The morning was delightfully cool (73°), washed clean of humidity from the shower we’d walked back in from dinner last night.

Okay, this is now bordering on obnoxious, correction IS obnoxious.  For five miles we biked through decadence with the rush hour traffic of this very elite neighborhood, counting maybe a handful of commuters.  On the bridge over the Lake Worth Lagoon, the amount of workers coming into this area was bumper to bumper.  We pedaled along the west side of the Intercostal Waterway, not without it’s share of nice homes. until our quiet course was interrupted by construction, forcing us into downtown West Palm Beach.  Would not have been our first choice of course, but it did give us the opportunity to see City Hall, this is just the entrance.

Back on course, we enjoyed ample bike lanes and beautiful parks until crossing the Lagoon (again) into the pretty town of Juno, which sits unusually high above the sea, and then Jupiter Island. Views of the sea and oceanfront parks were abundant.  After two hours of riding into the slight headwind, our legs were beginning to feel the stress.  An hour later, we crossed yet another bridge to find a bike shopto replenish the three flats/tubes we’d had; with shade and a bench, we stopped for lunch, leftover Stromboli.  Not sure if it was the 10 mph headwind or the multiple bridges that were killing our legs, neither were bad, but the accumulation of both was wearing us out.  However the views, homeswith their modest beach cottagesand landscaping continued to delight and amaze.  We could see very little of the homes on Jupiter Island, nestled on acres of lush landscaping that stretched from sea to waterway.It was as if we were biking through a tropical botanical garden.  After 40 miles, we turned away from this surreal area, but not without one last look at the beach, note the color of the sand has darkened.

Still shocked at the miles of waterfront parks and dune protected areas, that still offered access (and free parking) to the beach.

It was another 15 miles and a rest in the shade before reaching our hotel and even at 2:00, no clean rooms.  But their poolside Tiki Bar was open, so we rested and refreshed until we could check-in.

Tired as we were, it was a gorgeous day for riding.  The very low humidity and north breeze easily tempered the 90° temps.  And when the wind did pick up with a few good gusts towards the end of our ride, it turned to our side, so gave us no further issue.  On our walk to dinner, we passed this antique sign.  How many people remember when it looked like this?

A delicious dinner and then rest after our 55 mile day.