I woke up motivated and crushed a nice little beach workout in honor of lifeguard races. The water felt great and I went and got some fresh fruit at the little market down the way. Oranges down here are incredible. Then I went over to the library to try and use their computer. I spent the rest of the morning there–the thing was super restrictive and pretty slow, but I figured my way into uploading some stuff.

I gunned it back to the hotel to check out by noon, and then I was off to South Beach, Miami.

As I was leaving, I did a double-take at my receipt from the hotel, and I knew it was not in my budget. I started stressing about where I’d sleep that night way sooner than I usually do. On top of that, from this point to Miami, there was no possible chance I could find a free spot on the beach to sleep and it was simply too populated for campgrounds. In my last ditch efforts to find a cheap hotel, I mis-typed it and searched for hostels instead.

I hadn’t even thought of hostels! I stayed in a bunch over in Australia, and they are certainly the cheapest way to go, plus they can be a lot of fun. I forgot how many travelers are in big cities, and they are always poor like me. There had to be a few in a city like Miami. There were like 15! I called ahead and booked the first four-person room I could find. 30 bones, much better.

Either way, I still had to get there. It was around 12:45, and I was 60 some miles away. The winds were also coming from the south again. I know I did it to myself by wasting all that time in the library, but it was gonna be another long day.

I got into Ft. Lauderdale, and took a few shots of their lifeguard set up. A little different than Bethany’s:

I crossed the bridge back to the mainland and had to hop back on US 1.

This part was one of the sketchier legs of the trip. Right around their airport, it looks a lot like Northern Virginia. There’s a massive overhaul going on in their road system, and it’s obviously taking just as long as it is up north. They make less progress than I do every day, and people are pissed about it. Huge consrtuction set ups, detours, gravel, and traffic. US 1 runs right through it, and I was in for a bit of a squeeze. There was no shoulder, people everywhere were honking at everyone else, and debris, gravel, and nails littered the roads. I made it about halfway when my back tube went.

But there was no stopping. I had no where to stop. So I stood up and leaned hard over the front tire and forged ahead. Finally, after about a mile and a half, I found a place to pull over and fix it. I know that wasn’t the best move for the bike, but I had to do it.

Fortunately, had decided to buy those little CO2 cartridges that fill up tubes in a second–no more worrying about gas stations or if bike shops were open. I also spent some time truing the back wheel after I had replaced the tube. It was pretty ugly.

After that, I still had a ways to go. The wind didn’t let up, and it remained a slow ride. There were sections of US 1 with a great bike lane, but then it got congested and I’d switch between sidewalks and the right lane. I held out on switching back to A1A for a while because I knew the wind would be worse. But when I got stuck in traffic in rush hour, I made the move. By now, the sun was setting, and I had another 17 miles.

I turned onto A1A, and for some reason, I got a second wind. I had wolfed down a cliff bar at like 4:30, and maybe it was finally kicking in. There was a bike lane, and I charged. Hard. City riding is cool, and I was pretty amped. I was passing cars and dodging people, swerving around buses and being liberal with the red lights.

With about 8 miles to go, it was full on dark. Fortunately for me, the city lit up like Vegas. It wasn’t bad at all, and I weaved my way through traffic to the front of the line. I befriended a few other bikers who showed me the best way to get through the south end. I survived and finally arrived at the hostel.

I had been so focused on getting there, that I think I forgot how to speak. I stumbled and bumbled my way through check in. I was a mess and I couldn’t get my words out. Mid-way through, I ran back outside and drank all the water I had. I felt much better and finished the typically easy process.

I unhitched my stuff and carried it up the narrow hallway and even narrow-er staircase to my dorm room. I was the first one there and put all my stuff down. I went out and got a bunch of water and a beer. By the time I came back, I had a roommate. His name was Pete, and he was from New Zealand. I also realized that my trailer stunk the whole room up. I apologized and he made a sarcastic joke in that funny, Kiwi way. He said he was fine w it because he’d be out til 4 and would not be able to smell anything when he got back.

He let me borrow his computer, and I began the long process of uploading and editing all the stuff I hadn’t posted in forever. I took a little break and found a nice little dinner spot around the way. I watched Lebron play on the TV over a Guinness and some grilled chicken. The bartender loved my story and put the beer on his own tab. Thanks to him and Pete, my first night in Miami was quite  enjoyable and even pretty productive. I stayed up late working on my stuff. In fact, I think it was the latest all trip: 12:30. After that, I passed out hard, and I didn’t even stir when Pete stumbled his way in.