Flo Riding

Flo riding was actually the exact opposite of how we have been getting on in the USA so far but I wanted to put it as the title since it is a play on the State and the rapper.  Really though the title should be ‘Storm Riding’ because that is what we have been pretty much doing on a daily basis.  Unbeknownst to me before arriving on American soil was that June is the beginning of Hurricane season in and around these parts.  Oh joy. 

Most days we would get a late afternoon dump which was a real nuisance as we never had enough time to dry off before camping.  Sleeping in wet clothes is not fun.  Also add the hot, humid heat and you have a very uncomfortable night. 

One particular day we had rain all day.  Right from the get go to finish.  And it was strong.  Rain is the worst to ride in as it destroys everything.  Anyway, we were riding near Tallahassee and were waved down by two people by the roadside.  They were with the Tallahassee Democrat Press and were interviewing people braving the storm.  The guy asked me if I in fact knew we were in the midst of a tropical storm.  I didn’t, but said yeah of course, not wanting to look stupid.  I thought it was just some hardcore rain that wasn’t going to quit.  Though in hindsight I guess hardcore rain that doesn’t quit classifies as a tropical storm.  They asked us a few questions, took some pictures and did a video in the pouring rain.  Then they got back into their warm, dry truck and drove off.  The next day I found out on the front page of the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper that we were riding through the season opener Tropical Storm Andrea.  Probably should have picked up the newspaper to see if we made it in there but I didn’t want to pay the $1.  In any event, I found out later we did make the news: www.tallahassee.com.

Americans sure love to talk.  And they certainly have a lot of characters in the USA.  Some of the people we’ve met I get a kick out of.  The first character we met was in Clewiston and he is a self-described big fat gambling bum who bets on horses, that’s his thing.  He had stashes of food all over the town and even offered us some vegetables down the road behind this sign he had stashed away.  He was very outspoken and gave us advice on any possible dealings with the police.  While we were talking to him a couple of guys drove up in separate cars.  He told us one of them was the gay prostitute of the town and the other the crack dealer.  Everyone knows everyone in Clewiston.  The second character we met was a homeless man in Sarasota who has been living on the streets for almost 30 years and sleeps next to the train tracks near a black panther who also makes his home there.  He provided all sorts of great advice on how to properly rummage through trash and tips on how to stay dry.  He makes a bit of money off scratch and win cards he finds in the dumpsters behind various stores.  He may not have a home but he does have street smarts and was a joy to talk with.  The next character was a self-described tough ol’ bitch who is the queen of cheap.  She told us about her adventures back in her younger days of hunting tigers in India and that she has been on life support twice.  When it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go she said.  She loves to travel and always goes on the cheap.  Sleeps in her car at parking lots to save money and doesn’t spend much on food.  She is 68 years old and hearing her say things like ‘turn that son bitch around’ in her southern accent really made me laugh.  I love listening to southerners speak.  I don’t know why but when I am around them I start to speak like that too.  Trevor is the same way. 

Trevor met two more interesting individuals today but sadly I was in the supermarket when he spoke with them.  This morning a lady in her 50s passed Trevor on her way into Walmart and said to him “looks like you have everything need?”  Trevor said yes.  A few moments later she walks back out and says “but do you have Jesus?”  After a bit of hesitation he replied “ahhh, no.”  She then tells him that he should try and find him and that Jesus helped her get through her tough times when she was sleeping in a tent for nine months.  Then she asks Trevor for our names and goes into a prayer, getting all into it with hands motions.  Before going back into Walmart she asks Trevor for a hug and gives him one.  Later in the afternoon Trevor met Lester, a real deal southern redneck from Milton, Florida.  He says he served his time (not sure if he meant in the military or in a state penitentiary) and accumulated great knowledge and tells no lie.  He used to be fit and able to go the extra mile but said as you age you don’t go that extra mile.  He says he knows all this stuff because he has experience.  Then out of the blue he asks “straight or high?”  Huh?  “You straight or high!?  Do you smoke dope?”  No.  “Oh, well you know, just appearances.  You look like somebody I could get high with.  You have that look.”  Before leaving he asks Trevor to do him a favour when he gets back to Canada.  “When you back home and you talkin’ with all your friends and they think they know what they talkin’ about, you say to them yeah Bubba you knows what you is talking about!  And you just watch the look on their face.  Now you say it.”  Trevor then says “yeah Bubba you know what you are talking about.”  Lester then slaps his leg and gets all worked up from Trevor repeating his words.  He leaves shortly after and I return disappointed that I missed a great show.  I am almost certain there will be more characters to come.  Keeps things entertaining I will say that.     

We have had a couple of nights and early mornings where there has been tramping going on around our tents.  I have no clue what was out there but I wonder if it was a panther.  Then again maybe it was just an armadillo.  Speaking of which, I finally saw a live armadillo.  Usually I see them dead but this one was alive and kicking.  They are shy so it didn’t want to come out for a photo shoot.   

We had been looking forward to drinking good tasting water again but Florida has let us down.  Their tap water, more so in the south, has been some of the worst water we have consumed.  It tastes really awful, like someone took a crap in it.  Thankfully up north it has gotten much better so we hope that continues the rest of the way.  Water is kind of important especially in the hot climate we are currently in. 

We are northwest of Pensacola and with that, about done Florida.  We enter the South next.

They call it the Sunshine State and from time to time it certainly lived up to that name.  A bit too much for my liking though.  This particular day the temperature rose to 38 degrees and I was baking.

