Pressing on

October 24th/09 - Naples, FL
Gulf Coast Inn
Mileage: 101 km
Total mileage: 6,355 km

Tonight we are staying in a beautiful hotel in Naples. $59 for the stay. These low season rates are fantastic.

Naples is a gorgeous place. Every tree, every bush, every blade of grass is manicured. I imagine the residents demand it that way. This is no ordinary city. I have never seen so many $80,000+ vehicles in any one place at any one time.

We left Punta Gorda this morning under sunny skies. Hot today. Temperatures were in the 90's. We travelled south on Hwy 41 through Tropical Gulf Acres and several other communities to Fort Myers.

At Fort Myers I had a flat tire. To make a long story short, due to the location of the hole in the tube I couldn't patch it. No problem, I always have a spare tube. I took my spare out of its box which was labeled 27" only to find the tube was actually a 26". Hooped...it didn't fit. As I sat perplexed, a fella, later known to me as Dennis Willy, approached me and said he would take me to the local Walmart to get another tube. His wife Marlene stayed with Deby and they made girl talk. Fixed the tire thanks to Dennis and Marlene and were on our way.

Continued south through Estero, Bonita Springs and on to Naples. Again, the towns were very close together, but the ride today was more rural than yesterday. Heavy traffic, but no problems.

Editorial time - I cringe when people state that cycle touring must be fun. It is not fun. Of a long list of adjectives that describe cycling 'fun' is at the bottom.

Cycle touring is peddling up high mountain passes that never seem to end; peddling up those passes when it's to hot, or when it's to cold, or in the pouring rain and having to fix a flat halfway up. Cycle touring is running out of water in the desert and having to go on for hours because there is just no one. Cycle touring is eating peanut butter and honey sandwiches for supper because the town you were going to get groceries in didn't exist. Cycle touring is not showering for days as you travel through the middle of no where. Cycle touring is sleeping who knows where. And then there's the wind.

Cycle touring is surreal as you coast through creation seeing the sights and smelling the scents. Cycle touring is community; meeting the people as you travel, hearing their stories and enjoying their company. Cycle touring is hardship; the hardship that makes the rewards greater.

For everything cycle touring is, it is not fun. Cycle touring is tough and gruelling, but very, very addictive.