Mar 7 - the wind at our back

... almost all day, with only a couple of times early on when it was more of a cross. Hot and dry, we sailed from New Smyrna Beach to West Fort Island Beach -- coast to coast.

We left at 7:00 and before we got to Canal, 1 mile away, Jerry had a flat. 5 or 6 miles later, he had another flat ... this time on the inside of the tube -- a pinch, probably -- but discovered that the tire was in rough shape, probably defective -- and added a boot.

He had one more flat about 10 miles from the end, rear tire this time, with a large nail poking through both sides of the tire. That was time for another boot ! The first two were tiny and he patched one ... the last one was not worth patching.

Jerry has always had bad luck here with flats. He runs skinny tires and he's heavier than me, and on these rough, full of crap, roads, that spells flats.

There was one bad section of the ride -- the few miles before that last flat. They had removed a layer of pavement and then cut a channel into the shoulder every 50 feet or so for water to run off, otherwise it would sit 1-2" deep on the pavement. Those cuts in the shoulder were up to 3" deep and 6" wide -- real wheel killers -- so we had to ride on the road. Traffic was heavy, not a pleasant section.

Otherwise, it was great. The weather cooperated with the wind staying from the east and actually getting stronger late in the ride. It was mostly cloudy all day, so it was cooler than if the sun had been beating on us.

Sandy passed us a couple of miles before the end point so timing was perfect. She could walk Abby. We cleaned up a little, loaded up the bikes and headed home. Part way along we stopped at a McD's and got some fries, drinks and a milkshake for Jerry, a cone for me.

Only two types of people would order fries and an ice cream cone ...

Today ... perhaps heading into the Pearl Izumi outlet store. No riding. Tomorrow ... hopefully boating and the 30 mile ride with the bicycle club. Saturday ... 400k ... they've put showers back into the forecast, rats !

Onward !