Day 5: Florida City to Islamorada: Kablaam! - We need to be Re-tired. - Grampies Go to Florida Spring 2015

February 7, 2015

Day 5: Florida City to Islamorada: Kablaam! - We need to be Re-tired.

The traffic noise from US 1 was very intense all night, but traffic noise seldom disturbs us much. Still it seemed hard to sleep. Dodie put the "Railway Children" on the smart phone, but somehow I stayed awake until the end. Then she put it on again, and yet again. I thought this kind of curious, since she has lots of other material in there. She later explained that she had been falling asleep right away, and only waking up when the program ended.

About midnight I went out to the kitchen building and nibbled on some surplus enchiladas from the nearby Mexican restaurant. Someone had left then in the refrigerator with an invitation for anyone to use them up. At that hour there were still lots of people sitting under the shelters or by the bonfire. This lent the place a pleasant, communal atmosphere. Also by that hour staff had put out the makings for the all you can make and eat pancakes. Technically, though, breakfast does not begin until 4 a.m.

By 5 or 5:30 we were out there, whipping up pancakes and taking down the tent. At 6:30 it was pretty much light enough to travel. It was a bit of a shock leaving the protective enclave of the hostel and returning to the highway. However the separated bike path did continue for a while, and after that there was a reasonably wide shoulder. The road now devolved into nothing more than a channel through mangroves, with tall fencing on either side. We dislike that feeling of being "railroaded" through. It's an arrangement we had last seen in Texas.

Nice preparation area for pancakes at the hostel

Last chance to drive under the influence for 24 miles!

Dodie says every cyclist takes this photo, so here it is.

There were a few interesting biirds, like this stork, to look at beside the fenced in highway.

Traffic was heavy all the way. Often there was only one second between cars.

Another mandatory photograph, but with the fence it was hard to see how any crocs could cross.

After about 26 km of this, we were standing by Dodie's bike looking at the map, and speculating on how much further it might me to reach the Card Sound Road turnoff. I was calmly chewing on one of the low life bagels from yesterday's motel, when kablaam!. It sounded at first like a gun shot, but we quickly saw that Dodie's rear tire was now flat. A quick look showed no great hole in the tire, that might have been consistent with the explosive sound. So off came all the packs, the bike was flipped on its back, and the tire removed. Still nothing. Off came the tire, and yes, here was a big hole in the tube - but why? A bit of manipulation revealed that the sidewall exactly adjacent to the rim was ripped. With no pressure on it, it appeared normal. The only explanation for this other than random failure is if the brake pad is rubbing on the sidewall. A careful look showed that the pad was very close, but not touching. Hmmm. We'll never know.

So what to do now? We pulled out our Filzer sidewall repair material, which is fibreglass with a sticky back. We do a lot of bragging that the new Canadian Plastic $5 bill is better and cheaper, but actually the stickiness is a big factor for keeping the patch in place. The other factor is the air pressure, but in this case with the damage right on the edge, a repair did not seem very likely. And yes, once the tire (with new tube) was inflated, the fibreglass bulged outward, and the sidewall rip looked like it would travel along the rim.

It was Dodie who had the next idea, based on something she had seen in Crazyguy. She got out our roll of electrical tape and bandaged the tire by wrapping right around the rim. That is, electrical tape would be in contact with the road. She approached this by making 15 or 20 wrap arounds. Time to try a testride. The bike refused to move, at all, until the brake pads were removed. Dodie had so much tape on there that the brakes could not bypass it.

We gingerly set off, thinking that every 1/4 km was that much less we would be walking. But, the repair held up - fifteen km to the bike shop in Key Largo, All Keys Cycles. There Steve Troeger came up with a high pressure capable 20" Kenda. Wow, better luck than in Germany.

Kablaam! The total number of drivers that stopped to see how we were doing was zero. One local cyclist came by and seemed peeved that we were in the path.

At All Keys Cycles in the Pink Mall, Key Largo

By now we had developed enough confidence in the fibreglass/electrical tape system that we decided to wait until evening to put on the new tire. Meanwhile, Dodie found this tee shirt in the shop:

New tee shirt for Dodie at the bike shop in Key Largo

For a while it looked like we would pay for our overconfidence, as construction turned our shoulder into gravelly, tape abrading dirt. But the darn thing held up. 47 km after the explosion, we pulled into the Sunset Inn in Islamorada. Now, with all the comforts of home (including Travel Channel on the TV) we will put things right.

During the day, though certainly we saw some birds and some water, we have not yet experienced the island hopping aspect of the highway. Mostly the ocean has been a couple of blocks away. This is despite the tourist brochure that asserts "the Island feel starts to kick in and the disconnect begins. You're taking note as the pace slows, and you're gazing for longer periods at the stunning blue-green seas". Things changed a bit as we entered Islamorada. Here fishing is really big, and there are serious boat sales and storage yards. We also saw our first pelicans, which we remember from last year will be everywhere.

All the tire excitement took our attention away from the fact that last night we were starting to come to grips with the possibility that the trip could be over. Dodie's knees continued to act up, despite Naproxen, Icy Hot Cream, and actual icy ice. She was expressing doubt that she could even get into and out of the tent this night, let alone cycle 2200 km. in the next weeks. I was thinking that if we would cycle one more day, down into the Keys, we would be stuck there, and how to dig our way back out? And when and if we could rent a car to use for some version of the remainder of our six weeks, the cost would be at least $1500.

But to Dodie's surprise and delight, she could go in and out of the tent. In fact the little rat woke me up in the middle of the night, just to report that she had left to go to the washroom, and had come back! And today, she cycled the 70+ km with only moderate whimpering. So, the band plays on...

Islamorada is very fishing oriented, but do you think this is enough motors for one boat?

Mandatory photo #3 - the giant lobster in Islamorada.

There are indeed a few lovely Keys type scenes in this section.

Typical roadside store. This time we didn't stop at any. We also uncharacteristically bypassed one "Key Lime Pie Factory" and several spots offering key lime pie.

Our home in Islamorada - an almost separate part of the Sunset Inn.

Last look at the tape fix. Amazingly it still had lots of mileage left in it.

Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 172 km (107 miles)

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