{"id":20236,"date":"2017-04-29T19:36:23","date_gmt":"2017-04-29T23:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=20236"},"modified":"2017-04-29T19:37:02","modified_gmt":"2017-04-29T23:37:02","slug":"day-9-saturday-april-29-marathon-key-to-key-largo-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=20236","title":{"rendered":"Day 9. Saturday, April 29 \u2013 Marathon Key to Key Largo, Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

The wind was HOWLING<\/em> as we stepped out into the dark morning. \u00a0A few blocks pedal for breakfast and on the road before 6:30, barely noticing the warm humid morning for the 20 mph wind.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0The full frontal wind assault was especially brutal on the bridges, where we\u00a0fought for every pedal stroke\u00a0just\u00a0to maintain 6 mph and that is on a flat bridge<\/em>.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0Needless to say, we stopped\u00a0often and\u00a0took advantage of every bike path and the shade it offered. \u00a0We were surprised by how\u00a0little traffic we encountered on the highway beside us,\"\"<\/a> but by 11:00 a.m. it was bumper to bumper heading south.<\/p>\n

Only\u00a0one high rise bridge today, but it was exceptionally difficult;\"\"<\/a> we had to pedal hard on the downhill and still could not get into double digits on the odometer. \u00a0Fortunately, it was only one mile long, though it still\u00a0took us 15 minutes to pedal. \u00a0But the views,\"\"<\/a> amazing. \"\"<\/a>\u00a0Once off the bridges, the sea grapes and mangroves along the bike trail did offer some protection\u00a0from the wind.\"\"<\/a> \u00a0By ten, we had managed 32 miles, so stopped for an early lunch and a break from the wind. \u00a0The marina \"\"<\/a>beside the restaurant had a lot of locals hanging around. \"\"<\/a>Once again the water was spectacular\"\"<\/a> and the local scenery colorful<\/em>. \"\"<\/a>\u00a0So was this little guy \"\"<\/a>that we found along the road.<\/p>\n

It was a hard fought\u00a054 miles in almost five and a half hours today, so we found it only fitting to gorge on pasta. \u00a0A\u00a0perfect find was two blocks down the road; a huge bowl of meat sauce\"\"<\/a> and Chicken, Artichokes and Spinach in a Gorgonzola Sauce…..OMG!\"\"<\/a> \u00a0We waddled back to the room and fell asleep listening to Jimmy Buffet.<\/p>\n\n\t\t