On the supermarket front we had high expectations going in.  Unfortunately we have been disappointed with what we have seen.  Trevor was super excited about getting back to his mixes much like he did all throughout Canada, the main ingredients being peanuts, raisins, chocolate chips and jelly beans.  Well, all those ingredients cost a whole lot more than they do up north in Canada.  So we have been resorting to other food.  It isn’t bad but just that it should be better.  To think, Canada, reigning supreme over the country that brought you big box supermarkets.    

Trevor finds another broken phone that he can’t bring back to life.  Plus side though is he got another SD card in it.  

Welcome to the number one beach in all of the United States of America!  … in 2011.  It was a nice spot indeed.  I find it funny though, we pass many rural communities and quite a number of them have signs up that say ‘welcome to our community, winner of the best rural community in 1997’.  Then a couple of towns over we’ll see another community winning it in 2003.  I wonder if they just rotate winners so everyone feels special at some point and it is something to be proud of. 

Vultures lurking in the back waiting for me to leave so they can return to feasting on this alligator or what’s left of it.  Just before this, I saw a live baby alligator in this drainage canal.  It was a bit shy and submerged underwater before I could take its photo. 

The Aldi invasion.  Who knows maybe this is an old photo from Europe, or maybe it is one from Australia?  No, it isn’t.  It is from Florida State.  Very excited to see Aldi’s here.  I love how their set up is the same wherever so it really feels like I could be in Europe or Australia.  However, that feeling is short lived once you get to the cash register.  Usually I would have the correct cash readily available but here in North America we (I say we because Canada does this too) like to charge tax after the fact.  Why doesn’t North America clue in and join the rest of the world and just make it so that the tax is already included in the price.  As such, I won’t be shuffling around for that extra 17 cents that I owe. 

Half our time in Florida has been spent fixing flat tires.  No joke, this State has been the worst and probably has beaten every other country we have cycled in.  Not something to be proud of.  We have been averaging maybe 2 flats a day.  Their roads are notorious.  Strange too because riding on the roads have been great as they are quite smooth and we have a wide, hard shoulder.  But the amount of crap they have on their roads is just unreal. 

Absolutely thrilled to be listening to tunes and podcasts again on the road.  I picked up a much better mp3 player than my last one which died on me in New Zealand.  Listening to artists like Flo Rida and Pitbull have made my days much better.  Except when it starts to pour rain and then I have to put it away.  My last one probably died because of too much exposure to wetness.  And I may have dropped it a couple of times. 

Probably should have researched this day off outing a bit more thoroughly.  I like Disney and have been to the Magic Kingdom in many of their other locations around the world but never to their primetime park in Florida.  So I was keen to go.  Trevor tagged along but wasn’t sure what he was getting into.  A bit disappointed we both were as it just wasn’t all that great.  I think theme parks like this sell you dreams and adventures one is probably not accustomed to on a daily basis.  Like taking a roller coaster through deserts or going on a cruise through jungles.  Not trying to sound all boastful but I guess when you’ve cycled through vast landscapes all around the world the real deal is much better than make believe.  In any event we did the park justice and went on all the attractions we wanted to do.  There were many people in the park so we said if we both get lost to meet each other at this very location pictured.  Unfortunately, Trevor did get lost and was scared as there were many strangers around him.  Please help me find Trevor before it is too late and he starts to cry.  He is around Cinderella’s Castle somewhere, but where?

Most of the time we have had the hard shoulder to ourselves but at times we have had to share it with other travelers.

As mentioned earlier, the rain sucks and wrecks everything.  My rear hub was not in great shape as all this gunk got in it.  As a result I couldn’t cruise and my chain would just skip and jump constantly.  So we stopped in a place called The Villages and found a bicycle shop.  We got there late afternoon and the mechanic ended up replacing my rear hub with a spare he had lying around.  I was relieved as it wasn’t much hassle in the end.  We left and not even a kilometer in everything got worse.  In addition to the chain skipping and jumping, my rear wheel was now wobbling.  I stopped at this department store and it became clear the rear hub wasn’t an exact fit.  As luck would have it the bicycle shop closed just after we left.  So we had to park it there for the night and return the next morning.  The mechanic was a nice guy and was truly sorry it didn’t work.  They ended up cleaning out my old rear hub and giving me a new tire and tube.  So in the end it all worked out for the better.  On an aside, Trevor was not a fan of this town as it is a retirement town.  Golf carts everywhere.  He doesn’t like it when people who look like they can walk rely on these carts or scooters to get around.  It is the mentality that gets to him.  So he wanted to get out of The Villages as soon as possible.    

Americans are friendly and very giving.  On the morning of the day when we were waiting for my bike to be fixed in The Villages, a man approached us and I told him we were heading back to Canada.  He wished us luck and wanted to buy us lunch by giving us $20.  I was very surprised at this kind gesture.  Later in the afternoon when we were resting outside this supermarket, a diabetic man approached us and practically gave us most of the contents in his shopping bag.  I only told him earlier we were heading back to Canada on the bikes, didn’t even say we went around the world.  He gave us six cans of root beer, some peanut butter and delicious cracked pepper smoked sausages.  But he didn’t stop just there.  Oh no.  He also pulled out his wallet and gave us $10.  He said this is some southern hospitality, something we won’t get up north.  I said that was mighty kind and thanked him profusely.  Super nice guy.  I am amazed at the free handouts of money here.  We were given $30 that day and at that rate this trip would pay for itself.  And some.  

Smile for the camera even though it sucks riding in a tropical storm. 

Taking shelter while getting rocked by the storm and Trevor fixing another flat.  What a surprise.