Skip to main content

Riding Coast To Coast... Almost


This was written several days ago, but I just discovered on 3/23/24 that my email program wasnt notifying my friends and family and fans!  What a bummer!  

If you rely on the emails, and you want to know what has been going on since December, go to the archives at www.susanstraley.com and look up January and February posts.  I have been having some good times!

But this is about a few days ago when we were about to depart on a bicycle tour...

***

3/20/2024

Greetings from Inverness, Florida

I am up early.  I can't sleep.  I wanted to write a short note to you and some other important stuff.

We will see if I can keep it short, LOL.

Today, a friend is driving my truck and Steve and I and our bicycles to Titusville, Florida over on the East Coast (east of Orlando).

Bruce (our triking friend) will drop us off and Steve and I will start riding back toward my Weeroll in Inverness via (mostly) the Coast to Coast Trail.  The Coast to Coast Trail isn't completed yet, so we will be riding a lot of trail, but in some places we will be riding some roads.   

This is a credit card tour.  That means we will stay in motels and B & B's instead of hauling out tents and sleeping bags.  It is more expensive, but easier and lighter than a camping style tour.  Plus, I don't like sleeping on the ground in Florida.  There are fire ants and snakes and oh my!

We are breaking a rule. I have a brand new bicycle!

The rule is, never start a tour with un-tried equipment.  I tried my new bicycle yesterday on a 32 mile ride.  That's it.  


It is a Trek FX2, an e-assist bicycle with step through.  This picture was taken just outside the Trek store yesterday.  I then rode it to Wallace Brooks park to start our group ride.  I rode it about 32 miles.  So I did try it.  

We were going to put a new rack on it last night for hauling stuff, but the installation is more complex than we anticipated, so I am using the factory rack with a limit of 50 lbs.  I should be ok, especially on a Credit Card Tour, no food, no tent, no air mattress, no sleeping bag.  Instead I packed a swim suit in case one of the motels has a pool.

Well, that's it.  I just wanted to let you know what I am up to.

Oh, one more wrench in the game.  Last week, my credit card was compromised.  I just got my new credit card yesterday and activated it.  This morning (at three a.m.) I was trying to update the card on different accounts that have auto-pay.  Frustrating but I logged into Georges old Sun pass account by mistake, and added money to it.  Stupid! I then got into my current E-Pass account and was able to add money to that.  

I will have to fix payment error when we get back.  Then after multiple attempts to log-in to Verizon, Verizon locked me out.  my phone seems to be working. You may or may not hear from me on our trip.  

Our trip will be short, we should be back in Inverness late on Friday... though it is supposed to rain and storm that day.  (Which reminds me I should pack something to protect the electronics on my bicycle from being drenched.

Who knows, we may decide to stay put a day.  We'll see.

Be well and prosper.


Labels:
Location: Inverness, FL, USA

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 20, 2024 at 6:22 PM

    Good luck! We hope your ride goes well, all equipment functions properly, the weather gods cooperate - and you return with good stories! Bon Voyage!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 20, 2024 at 7:26 PM

    Enjoy your new e-bike on this tour! You are in such good company!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Susan Straley, AuthorMarch 26, 2024 at 3:03 PM

    Thanks! I am fortunate to have a great touring and travel partner!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Six-Month US Tour Starts In Florida

Greetings from Fort White, Florida, We did it.  Despite mishaps and some angst, I am still feeling some angst, we have begun our 2024 Travels. Angst Last year we traveled together but I had Big Blue (my truck) and Lilac (my camper) with me.  And though I moved stuff into Steve's trailer and stayed with him, on travel days I was driving Big Blue on my own, and I had all the stuff that I don't use very often in my truck and trailer nearby. This is our first full season traveling with one truck and one trailer.  I am trying to adjust.  Steve is very accommodating and a good partner for this trip.  It's just me, worrying. And maybe some of the angst is world news, the US 2024 elections, and some of it is worrying about my son.   He just changed jobs and then in a few days he got laid off from the new job making him un-eligible for unemployment because he had not worked there long enough.  He will be fifty this year and I still worry.  So if you k...
22 comments
Read more

Grateful for Head Nets in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota

Greetings from Grand Marais, MN on the western shore of Lake Superior, I hope this finds you well and smiling.  Thanks to those of you who commented or sent a reply or text.  I love hearing what you are doing and keeping in touch. I need to warn you, there will be a lot of pictures here, so skim if you want, pause if you are curious.   It is beautiful here near the Canadian border.  There are remnants of very old mountains, lots of waterfalls, and parts of the coast of Lake Superior look like the Northeastern coast of the U.S. We traveled north from Duluth to Grand Marais, some of the road runs along the coast with grand vistas.  We saw there is a paved bicycle trail in places.  The Gitchi Gami.  We parked and walked up it a way to get a better look at the lake and one of the car tunnels. At the top of the hill we saw a young woman learning to rock climb.  There are existing clips all up the side of that rock over the tunnel. There we also fo...
16 comments
Read more

Amazing Views, Pheonix, AZ to Carlsbad, NM

  I am grateful not to have been in the path of Helene and Milton.  If I had a house on the coast I would sell and move to a safer location... or live on wheels like I already do. I say that, but when I moved to Inverness with George in 2016, it felt like we had moved to paradise. I was so happy to be surrounded by new friends, experience great winter weather with many sunny days, and enjoy sitting outside without swatting mosquitos.    I could send out an email to my biking friends that we were putting on a pot of chili and would love it if they came at a certain time to help us eat it.  And suddenly we would have a party of more than a dozen smiling folks. If you are wondering why people keep rebuilding in an area hit by hurricanes, it may be they just can't face leaving their happy place, where they have found a community of caring and fun.  It is their paradise.  As far as I know, the Inverness area may have gotten over 10 inches of rain from Milto...
8 comments
Read more