| Page 23 Day 96 - Friday 4-19-02 - mileage today 6.8 - climbed 0 TROPIC OF CAPRICORN (ALMOST) We are now in Key West, Fl. We are actually closer to Cuba than we are to the Mainland of the USA. We are at 24 degrees latitude and the Tropic of Capricorn is at 23.5 degrees latitude south, so we’re almost officially in the tropics. Maybe I'll go for a good long swim and reach the tropic of Capricorn. The weather is most certainly tropical. So is the atmosphere. " CHANGES IN LATITUDE, CHANGES IN ATTITUDE". There is a most definite layback attitude here. Let me take you back to Marco Island, where we started the day. We slept in the parking lot of the marina. We had to get up early in order to pack and go to breakfast before we boarded the boat. As we road up to catch the boat a man who was with a group of other men asked to us, " did the sheriff visit you last night"? I said, no. He then in a belligerent tone said, " this is private property, you just can’t set up camp anywhere you want. I said we had permission. He said by whom? I said by the people who run the charter service. He turned and without saying anything walked away in a huff. He struck me as a man who has showman’s disease and wanted to look big in front of his friends. He saw us earlier and didn’t say anything to us, but he wasn’t with his friends. The boat trip was 4 hours. We were greeted at the dock in Key West by John, our new riding partner. John is a friend of Myron’s who will join this roving band of vagabonds for the east coast section of the trip. John is a 68-year-old English gentleman who has lived and worked in the states for years. Myron and John cycled from Canada to Mexico on dirt trails in the Rocky Mountains five years ago. I'm really going to like John; he has a great sense of humor. We spent the day cycling around Key West doing the tourist things. We took our photos at the southern most point of the United States We took photos of each other at Earnest Hemingway’s house and at milepost 0 where Hwy.1 starts north and ends south. We wondered around town thru the neighborhoods and shops. We had a great time getting to know John. I'm going to like John a lot he has a great sense of humor. Like Myron John is an old man, 68 but he only looks like he is 61 or 62. He is in great shape. I have been in awe of Myron’s physical strength and thought that his supplements had a lot to do with it. But John too is in great physical shape but he doesn’t take anywhere near the amount of supplements Myron does. He does however make good food choices as Myron does. Maybe there is more to good physical conditioning in your later years. Maybe genetics, good eating habits, and physical exercise are the real secrets. At any rate I can only hope to be in the same physical shape of either of these two great men when I get that old, if I get that old. Day 97 - sat.4-20-02 - mileage today 7.9 - climbed today 0 ZIPPITY DO DAH Zippity do dah zippity aie, my oh my now we get Joices Pie. We have a friend, Mike Kobella whom road with us two years ago across the United States. Mike sang Zippity do dah song all the way across the States. It is one of my fond memories of him. Anyway Mike and his girl friend Joice, along with Tarah, Joices daughter, ran the 7-mile bridge run today. Afterwards they drove out to visit us in Key West. Joice is known for her apple pie. She was kind enough to bake one for us and bring it with her. We have been looking forward to seeing and visiting Mike, since the beginning of the trip. Mike and I became good friends on the trip two years ago. Now we finally get to see him and Joice again. We met them at Sloppy Joes. Sloppy Joe’s was a bar where Earnest Hemmingway use to hang out. We had a drink and celebrated our reunion and their accomplishment of completing a 7mile run. Joice is a marathon runner so seven miles is just a warm up for her. We walked around town for a while. We saw Earnest Hemingway’s house, President Truman's little white house, Mallory Square and a host of other sights. Then we had dinner at The Blue Heaven Resturant, wow, what a great dinner. We went back to our room and Mike, Joice and Tarah met there and we proceeded to make pigs of ourselves over Joices apple pie. It was unlike any other pie I had ever had. I had a cookie dough crust. It was more bread like then crust like. I really liked it. We had a wonderful visit. We will see them later in the week when we get to Boca Raton. Click Here to see Article written on 4-20-02 in the St Petersburg Times about Myron & Jim Day 98 - Sunday 4-21-02 - mileage today 59.2 - climbed today 0 Key West to Grassy Key - HAPPY EARTH DAY We had a beautiful day of riding. The Keys are wonderful. We had heard so much about the riding condition of the keys it worried us. We had heard from several people that there is no shoulder. We heard the roads were in disrepair and the drivers were crazy maniacs. Nothing can be further from the truth. There are bike lanes or bike paths the whole length of the Keys. The road is in wonderful condition and as far as the drivers there were great. We had a far worse time cycling the panhandle and west coast of Florida then we did the Keys. The sights were indescribable almost the who way we can look to our right and see the Atlantic Ocean, and to our left the Gulf of Mexico. In fact at one point I could swim from the Atlantic to the Gulf in just minutes. The waters were dotted with tiny island on both sides of us. I always imagined the Keys to be only a few little islands with long bridges in between. Most of the way we were on land. There are many little islands that dot the chain of keys. The waters are clear and a kaleidoscope of greens and blues. The deep blue skies have billowy white clouds that slowly change shape and color in the soft ocean breeze. Sailboats show off their beautiful white sails as they slowly fade off into the horizon. I know we have some school classes following us on the web. Maybe you can help me. What makes the water here so clear and colorful, as opposed to say the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco? And why is there a chain of clouds that seem to follow the pattern of the Keys? Day 99 - Monday 4-22-02 - mileage today 44.3 - climbed today 0 Grassy Key to Key Largo KEY LARGO Where's Loren Bacal? Now she is one sexy dame. Have you ever seen the movie (Key Largo)? That’s a classic (BOGIE BACAL) flick. I fell in love with Loren Bacal when I saw her in that movie. Shortly after we set out today we ran into Jeff. Jeff is a cyclist on the last leg of a trip around the world. He started a year ago last March. Jeff cycled with us today and he stayed with us tonight at the John Pennekamp State Park. Jeff is from England. He has spent the last 17 years teaching English in Taiwan. We had another beautiful day today. Clear skies and warm weather. Not to mention the beautiful sight of the Ocean. I was excited to be able to see Key Largo but I was unable to. There are no shoulders to ride on so I had to ride a bike path which runs right thru a wooded area so you can’t see the city. I did get a hair cut in Key Largo though and I did eat at Taco Bell here too. It was the first Taco Bell I've eaten at the who trip. We will be on the main land tomorrow. And we will part ways with John. Good Luck John. |
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