I woke up feeling like a new man, and I was excited to get back on the road. I almost felt bad for taking so many days off, but I guess it was pretty needed, and Jake was a great host. It was an awesome break from the road, and it was a lot of fun to enjoy a little night life after so many nights of going to bed at 8:30.

My next stop was Cape Canaveral. The winds were still straight easterlies, and Jake took me out of town and scooted me through a bit of the wind fight. We said our goodbyes and I hit the road. From this point until Key West, I was flying solo.

The road I chose was a straight shot to Canaveral, and it looked do-able from the drop off point. It reminded me of 17 with a wider shoulder. Outside of a few honks, the first 15 miles were fine. Then I got to the first bridge, and it got skinny, quick. It was a steep bridge, and getting out of the saddle swings my bike a good amount. It was definitely a little sketchy, but my legs felt strong and I put my head down and charged. More honks and a few yells, and I made it over the first bad boy. Fortunately, the downhill had a shoulder, so I pulled off and snapped a few shots. I’m more worried about going downhill with a 45 pound trailer pushing and swinging around behind me than lugging that thing uphill–especially when there are those breaks in the bridge sections that can catch your rims and pop your tubes. This time, I made it through unscathed. Uncommon sign (at least in DC), and tropical vegetation:

There were a few points where I had to merge and watch for mergers, but it was nothing like that one time on 17. I was fine. And I was mentally prepared for the second bridge. The wind was really kickin’ at this point, and outside of taking me a good hour for the final leg, it was pretty uneventful.

I weaved my way into Cape Canaveral.

The place was pretty cool, but they hadn’t scheduled any rocket launches for that afternoon. Unbelievable. However, there was a huge port with massive cargo and cruise liners. I couldn’t get a good shot of them, but I did snag one of the Coast Guard.

I got a good stretch in, and contemplated falling asleep sans rainfly. Then I saw this guy by my tent, and I decided to put it up.

I woke up at 1 AM to a massive storm with winds that I thought were going to rip my tent pegs out. It was hard to sleep through it, but after a while, I managed.