Season 2 Episode 26 (10/20-10/23): Meaningful Human Connections. Cocoa Beach to Fort Pierce to Lantana to Boca to Miami

Season 2 Episode 26 (10/20-10/23): Meaningful Human Connections. Cocoa Beach to Fort Pierce to Lantana to Boca to Miami – 

10/20 Cocoa Beach to Fort Pierce. 80 miles and flat. 

Leaving town, I needed to stop at the “I Dream of Jeannie” Street. Cocoa Beach is where the show of that name in the 60’s was set. Who among my generation didn’t love Barbara Eden? (Maybe those who loved Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha in Bewitched?) Yesterday and this morning I was humming and whistling the show’s theme song, to Heather’s great displeasure. 

As we stopped at I Dream of Jeannie Street, my wish for a beautiful sunrise was granted.

Sebastian Inlet State Park lunch stop on the coast.

As if the birds are reading the sign and deciding to stay out of the water.

As we entered Vero Beach, a sign welcomed us to the tropics as this latitude point is a demarcation from subtropical climate to tropical. They claim to be the start of South Florida. 

We would face several open drawbridges over a few days. What is it that’s so fascinating about an open drawbridge? Is it because it makes me feel like I am again a ten year old boy playing with my toys?

10/21 Fort Pierce to Lantana. 82 miles and flat. 

Today’s ride was beautiful. Weather. Wind. Surface. Sights. All categories checked off. 

Heather crazily taking photos from a moving bike, in early morn traffic and pre-sunrise light. Pretty impressive talent even if dangerously crazy.

We rode south on South Indian River Drive along the water for 15 miles feasting on spectacular, unobstructed views of the Indian River on our left and the barrier Hutchinson Island beyond that.

Around Stuart, we passed along the first of a handful of streets that were shaded completely by a canopy of banyan trees.

Banyans are special because of their circular ecological role. Their fruit sustains birds that poop out the seeds that, in turn, sustains plants and trees. The banyans were awesome to ride under - and we were not victim to any bird droppings.

At lunch, a random jogger saw our Team Reeve tee shirts and stopped to talk with us. Turns out he is a friend of Will Reeve (sports journalist and son of the late Christopher and Dana Reeve). It was pretty cool and he texted the photo to Will.

When the clouds above make it clear it’s going to rain any minute, so you check the weather app and it says 100% lightning. One of us wanted to stop and take precautionary shelter until the rain started and passed. Heather was annoyed with this idea since it wasn’t even raining yet.

Sheltering at West Palm Beach Fishing Club from a short downpour. Somebody admitted to being grateful that we sheltered.

The famed Palm Beach Breakers. We did not stay here. We could not even approach the building past perimeter security.

In Palm Beach, one of the many sculpted hedges we admired. In addition to many wealthy hedge fund managers in the area, I suspect there are many very well-off, “hedge managers” who own landscaping companies.

Palm Beach, Ocean Avenue.

After a day of scenic riding, including pedaling right past Mar-a-Lago, we arrived in Lantana. It was so amazing to see my former co-worker Shelby who met us for dinner. 

Shelby, Mike and their precocious son Sidney were wonderful dinner dates and energized us for our rides to come.

10/22 Lantana to Boca Raton, 29 miles and flat. 

Today was one of those “sort of” days off we occasionally take. Instead of a full day off which is very relaxing but hard to start up again afterwards due to the break in routine, we keep our routine of riding daily but start later and stop earlier. The later start helps us catch up on life admin as we call it (paying bills, reading emails, scheduling, etc.), phone calls with family members and trip planning to finalize accommodations and other details like how are we getting home. I’ve been joking with some of our hosts that I’ll see them in a month when we ride back north. 

We left at noon and made a short pit stop with my colleague Ira, and his wife Lori in Highland Beach, just south of Delray Beach. It was a wonderful, though too quick, visit on our way to Boca. It was a great reunion as with Covid, I’d gone 2.5 years since last seeing him. 

We then detoured west about 6 miles inland to visit and stay with Heather’s friend Jodie. Her hospitality and warmth would have been worth a 60 mile detour! We enjoyed a relaxing, fun, mellow evening. It has been a wonderful theme of this trip to reconnect with friends and strengthen relationships. 

Jodie was a wonderful, maternal, catering hostess.

10/23 Lantana to Miami. 63 miles and flat. 

Today was an amazing day - the riding and even more so the inspiring people we enjoyed visiting. 

Riding through Hugh Taylor Birch State Park in Ft. Lauderdale and making a new friend Fernando, a 72 year old Colombian. We chatted about my trip to Colombia and Egan Bernal, their national hero who won the Tour de France a few years ago.

One of the best paths we have been on runs right by Dania Beach and Hollywood Beach.

We met Alan Brown of the Reeve Foundation for lunch. We first met him in St. Augustine last year when he greeted us as we celebrated finishing our Pacific to Atlantic ride.

We had a delightful time catching up. Alan has been paralyzed from the waist down for about 35 years since his own terrible spinal cord injury in the ocean when he was 20. He inspires us with his positive and optimistic outlook, his license plate is ILL WALK (so is his Instagram). We are grateful he is a mentor to our family friend Ernie. 

Since his injury, Alan could not close his thumb to his fingers or curve his hands to cup a drink. He needed to use both his hands to lift a beverage. Since we met him a year ago, after a new therapy with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, he can curve his hands and touch his thumb to his fingers. It was so exciting to see him lit up talking about it. The Reeve Foundation is one of the funders of this project. It is very gratifying to see scientific progress with meaningful outcomes. And very encouraging for subsequent research. 

After lunch we rode to Surfside and first stopped at the hallowed ground where Champlain Towers South collapsed 6/24/21 and 98 people died. 

Newly designated, 98 Points of Light Way.

We then connected on a short visit with “Grandma Betty”, our friend’s mother who lives in Champlain Towers North. Yet again an example of random luck, flip a coin and there but for the Grace of God go I.

Of course grandmotherly love kicked in, and we devoured 7 cookies Grandma Betty had out on a plate for us- and we just came from lunch.

More drawbridge infatuation.

We finally arrived in Miami at our special hosts'. We stayed with Ernie, one of the two people for whom we have dedicated our ride for the Reeve Foundation.

Ernie is back in college, and lives in his residence at U of Miami with his nurse during the week. On weekends, he is in an apartment with one of his parents. On this weekend, it was his dad who was there. It was an emotional stay for us. 

We really enjoyed spending time with both of them. From Ernie’s candor with us, and from just being there, we got much more of a feel for what it's like to be in a wheelchair and live with paralysis. We still have a lot to learn. 

From the moment of that dreaded phone call 26 months ago, Ernie’s life and that of his family was upended. On top of the emotional, physical and financial toll, there is the logistical challenge of managing life and careers in NY and being present for Ernie in Miami. 

 Saying goodbye to Ernie (the dad) as we left the two Ernies feeling emotionally charged up for our final 3 days of riding to Key West.

(You can see our dedication letter to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and contribute here.)

Today (10/26) on the day of publishing, we ride our final 53 miles to Key West. A bittersweet feeling as we are excited to complete our odyssey yet feeling sad about leaving life on the road.

© Copyright Mark Segal 2022