Long Haul - Day 47 (10/2/21) Boca Raton to Palmetto Bay 64.7 miles.

Often when we approach a large city, we find a destination with less miles and then one about ten miles further. Cities can be fun but usually take longer due to all the stops and starts. Even though we only biked 64 miles it took longer than usual. We stopped at the shorter destination. We started the day on the road we finished on yesterday. It was basically a 4 lane road with a good bike lane for the first 15ish miles. For the next 10 sometimes we did and sometimes we didn’t. When it got busy we just popped up on the sidewalk And got away from the traffic. Later on the same road we again had a designated bike lane. This road was rather boring, just a fairly busy road through retail districts.

The last half of the day took us through some pretty rough areas, an orthodox Jewish community (it was such a peaceful area with everyone dressed as they walked slowly to the synagogue), wove our way through some quiet subdivisions, and other interesting areas. As we were finishing our day we found ourself in a very beautiful and wealthy community. It was beautiful not because of the houses nor the ocean, but because the road had massively huge trees draping over it and creating a dark tunnel effect. It seemed like something from Lord of The Rings. We saw lots of iguanas but no Frodo. During most of this section we had a bike path to the side that wove through a dark damp sections of trees. Very cool and very refreshing. It definitely slowed us down.

After having been caught in the rain yesterday we kept seeing threatening clouds and were sure we would get caught in a rain shower. Several times we felt sprinkles but nothing more than that. However, quite a few times we came onto some wet roads where it had just rained. It seemed we were riding just behind the rain and were totally fine with that.

4 miles out I heard Dana yell for me to stop. I stopped and she said she had a flat tire. We checked and sure enough the front tire was flat. I pulled off the wheel, removed the tire and was checking for the culprit. I ran my fingers inside the wheel trying to find a sharp object and couldn‘t find anything. As I kept looking, I noticed a big black pickup truck pull up and a 35ish young man came over and asked if we needed help. I explained the situation and it turns out he works for a tire company. He took the tire and also looked for the intruder and found nothing. He asked if he could take us somewhere, ”no we’re good” Do you need any tools? “No we have all the tools we need“ Anything I can do to help? “I don’t think so, I have an extra tube and will change it and we should be good”. Do you need any water? I looked at him and he was so sincerely trying to help out some how. Because we only had 4 miles to go, we could have done without any water but I asked “do you have some? His eyes lit up and said he had some water in a cooler. He brought out a big jug of water and filled our water bottles. I know, I know, be careful what you accept from a stranger, we make exceptions for “angels.” We drank deep and thanked him for his kindness. He said he has grandparents, parents, a wife and two kids and he just wanted to make sure we were ok. Here’s the thing, we have had quite a few “roll coals” from big boys in big trucks and I may be a bit judgmental towards them at this point. This young man was the gentlest, kindest, and sweetest big pickup truck driver we have ever met. He jarred my prejudices and lifted our spirits. It was an awesome way to end the day. It was also worth the flat tire to meet another Trail Angel. His name was David. Human kindness is cheap and priceless.

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@treesforgoshen

https://www.treesforgoshen.org/biking-for-bucks-expand-goshens-tree-canopy/

Today’s Ride Ratings

Weather 7 (it was pretty windy but mostly from the side, still makes riding tougher)

Temperature 78 at start and 83 at finish

Scenery 2 (most of the roads) 9 (rest of the roads)

Riding Surface 10

Terrain 10