I had a great time in Pa. It was so good to see my family and friends. It was great introducing Rose to them.
Rose and I went snowboarding at the local ski resort. Well I’m not sure if I snowboarded or not. I did have a snowboard strapped to my feet but mostly my feet were up the slope and behind me as I slid down on my face. I’m pretty sure I had a faulty board as it would not turn or stop. Haha. Rose faired much better. All her experience on skateboards was helpful. Though we were wet and cold, thankfully only our faces hurt. And that was from all the laughing and not from all the sliding.
Our flight back to Florida was canceled. That was a bit of a bummer. After looking through all the options we decided to rent a car and drive. We left late afternoon on 30th and got to Largo FL on the 1st. It was only around 1000 miles but we took our time and enjoyed the road trip. We even fit in a couple hour stop in Savanah to walk around and get dinner.
After arriving in Largo we went straight to the storage unit to get our gear and bikes. I think the bikes were happy to see us. I sure was happy to see them. We somehow managed to get 2 bikes, 8 panniers,2 handle bar bags, 2 rack packs, spare tires, a rear rack, some tools a box of gear both of us and one unicorn all into the little Kia k5. Luckily the motel wasn’t very far away as we may of resembled the Clampetts had they driven a compact car. After getting a room we unloaded everything from the car.
After getting everything into the room we then started working on our bikes. Driving allowed us to take a lot more spare parts and miscellaneous camping gear. I needed new tires badly. I had a new set of scwalbe marathon tour tires at home and we brought them. There the same tire I have used since the beginning. I have been 5457.3 loaded miles. I am happy with them and was exited to put on a new set. The new ones I had are a bit narrower (35 mm) but that won’t be a problem.
We worked on bikes, sorted and packed gear until nearly 10 pm. I changed my tires and straightened my rim while Rose changed her grips and rear rack. A weld had broke back in Ocala. Zip ties had held it together since then. My rear rim hasn’t been true in probably 700 miles. I have just been straightening it enough to not rub the frame. We sorted through all the gear we didn’t need or that we replaced. We got a big box from the front desk to mail it home. Finally at 10pm we were done and our bikes ready for the road. We realized we hadn’t ate yet. A Dennys was .5 miles away and we still had the car. We drove there for cheeseburgers and fries. It wasn’t the quick dinner we had hoped for and the cheeseburgers certainly weren’t worth the 1.5 hour wait but finally around midnight with partially full bellys we got to bed.
We had set our alarms for 6. We were both exited to be back on the bikes. But first we had to return the car mail the box home and then grocery shop. We resupplied at a Publix grocery store then headed for the Post Office. It being a Sunday, it was closed. That caught us both by suprise. I guess it’s been a while since we had to worry about what day of the week it was. It had never crossed our minds. We took the groceries and box of gear back to the room and returned the car. After taking a Lyft cab back to the motel Rose implemented plan b and that was to find scales, weigh and measure the box and print out a shipping label and leave it at the front desk. I packed the groceries on the bikes and then we were ready to go by 11. The weather was perfect. It was great to be on the road!
After a 44 mile day we camped for the night in the Starke wilderness. It’s truly beautiful here. It’s primitive camping with no amenities. But there is a picnic table. We had a pork stir fry planned for dinner but we were both to tired to eat or cook. Some jerky and a cliff bar was dinner. (Thanks Rob!)
The whole day was wonderful. It did get hot mid 80s. But we were on trails all day. It was nice to be out of the city!
In Florida a lot of the different cow breeds are mixed with Brahma. The reason for this is because Brahma is the only breed of cows that can sweat. Definitely a plus in the Florida heat. I sure did my share of it today.
The unicorn. Hmm where do I start? Her name is Rosie.
See, after I had been riding with Rose a few days and got to know her I realized that she is so unique and perfect for me it was as if she were a unicorn. Something you only imagine exist. I found Rosie at a Dollar store and got her for Rose to remind her of that. I have always considered myself fairly lucky. If you have followed my blog you can read about all the times that fate smiled on me. But not once did I think I would find someone like Rose and get to share my dream of bike touring with not one, but two unicorns!
It really was great to be back on the bikes. I’m surprised how sore I am from only being away 16 days.
I’ve enjoyed following along. I’m also a Marathon user, as are several of my friends. Wayne and I both use Marathon Racers – he says they last 4,000 miles before needing replaced. You have very specific mileage numbers before your replacement. Curious minds would like to know just what model of Marathon you have. From the blue showing on the used tire, I think it might be the Plus? I would expect those to last longer than 5,xxx miles.
Have fun!
Marathon plus tour. 700×45. New ones are 700×35. I thought I would get around 10,000 miles out of them based on all the reviews I read before purchasing. But they are heavily loaded and lots of rough gravel trails.What I like the most is the puncture resistance. I have only had one flat.
Rosie is adorable but Rose is adorable too both inside and out!
Matthew and Rose enjoy the adventure!!!!
I like your unicorn and its meaning, Matt, and I do recall back in the ’90s when pro mountain bike riders would put little characters or whatever on their bars or stems to motivate them to victory, something fun like that. Gotta have that mojo.