Day 22 – Vagrants Visit
Tuesday, November 11th
Plant City, FL to Clearwater, FL
The morning after our 150 mi ride, I was a little sore, but not nearly as much as just after the seminar. Our motel offered a free breakfast, which turned out to be a bagel with cream cheese and coffee. I partook, but Dad passed and instead had oatmeal, tuna and Fig Newtons from our stash of food in the room. I hadn’t had fresh food in over a day, and it started to become evident through my mood: I grumblingly packed up and grumpily got on the bike and grouchily pulled out of the motel parking lot, angry at a driver for not using her turn signal.
We returned to 92 then hooked up with CR 574 and rode a tailwind over the mostly flat road toward Tampa. We expected several miles of country road riding before diving into the city traffic, but a few miles down the road we found ourselves in East Tampa. In the city, CR 574 doubles as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, and – true to the stereotype – the boulevard led us through a low-income, mostly African American neighborhood. What surprised us was that we saw more bicycle riders than we’ve seen in most towns. They all rode the sidewalks as opposed to the streets, but we saw at least one on almost every other corner. We waved or nodded to each of them and got some wonderful, encouraging responses in return. One guy riding around in a parking lot yelled as we passed, “Can I ride one?” Though we encountered several stop lights, the traffic was flowing at a leisurely pace – not the self-important rush you find in the suburbs. It became an unexpectedly pleasant ride, with kinder, more considerate drivers, and enthusiastic, amazed pedestrians.
Due to construction detours we got a little lost around the Tampa airport, but had a good chuckle when we realized that to get back on our route, we’d need to head North on W South St. Are we easily amused? Yes, we are.
We met up with 92 again and stayed on it as it became 580. On the North side of the bay, everything sped up. The aggressive drivers came out of the woodwork and gave us the normal treatment of honks and cutoffs. One guy, on a stretch of three lanes with little traffic, went to all the trouble to race up behind me, honk, swerve around me, jam in behind Dad, honk, swerve around Dad and rocket off, only to get caught at the next stop light. He had nothing to say to us as we pedaled up next to his car to take the shoulder at the light.
The day’s highlight came as we neared an intersection with traffic backed up at a green light. Not wanting to pull out into the rush of the left lanes, we stayed in the right one, waited our turn and rode up to the mess: a line of over 15 cars had wrapped around a McDonald’s, backed up into the road and even further into the intersection! They’ve already brought back the McRib, so I can’t imagine what had all these drivers determined to experience the drive-thru of this establishment, but I can’t keep up with commercials. Can you guys enlighten me on this?
The McDonald’s line gave me a good laugh, but the smell of fries rekindled that hunger my morning bagel had failed to quench. When I found out from Dad that we weren’t even past the bay, I asked to stop for lunch. We pulled up to a Publix, locked the bikes, and went inside to make our lunch. We picked up deli chicken tenders, two plums, two apples, four bananas, a Dr Pepper and a jar of what is quickly becoming our favorite food/drink: Dole Mandarin Oranges. They sell 24 oz plastic jars of peaches, pineapple or mandarin oranges in syrup. We’ve found that the peaches and oranges are perfect for when our sugar is low. We just open the jar, drink the juice, then fish out the remaining fruit. Totaled, it came to about $12.
There were no picnic tables outside the Publix, so we pulled up a curb and spread out our fare before us. As the lady manning the seasonal Salvation Army donation bucket rang her bell, Dad asked me how I was enjoying the vagrant experience.
We felt sorry for the lady because you could tell her hand was getting tired. She’d ring the bell full-force for a few minutes: “Ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling…” then slow a bit: “Ding-a-ling…a-Ding-a…Ding…Ding-a Ding Ding…” then come to and pick up the pace again. She was really committed to the job though; she wouldn’t stop for more than a few seconds at a time.
Though our Publix purchase was meant to provide two snacks, one then and one later, while sitting and talking over the ringing of the bell we consumed all three bags of groceries. I stood up to dispose of our trash and Dad, knowing I had had a rough morning, asked how I was feeling. Without pausing, I answered: “I’m doing better except for this ringing in my ears.” We both stifled laughs, hoping the bell lady hadn’t heard us. Dad said, “Ok, now I KNOW you’re feeling better!”
The rest of our ride on 580 around the bay became frustrating as a pattern emerged: every time we got up to speed from one red light, the next light would turn red and bring us back to a stop just before turning green again. We did get a nice surprise when we turned South onto Keene Rd though: between 580 and Gulf to Bay on Keene, there is a wide, smooth, clean bike lane – the nicest we’ve encountered on this entire trip and the only one that actually worked for our purposes. The drivers were aware of and courteous to us and the traffic lights were timed perfectly for us – we didn’t run into any red ones. If you want to see an effective bike lane, check this one out!
After arriving at our main destination for this part of the trip – my uncle’s house, we showered and rested then rode with my uncle to visit my grandpa in a nursing home. He hadn’t been told that we were coming to visit him, so he grew wide-eyed and smiled with surprise when he woke to us standing in his room. We talked for a while and promised to return another day with the bikes so he could see our transportation, then left for dinner. My uncle took us to a vegetarian buffet, Sweet Tomato, that was amazing. They had all the fresh food my body was craving, and so much of it! We happily stuffed ourselves and especially enjoyed the made-from-scratch soups and creamy banana pudding. Yum!
Today’s Quick Stats:
Bike Distance (mi) Average Speed (mph) Trip Odometer
MiniWini 49.19 17.3 1674.0
Sti(ck/g) 49.01 17.3 –
Stampedes: 2
Roadside Pees: 1