March 4 -- I'm not a minority anymore !!

It's bike week -- so two wheeled (and many three wheeled) vehicles rein. Of course they are all fosil fuel powered, I'm Cliff Bar powered ... they are noisy ... you get the idea.

I've never seen anything like it. Harleys, of course, are in the majority. I'd say less than 2% of the bikes are Honda gold-wing types or Suzuki crotch rocket types. I went north up US 1 and there were two places with 2-3 mile backups going both ways with stuff going on -- one being a flee market type of place and the other being at the junction of US 1 and I95 at the Harley Davidson main dealership. I got the impression that there were drag races going on at the latter. At these spots the traffic is at a standstill -- but it's a carnival atmosphere and the bikers are there for the environment as much as anything. At the parking lots there are literally thousands of bikes. Amazing.

There are wild colors and customization, but everyone is polite, traffic moves at a moderate pace -- I'm the only one driving on the shoulder ! -- which makes me much faster than the traffic in these spots (think 2 mph vs 20 mph). Although the bikes are noisy going by at speed they give me more room than the cars -- no surprise.

Florida law does not require helmets and the vast majority don't wear them. In fact, it's unusual to see a helmet. That's fine at 2 mph but at 55-65 ? It would only take a small stone at that speed to kill you, I would think, and they don't wear them even on I 95.

I picked up the boat yesterday and the motor is running like a charm. I gave it a power wash and we are planning on going out this week. I think that we'll try launching at the north causeway to save diddling around in the weeds and shallows. The repair place charged $150 -- but I don't begrudge that because I have not spent a dime on this boat/motor since I bought it in 2002. It's idling better now than it has for the last couple of years -- no wonder.

Sandy took Abby out for a long walk this morning -- 2 miles south on Saxon and then back along A1a to the beach and then home -- probably close to 5 miles in total -- good exercise for both of them.

As I mentioned, my ride was northwards -- partly due to the 15 mph wind from the NW and partly because I wanted to see some of bike week. I was not disapointed on either count -- although the 15 mph headwind did not seem so bad after riding 100 miles + on Friday into a stronger headwind. I sailed back home, until I got a flat. It was a good flat -- a good flat is one where you can definitely see what caused it -- in this case a nail sticking out of the tire. It was sunny and high 60's ... perfect !

Nutrition -- 2 bottles of water; 2 mini cliff bars, 4 gels.

Ride stats -- 74 miles; 17.3 mph avg.