Green on the Greenway

Only 51.5 miles today, in spite of leaving Key West early this morning - strong headwinds requiring 9 hours of pedaling to get here.

Other cycling interests have expressed surprise when I've told them that motorists are less threatening than other cyclists; but it's true. That's not to say that all motorists have been charming. There's something about rednecks in green pickups. I don't know what this says about the drivers of green pickups and their youthful passengers; but out of 4 or 5 incidents where rednecks yelled messages at me relevant to their IQ's, they were in green pickups. But, there's another green thing out there that bothers me more. It's the fact that, on nearly every bridge that I've crossed in the 901 miles traveled so far, the paved shoulders have been strewn with green beer bottle glass. Why green? I don't know. Do rednecks in green pickups prefer beer from green bottles? Or, is smashing green bottles on bridges some kind of right of passage, not just for redneck children?

One thing is for sure. Eric's decision, of Bikes Plus in Pensacola to equip my bike with puncture resistant tires and heavy duty tubes was a stroke of genius. Thank you Eric! I've not had a flat yet; although I've hit hundreds of pieces of debris, ranging from building hardware, bolts and other parts that have fallen off vehicles, to redneck green beer bottle glass.

Tomorrow's forecast calls for more northerly winds, which means that I'll have to work extra hard log 50 miles. If I can do that, I'll be back on Key Largo tomorrow night.