{"id":2132,"date":"2022-01-19T08:53:04","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T13:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acrossthemapwithmatt.com\/?p=2132"},"modified":"2022-01-19T08:55:28","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T13:55:28","slug":"fort-walton-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acrossthemapwithmatt.com\/?p=2132","title":{"rendered":"Fort Walton Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After several cups of coffee and breakfast I left my ws host by 8 am. I wanted to get as many miles in early as possible. Rain and high winds were predicted for later in the day. The morning was perfect. Sunny and just a little bit chilly. Traffic was a bit heavy but I had a good shoulder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I caught up to Ron again and we had a nice chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The wind gained strength throughout the morning and by noon it was blowing at 15 to 20 mph. Thankfully it was a tailwind. The Windy app on my phone showed that it would be changing directions around 5 pm and becoming a headwind. I didn’t really want to ride in that. I text and emailed a WS host near Navarre. I was looking for a place to stay 2 nights. Tomorrow the rain would quit but the would become gale force. 30 to 40 mph out of the West. A direct headwind. If I could avoid a headwind like that I would. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I made it to the Emerald coast in the pouring rain. I don’t mind riding in the rain too much but I hate getting sprayed by the vehicles. I rode on the side walk whenever I could to avoid getting splashed. It was easy to see how the name Emerald Coast came about. Even in the rain it was beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I did not hear back from the WS host and in Fort Walton Beach I got a motel room for two nights. On my rest day I walked around town a bit. The wind was awful. I wasn’t happy about not riding but it was probably the right decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a beautiful day when I left the motel. I started out wearing my jacket but had to take it off in a few miles. The high today is supposed to be 60. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ride today was absolutely beautiful. I left 98 and was on 399 into Pensacola beach. The wind was still a headwind but with such beautiful scenery, I did not mind the slower pace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Taking a break at a bench, there were several lawn figurines someone had put there. Rosie made a friend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After several cups of coffee and breakfast I left my ws host by 8 am. I wanted to get as … Continue reading Fort Walton Beach<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t