We’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts!

No, we’re not talking about the plastic fantastic that we left behind in Miami today, although there was a bit of that around. Instead this is a reference to the thousands of palm trees that we saw today on our 78 miles to Key Largo, of which more below…

But we should start by mentioning that the title of today’s blog was going to be “Smooth Operator”, in reference to the Sade song of that name that mentions Key Largo, but as MG has stolen our thunder on that one, we have renamed it – thanks MG!!!! Actually, it is very spooky because to the very minute when we were talking about this lyric and shooting the breeze about what we might say in the blog tonight, MG posted her comment. Good to see that telepathy is alive and kicking, and Yuri Geller is still bending spoons, and Elvis is alive and well (if a tad overweight post burgers and pills phase) and living in Wisconsin.

We would also like to point out that Anthony is 39 tomorrow, not 100 (although he feels a bit like it after the ride today).

Yes, what to say about the ride today…. Well, it started out perfectly; like a dream. Warm but not baking, bright and sunny, with good cycle paths/shoulders/road surfaces etc (although a bit heavy on traffic getting out of Miami), and the bikes running brilliantly, chains purring very gently like contented cats. It was so beautiful, in fact, it inspired us to take quite a few photos today (don’t forget to check them out). But all that was to change.

As we hit the main cycle route from the mainland out towards Key Largo, the heavens opened. We do not use the word “heavens” lightly, as this was a storm of biblical proportions. It started with the wind picking up (a head wind of course… what a surprise) and a few spots of rain, and then BOOM, thunder, rain drops so big they were as painful as hailstones, wind whipping up scarily as if a tornado was about to form, and so much rain that it was almost impossible to see. Given that we were in the middle of nowhere with literally NO turnings off the road for at least 20 miles, we just had to plod through it. As we approached the bridge over to Key Largo, the clouds lifted and the sun shone brightly again, and it was as if it had all been an aberration, were it not for the soaking clothes, strong odour of foxy shoes having been stirred up (no MG – no new shoes yet), and of course that the lovely clean, serviced bikes were once more covered in grit and sand. And to top it all off, Anthony’s back wheel started to come loose somehow so that his back brake was jammed against the wheel…

Still, we eventually arrived safely and, after a bit of bike maintenance, laundry, and fox odour prevention techniques, are settling down to some food and perhaps a spot of TV. Well, after all the excitement of Miami, we need to catch up on our favourite programmes…

Us x