Raw Roamers

Now we are on the road. It felt good leaving from a familiar place. We wanted to leave from Key West originally but it would be much easier on our nerves and wallets to leave from a place of comfort. If any problems were to arise we would be able to call for some assistance. Our path for the day was to take the Pinellas Trail to Clearwater Beach. It was a 30 mile bike ride, taking it slow was the plan. We knew some people that we would be able to stay with to save money. The temperature was around 93 degrees, this was about average for the Florida sun. One mile became five and five became ten. When got to our 15th mile we decided to stop and have lunch. We took shelter under a huge oak tree and munched on vegan jerky, liters of water and fresh fruit. The extra energy was welcomed dearly by our bodies. As the breeze streamed over our heads we smiled at each other at the fact that we had started our much anticipated journey. We climbed back on our bikes and kept riding. Now we had come to a spot on the trail that we had not yet reached. I didn't know there were so many bridges to cross. All-in-all there were roughly 10. We didn't want to push it too hard and expend all of our energy, many of the overpasses became underpasses. No need to build up lactic acid I reasoned. We trained for the tour but not very hard. Plus we never rode with our gear. Between the two of us we were toting about 60-80 pounds. Shear will and muscle memory would start us off. There would be plenty of time to build up in mileage.


Now we were at a point where we needed to get off the trail in order to get to Clearwater Beach. We upgraded our phone to include gps to aid us in our journey. We also saw a fellow biker who gave us directions to the beach. We were getting to the point where we just wanted to be there, rest was needed. We got off the trail and headed into down town Clearwater. I quickly recognized landmarks and knew which direction to take. I think my hunger was leading me as well. We made our way around a curve and there appeared the bridge to our destination, a damn big bridge. My thighs quivered at the thought of going over another incline but it had to be done. As we ascended we saw our path was hampered by a broken down golf cart that took up the width of the pedestrian part of the bridge. Some one was pushing it along. We happily hopped off the bikes a walked to the top. The ride down was incredible. The fact that we finished our first day after months of delays meant so much to us. This was the first day of sweat, triumphs, trials, smiles. We were just happy to be on the road doing what we set out to do...help ourselves and other people.