2009-03-14 In the past on many occasions I have managed to sunburn myself on cloudy days. If a smart person were to take those data points and extrapolate them into the future, they may conclude that one should beware of sunburn even if it's cloudy. I of course decided that this time it would certainly be different. About 2 pm I realized I was wrong. But the sun was past its zenith, so I shouldn't get any redder even if I don't put on sun block. Uh huh. Once again I spent the day fighting Florida wind. I don't think I've had the wind to my back since I entered this state. Most of my route south on A1A had bike lanes and wide sidewalks covered with skittering lizards. My front fender has a pair of adjustment rods that are cut very sharply and have scraped at least a dozen gashes in my shins so far. So I finally stopped by a garage and asked for a file in order to do something about it. Instead of a file, I was offered plastic caps. Great success. I crossed paths with a pair of touring bikes. We were on opposite sides of the road, so I just waved. But I marveled at how much more baggage they were hauling. And I would think that between the two of them they could optimize. If I wasn't carrying my job with me I probably wouldn't even have my front panniers. Perhaps those two are also working from the road--vacuum cleaner salesmen or something. I decided that camping with the pigs last night wasn't exactly fun, and so I passed my intended stopping point and found a hotel near Fort Pierce. For one of my upcoming visits with a customer I was offered a $600 room at the Four Seasons Palm Beach for $150. I'm still not sure if I will take the offer. I'm currently in a $36 dive where you can play count-the-cigarette-burns and am pretty content. I am meeting with a different customer on Monday only a few miles from here, so I will likely be lazy tomorrow.

on the islands again no more bloody shins