston. And not far from A1A on my Ft Pierce ride. 

Then I ride to Motel 6 ft pierce. It is a great hotel with soft beds and the rooms are bigger than usual. And next to it is a great BBQ restaurant with steaks during the day and full english breakfast in the morning. I love this place When I ride to Sebring or Orlando I use this hotel.

The 3rd hotel is Travelodge Fort Lauderdale beach. It is great hotel only 120 miles from Ft Pierce and has a breakfast included for getting ready for the last day home.

The restaurants on the way that I usually stop for coffee are

Lulu in the grove. My saturday post ride coffee shop

Georgios in Hollywood. They have Greek menu and great Crosants.

Starbucks fort lauderdale beach for coffee. 

Delray beach centre has 3 restaurants with good breakfast.

Ft Pierce BBQ restaurant above.

Then I stop at various gas stations on the way for water and gatorade.