I woke up early and my mind was already buzzing.

The big daily miles I’ve been doing recently put me a day ahead of schedule.

Today I rode from Daytona Beach to Melbourne, Florida. I did not take many pictures. In fact, I hardly stopped.

I have been asked what I'm riding. My bike is a Cannondale CAADX Cyclocross, aluminum with a carbon fork, 2x10 gears and hydraulic disc brakes.

Epic day. The most epic day. 129.4 miles. Numbers speak for themselves. 

I'm not sure if it came across in yesterday's post, but yesterday's ride from Bristol to Perry was tediously long. The country is green and pretty, the road good, but the highway felt like an unending furrow through the swampy forest.

The most important thing first: The Starliner launch at Kennedy Space Center has been pushed from May 21 to May 25. This means there is no way I can see it (I'll be out of the area) so I cannot contort the ride schedule to get to the Cape two days early to watch the launch

Up and out pretty early. It was already heating up. I rode past several promising breakfast joints, but they weren’t open yet. Ah, a Waffle House! I just couldn’t. I needed something else.

I'm still getting up later than I want to. I was up late last night as I banged out the daily blog. I'm afraid I'm getting a little long with these. To paraphrase Mark Twain, "I'm sorry I wrote so much. I was too tired to write less."

Last night I was gently rocked to sleep by lightning, thunder and rain sheeting against the windows. So calming! Why, because the storm came early, at bedtime, instead of a few hours later, after midnight. It was moving faster than predicted, which means it would be well past me sooner than predicted. Furthermore, the winds following it would be veering to the southwest, which means...tailwind!

I'm holding west of Mobile, Alabama, as this powerful storm system blows through. Inches of rain, flash flood warnings, lightning, hail, winds gusts predicted to reach 70 mph in places. East Texas is flooded. Again. Tallahassee is cleaning up after getting hammered with rain and 80 mph winds few days ago, and they are about to get hammered again.

Yesterday's monster miles meant fewer miles today to get me to today's objective: a visit with Ranell and Cherish Franklin in Mobile, Alabama. I'm here now as I write this, next to Ranell's pool, sitting in the backyard cabana, while Ranell grills dinner. The Southern way: charcoal, not propane.

This morning came early and often. At 1:30 am, again at 3:00, again at 4:30 and I just got up at 5:30 because I just wasn't going to sleep any more. I was so ready to get on the road. 

Yesterday's feel-good came right back as soon as I opened my eyes this morning. Sure, I was a bit tired and sore from riding 85 miles, but a couple of stretches and I felt good to go.

Monday’s ride was tough on several levels, but I woke if fresh and ready to ride this morning.

Today I covered about 78 miles, from Eunice to Port Allen, Louisiana. I rose not quite as early as hoped and I was still feeling yesterday's 104 miles

Today was to be a straight forward grind-out-miles day, and it was.

Today began much earlier than desired. As I mentioned, I was in a cheap, down-and-outer motel on the eastern outskirts of Liberty, Texas

Today was a big day. I covered only 58.29 miles, but I'm out of Houston, past the rain (at least for the foreseeable weather forecast) and I think the flooding issues from the recent deluge are behind me.

Today I'm in greater Houston. The plan was to ride just a few miles from Gerry's place last night to rent a car and drive to Space Center Houston for one of my few touristy days of the trip.