The travels of the Rambling Roses: Bicycling from Daytona Beach to Rockledge, Florida (Dec. 8)

, 76.34 miles in 5:27.....(722.78)....I know there will be days like this, but c'mon, not in sunny Florida. Not every damn day! We've had about a half day of sun since we've been in the sunshine state. Today, after a night of rain, I started out and stayed dry for about ten minutes. Once the rains came, it was off and on, light drizzle, mixed with heavier drenchers. Some where during the ride, about two hours in I think, I had about a half hour of dry. Then the rain started in earnest. I rode through puddles and got splashed by cars and trucks throwing water out of two inch deep puddles on the road. I kept my sunglasses on because I needed my rear view mirror, which is attached to them, and to keep the muddy, sandy splashes out of my eyes. I needed windshield wipers on them, but I'm pretty accustomed to having rain splashed glasses, after riding through Oregon and Washington. I was always wet, but never cold, which makes me think that I shouldn't be complaining. After all, it's December 8. I had a great tailwind all day, just like last time I rode this way. I averaged 14 miles an hour for a five and a half hour trip, and that's pretty good for me. The weird thing about biking is that the faster you're going, the less you're working. When I'm going ten mph, it's because I'm working my butt off into a headwind or up a grade. Faster is better.

Today's ride was on a stretch of US 1, & A1A, that I didn't ride two years ago. In 2012, we zigzagged around the state, and we went inland from Daytona to Orlando last time. I didn't miss much. The trip was pretty non descript today, not helped at all by the rain and the foggy clouds, or is cloudy fog? I was not on any barrier islands, as there are really none with roads on them the Canaveral National Seashore was out there somewhere, creating the Intercoastal Waterway, but the islands that there are, are not significant enough to warrant a road, I reckon. US 1 was always a four lane, always had a nice shoulder, and alternated smooth pavement with some of the roughest road I've ridden in this state. Leaving from the campground, which is six miles from the ocean, I let the GPS guide me through residential and non touristy areas of South Daytona and Port Orange. The towns of New Smyrna and Edgewater were not touristy, which made them look like a thousand other towns. New Smyrna had a nice little downtown, and I rode for about five miles there, off of US 1, right along the Intercoastal Waterway, through some real nice residential area, where every home had their own private boat dock. Then there was a stretch where I was about the only person on US 1, that lasted for 20 miles or so before I started hitting the Mims, Titusville area. I passed another biker in Titusville, who was going to Miami, but he was loaded down and traveling slower than me, so we chatted for only a short time while we rode. That's about where it really poured for a while, and I think he pulled over to stay dry, while I soldiered on through the deluge. Titusville pretty much blended into Cocoa, ( not Cocoa Beach), and the most memorable thing about that town was a five mile stretch of road construction that I had to negotiate in the pouring rain. One fortunate thing is that I had my LED taillight, which I really needed today. Great purchase! We stayed at the Space Coast RV park, named because of our proximity to Cape Canaveral. The high school here is called Astronaut High, and the whole area is known as the Space Coast. I passed a couple of museums and halls of fame related to the space industry, but couldn't take pictures because of the rain.