Autumn (finally)

Well it was fittingly ironic that my daughter Sophia was my 25,000 visitor. Of all the worldwide locations and friends that visit PinF who’d of thought that it could have come from Florida--- and from the most important person in my life to boot? There’s a certain type of symmetric truth to this since so many of these posts have been either been about, or included, Sophia. And so the beat goes on…….

PinF recently set out on a cycle journey. This past weekend Florida finally experienced our long awaited “Autumn”. Temperatures in the low 80’s by day with 50% humidity, and a comfortable 60 degrees by night had PinF loading up the “T” Strom for a trek north to the QuickSilver surfing regional semi-finals at Sebastian Inlet State Park. There’s an incredibly free and easy feeling about racing through the farmlands of Florida on a crisp Saturday morning, the sky a cobalt blue, music playing in my helmet. Along for the ride was my buddy of over 30 years, John Breeding-- he on his Harley Sportster. We reached Sebastian at about 9:30, just as the temperature began to hover in the 70’s, warm for most readers of PinF, but unseasonably chilly for us here in Florida.

The waves, much to the thanks of Tropical Storm Noel,were barreling, providing some good pipelines for the competition, not to mention robust size of 12-14ft. John and I were treated to some extreme surfing competition in sunny conditions making for an overall great day for a ride. We eventually made our way out of the Park and into one of PinF’s favorite National Wildlife Preserves; Orchid Island preserve and Jungle Trail. This is a must see for anyone when visiting the Vero beach/Sebastian Inlet area of Florida. I had been to the park before, my friend John however had not. The Jungle Trail really doesn’t lend itself to a Harley Davidson Sportster model, and is definitely more suited to a dual sport bike such as PinF’s V-Strom. Neverthless, Breeding isn’t one to shy away from a little mud and water, and so he trudged right on through the deep puddles, sand, mud and crushed-coral paths that encompass the 7 mile long trail through the jungle.

This is almost surreal landscape. Carved from nature, and preserved by Theodore Roosevelt 104 years ago (the first national wildlife preserve), this park is teeming with hawks, bobcats, turtles, foxes, manatees, dozens of species of both migrating, and in most cases-- rare birds and fish. You hear nothing except the occasional splash of a pelican diving for a fish, or the screeching of a hawk. Just a pristine area of nature doing what nature does best. Afterwards Johnny and I began the 7 mile trek through the jungle under often precarious and downright slippery conditions on account of the passing of the tropical storm two days before. The trusty VStrom forded the mud and ankle deep puddles without missing a beat, Johnny on the other hand had to be deliberate and methodical about where he would cross a puddle and how fast. A Harley Sportster just doesn’t have the clearance or rubber for this type of ride, still he made do.