WINTER BIKE RIDE - Titusville to Ft. Pierce,FL

It was cold this morning when we woke up. After two days in regular riding gear it was time to put on the cold weather gear. We did so after breakfast. I was hungry this morning. I consumed many packets of oatmeal and various other breakfast items. No coffee though so I was looking forward to using our Starbucks card in Cocoa Beach.

After praying we rode back out to US 1 and turned south. We took that down to where we could cut over to A1A. That stretch of road had several bridges so it was up and down and up and down. The cross wind made this stretch a good challenge. After the final bridge we got some protection from the wind as we entered Cocoa Beach. We found the Starbucks at the Cocoa Beach Surf Company so we parked our bikes and enjoyed an iced coffee and a cookie or pastry.

Ben's bike troubles started back up so we met Jen and the boys at Bob's Bike Shop in Eau Gallie. Ben got some work done to his bike and we ate lunch in the parking lot. There was no charge for the bike work so we were grateful and praising the Lord. After lunch Ben tested his bike out and it was better. Not great but better.

The rest of the day he dealt with bike issues but thanks to a strong tailwind we were able to put in over a hundred miles and make it to the campground in Ft. Pierce just after nightfall. We had out headlamps and taillights so it wasn't a problem. Because of the strong winds Jen was only able to set up one tent. When we got there I determined that it was too windy to start up the gas stove so we went to McDonald's. It was nice to get some chicken wraps, iced coffee and ice cream.

We got back to the campsite and set up our tent. The wind was still blowing strong so we worked together to get it set up. After doing so we settled in for a time of reading before drifting off to sleep. The strong wind whipped our tent in such a way that I was reminded of a couple of nights on my GTD ride and my time in the bush in Tanzania. I sleep well in those conditions and a good night's sleep was needed after a long day of riding.