Dec 7 - downs and ups

Angelika left a few days ago, bringing us back to two temporarily, but we're now at five, six if you count Abby.

Jeffrey, Sara and Emma arrived around 10:30 last night, Sandy fetching them from the airport. Emma fell asleep in the car in Orlando and they carried her in, still sleeping, and put her to bed here. Abby of course went crazy, but eventually she settled down. We visited for about an hour, yes, I was actually up after 9pm, and then I headed to bed. Sandy followed 15 minutes later. This morning, all's quiet ... so far.

So that was the end of the day ... now back to the beginning ...

It was raining when I got up and it was raining when I headed out on my bike. I hate doing that, leaving in the rain, but it wasn't raining hard. Having checked the Doppler, I knew that it would be raining south of us far longer than north, so I headed north. The wind was coming from that direction anyway and as the day went on it got stronger, so it was a good choice overall. Within a half hour of leaving the 7-11 Permanent check-in the rain had stopped. I got a smattering of rain as I was headed south at Flagler Beach in the afternoon and put my jacket back on ... and then steady rain in Daytona Beach. In New Smyrna Beach they'd had a real dump with huge puddles, but I never ran into heavy rain.

What a ride ! I left an hour later than the last time, giving the rain time to move through. That got me out of the 7-11 at 7:57 a.m. I was back at the 7-11 at 4:39 p.m., three minutes later than I'd returned a few days ago ... but I started more than an hour later ! My official time on the ride from 11/28 was 9 hours 45 minutes. My time yesterday was 8:42 !!!

I deserve some of the credit. I was feeling good. I don't deserve all the credit. For half of the ride north the headwind was fairly mild but building. Also, I was inland at that point and not feeling the full force of the NNE wind. The last few miles going north, however, I got the full taste of the wind and was looking forward to the return trip, which follows the coast for quite a ways.

After the turnaround point I sailed south, seldom traveling less than 20 mph for a run of 40 miles. It was a little slower the last half because I had my jacket on and was melting inside. It's hard to regulate one's temperature in a rain jacket on a long ride. If you let yourself get wet then you get chilled and don't recover. I always opt for heat rather than cold.

Once home and showered, we went out for pizza. We each ordered a 14" pizza, my logic being that Jeffrey and Sara would want some when they arrived. Besides, I hadn't had anything substantial all day so I ate more than half the pizza anyway. Sure enough, before the evening was done, all the pizza was gone.

Oh -- while waiting for Sandy to come back from the airport I installed the windshield on the bike. I guess in this context it's obvious which bike ! I'm anxious to try it. A "touring" windshield, it should completely shield me from the wind. The bugs splattered on my face guard the last trip out ? That shouldn't happen again.

So, as usual, it was a day like no other. They're all like that in the fine details but this one, like many, had major departures. Today ... who knows. Sandy's plan is to have "Christmas dinner" -- turkey with all the fixings. However, it also looks like one of the best days for boating ... we'll see what happens.

Onward !