Redneck Jesus Brings us the Gift of Fire Bike Tour Day 3- 60 mile ride

7:00 AM

There's something about a shitty free hotel breakfast. It's like it comforts you since you know that your day can only get better from there. Between the watery scrambled powder eggs and the talking heads on Fox News, it's something to laugh about as you get on with your day.

We got packed up and hit the road.

9:00 AM

Two days after riding 80 miles, my tender nether regions were voicing their discontent. But it's not like I could call a cab to take me home... Mama didn't raise no quitter.

10:30 AM

It's interesting trying to run a business with phone calls when all you have is a bike to ride and customers are killing your vibe.

11:30 AM

We made a stop at Sharky's on the Pier on Venice Beach. The food was absolutely amazing. I had a fried grouper bite wrap with a sauce that I want on every meal I eat now.

Hell, it's 5 o'clock anywhere if you ride there on a bike.

The whole place looked very cool and was in an amazing location here on the beach. But the whole thing kind of felt like a machine. It lacked a certain character to it that any cool restaurant should have. I could see the staff thinking: Feed them. Get money. Next.

Just interesting comparing this feel with 420 Cafe where we were not even 24 hours ago.

1:00 PM

We get back on the road and I stop to pee behind a bush only to read this sign and learn a little history.

This sign is saying that The Ringling Bros. and the Barnum & Bailey circus stayed at that spot in Venice every winter for over 30 years. A pretty good history lesson from a piss break.

3:00 PM

About 40 miles in, we decide to stop at this little bike shop to top off the air in Scott's tires since we changed them on the side of the road only two days ago.

Their shop dog nearly licked Scott's leg off

3:30 PM

Alright here is when the day gets tricky.

We realize we have 20 more miles to ride till we get to camp and the sun sets in 2 hours. We also have to stop at Publix and the liquor store to get us supplies that'll hold us over till morning. This meant that we have got to haul ass if we want to set up camp in the daylight.
We didn't take any more pictures for the rest of the day.

4:30 PM

Stopping at Publix was quick and the liquor store was even quicker. So now armed with a pub sub, extra water, and some Fireball whiskey, we had everything needed for a solid camping night.

We booked it at a 17 mph average the rest of the way to the camp. I even hit 40 mph going down a bridge that crossed the Peace River. It was pretty sketchy on a fully loaded bike but the thrill was worth it.

5:30 PM

We just arrived at the campsite and paid our $3 each to the honor system box to get in. But we quickly realize that we aren't in the clear just yet.

Camp is in the Babcock Wildlife Mangement Area. A Wildlife Management Area is essentially the opposite of a Wildlife Conservation Area. Here they kill the animals instead of protect them.

As we're riding around the site we struggle to find a spot not taken by an entire redneck family or reserved (in a non-reservable area) by some egotistical asshole. We also feel a bunch of cold stares from all the hunters as they watch us go by in our spandex bicycling attire. We figured out then that we're definitely the only ones without a gun there.

We finally find a spot that's just big enough for our little setup and semi-muddy enough for nobody else to want it. So we pitch up our one-man tents and unload.

Since everything was basically damp, the flint that Scott brought wasn't catching anything on fire. I decided to walk around and ask for a lighter from our dear neighbors.

Redneck Jesus

The man that lent me a lighter had long brown hair under a camo hat and a full face of hair down to his chest. We swear he looked just like Jesus with a Bud Light and a cigarette in his hand.

Source
I guess it was taking us a while to get a fire sustainable because here came Redneck Jesus to check us out. But in his hand, he had a giant, dead, dry palm leaf.

So Redneck Jesus gifted us fire as he lit his huge palm leaf and all of a sudden we had a bonfire instead of a handful of twigs.

Thank you, Redneck Jesus

9:00 PM

After our sandwiches and Fireball, we hit the hay ready to sleep even though it was relatively early.

Shout out to Scott @adventureforme for all the pictures on this trip! He's a great photographer and he'll be talking about our trip from his point of view on his own blog. Be sure to follow him!

Cruise on Steemdudes and the rest of this trip is coming to you later 😎 ✌🏽