4/11/23 Fort Pierce to Melbourne

The forecast has such influence over our general disposition. We knew today we would have extreme (even gale) winds, and it was certainly challenging, but there were lots of great things about today. Yesterday’s and  today’s rides are shorter because we made two longer rides into 3 shorter ones but it cost us our free day we scheduled for tomorrow.

Todays first stop was a very exciting one! We road to a large Trek Bicycle shop. My shoes busted on day 2 and the gorilla glue just didn’t do the trick. My peddles were squeaking so bad (even after  extra lube) that Tim tried to pretend that there were baby birds very nearby wanting to be constantly fed. Both of our breaks needed adjustment and James the mechanic worked wonders on our old bikes. Tim’s bike is 24 years old, mine is about 17 yo!  The Trek bike shop in Vero beach was top notch. 

We were getting ready to leave just after 11:00, so Keith took our 11:11 shot of today. 

Upon leaving the shop we both felt so much better about the way our bikes were responding. Hooray!

We cycled the next 31 miles on the A1A. The State Road A1A is a major north–south Florida State Road that runs almost 340 miles along the Atlantic Ocean, from Key West to Georgia. It is the main road through most oceanfront towns and of course a very scenic road. Often the A1A is not on the mainland at all, but on an island strip of land accessible by bridges.The ocean is not often easy to see because there are houses, hotels, nature preserves and other buildings between the A1Aroad and the Atlantic. Today we were very glad about that because without that building buffer we were blown sideways by the 20-25 mph winds. 

We found a sheltered cafe in an upscale community to have lunch. Delicious!

The wind was extremely gusty and when we could see the water it was rough. Sun bathing was not an option! 

Our destination city, Melbourne, is where Jim Morrison (Mr. Mojo Rising) of the Doors grew up. This is his childhood home. 

It was fun visiting Hell N Blazes Brewery. Tasty flight and an order of smoked fish spread and crackers was a great way to reenergize. 

This town had lots of personality and neat shops and a variety of restaurants.  The next establishment we were drawn to was the one that had live 🎶 music. The 5 piece jazz band drew a crowd on a Tuesday! Mainstreet Pub is a great choice for our  evening  snack.

Our mileage stat today was 57 windy miles; 52 cross/head wind, 5 miles tail wind.