Day 269
Lightning Bolt and Farm Boy
We were on the road by 8.30am and soon back on Highway 98. Too busy, so we were glad to turn left over the Navarre Beach Bridge. Before crossing we sat and looked over the bay. Suddenly a car pulled onto the grass, a voice called out ‘Debs and Tom!’. It was the lifeguard we met yesterday, with his girlfriend today. He had told his girlfriend all about us, we had a great chat, he gave us a tub of energy powder and she gave us a tube of homemade sunscreen. What a fantastic couple. Note to self, write names down!
We were soon on the island. Just one long road with sand and sea on both sides. We had the wind behind us, it was fantastic. I spotted two hikers ahead. They were clearly seasoned walkers, deep tans and sun bleached beards! As we chatted there was something about them that made wonder if they were thru-hikers. They introduced themselves by their trail names, Lightning Bolt and Farm Boy. I was immediately transformed into a star struck giddy idiot. I grilled them for ages before Tom dragged me away! If you don’t know, a thru-Hiker is someone who has walked in a single trip, one or more of America’s long distance trails. The most famous being the AT and the PCT. The walks take months to complete and are in remote areas. As they walk other hikers give them a ‘trail’ name. Tom and I had considered trying to walk the PCT but opted for the easier option of cycling around the world. I’m not joking, these walks are tough, and we had just met two superstars!
Back on the bikes we were soon joined by another cyclist, Jason. He was riding a rather beautiful Trek carbon road bike, so he slowed almost to a stop and chatted with us for a while. Finally we reached the end of island. We were soon over the bridge and Tom commented that was probably our last bridge in Florida. I wish it had been. Soon another big bridge loomed into view. One half was closed to traffic so it was really busy. I spotted a cyclist diversion sign but it appeared to lead us to a closed road. With no other obvious option we headed onto the bridge. It wasn’t fun, but we were making steady progress. At 3 miles long it wasn’t the longest bridge of the trip but it was one of the busiest. We started to hear a few cars tooting their horns, within seconds they had formed a rolling road block. Between the 4 lanes of traffic was an emergency stopping lane and they explained, by shouts and gestures that we should be in it. The plastic poles on either side gave us a slight feeling of security but it wasn’t much fun. Finally as we neared the end of the bridge, our safe lane simply ended. We had no option but to wait for a gap in the fast moving traffic and re-join the highway. Easier said than done! We were unsure quite which way we should go, so opted to get off the bridge. We then had to contend with speeding traffic on the slip road. It was a frightening few minutes and we were both stressed as we cycled on through Pensacola. Thank goodness the road had a good cycle path, then bike lane. As we rode the last few miles to our campsite we vowed to get away from this busy area as soon as possible. The campsite was fine, a lovely lady called Caroline came and chatted. We do love these impromptu get-togethers.
Tuesday dawned with the promise of heavy rain. It didn’t disappoint. It was torrential. Our Warmshowers host for the evening, Harrison (not Ford), had recommended visiting the pub Flora Bama, however it wasn’t even 10am so we opted for a second breakfast in the Waffle Shop. Boy ,the hash browns are good!
The rain seemed even heavier as we set off so we were both pleased to soon leave the highway and meander on cycle paths through the bayou. Just as we were approaching the road again disaster struck. Tom’s front wheel disappeared into a deep pot hole. He hit the deck. Three cars stopped to check we were OK, they were happy to give us a lift if needed. Slightly battered and bruised Tom said he was OK, I turned his bars straight and we headed for sanctuary at Harrison’s. Wrist iced, we are resting, overlooking the ocean. Let’s hope tomorrow is a better day!
