Friday August 5, 2011
Since my last ride I decided to work on climbing with weight. I received the Hubba Hubba tent shed which I added to my trunk bag along with a few other things. The “payload” is now at 80 pounds. I expect my trip weight to be around 60. The only local area with any hills is in Cocoa/Rockledge along the Indian River. It is really a beautiful ride enjoyed by many bikers. This was my first time riding there with weight. I made three laps of the area and attempted High Point on each lap. High Point in Cocoa is 92 feet up and difficult without weight. I made it up on my third try. That was really hard. During those three laps I accumulated over 1400 feet which for Florida standards is a lot. I really felt the burn. I have read that the highest area on the Southern Tier is in New Mexico at around 8000 feet. I could be walking my bike a lot!
I continued my ride with one last trip through the Kennedy Space Center. This is my last day at the “Rocket Ranch”. I have had the “best” job in the world launching space shuttles. It truly has been “Outta This World”. One can ride through history and take in all the old pads where the space program began. All of American manned space trips started here. Each pad has a story. You do need to watch the road though as an occasional rattlesnake or alligator may cross your path. Other than security vehicles there is hardly any other traffic on weekends.
Now that I will have more time I intend to spend a lot of it on the saddle. I have read of others making cross country trips with only a minimal of riding distance preparations. I feel more comfortable if I train more so I will continue. I moved the departure date up to September 9th to allow for more sightseeing. Some readers thought that 70 miles a day seemed too ambitious. This will give us two more weeks and I have plenty of time now. I am always open for advice/comments. Thanks to all that have written in the guestbook.