After checking into motel, other than television, there is not much to do but sleep. Living in a box is a miserable way to see the world. With ten hours of sleep, I sprang out of bed and slammed my body and mind into gear. Packed up and was on my way by 7:25, foggy gray misty morning as I pedaled down past the high rise jungle of ocean drive, Ormond Beach. Stopping at Burger King, I bought a dish of eggs, sausage, pancakes and OJ. Back on the road in twenty minutes, I had clear riding with litttle traffic and no wind. The legs and body are adjusting and I managed fifty carefree miles, ending up in Mims at a KOA camp ground. With fifteen miles to go, the sun appeared and the humidity settled in, Florida as I know it to be. Ten miles before Mims I picked up lunch at a convenience store and struck a conversation with a nice guy on a KTM motorcycle (owns several hot bikes, having owned a motorcycle store), seventy-five years old. We had the same outlook on life, get out there and see the world, no time to waste.
Once settled in, tent up, everything off the bike, I removed the back wheel and tightened up the spokes. Erik LaFrambious has been my ‘pro from Dover’on getting my bicycle tuned up for my trip. Over the phone, I gave him the run down on this creeping sound I was hearing from the back wheel. Progressively getting louder, eventually I narrowed it down to the spokes. To precluded any other possible reasons for the creaking, Erik suggested I remove the back wheel and check for anything loose in the wheel hug. Nothing wrong there so I painstaking tightened each spoke one quarter turn. The creaking sound seems to have gone. Tomorrow will be the test with all the gear loaded on.
Tomorrow I head for Melbourne where I have a Warmshowers host putting me up. From what I was told by a passed by at the campsite, from here south I am entering the subtropics. The temperatures are predicted to be in the low eighties. Now for the full summer attire and plenty of sunscreen.
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