We managed to make it alllll the way though Miami fine. It was great when it was a 6 lane road- no shoulder- no bike lane- and the sidewalk had "no bikes allowed" signs! We choose to break the law on the side walk...we passed a few cops but none said anything. I guess the realize how absurd it is.
After Miami we had a bike path for miles and miles. It was nice and shaded- but had fallen into disrepair- the roots of the banyon trees are really good at pushing up pavement it seems. But- better than nothing, so we were happy!
At one point- we were on the 3-4 ft off road bike path. We went to cross an intersection w/ a neighborhood road. There was a car at the stop sign. Cook crossed- with his trailer and flag on it. THen I crossed, with my bright yellow trailer and flag- and then the car decided to go! Totally oblivious to the fact that there were people in front of him. He hit Surlys trailer- luckily in slow motion, and luckily its a strong trailer (designed like a roll cage for saftey)- so she was just fine. The trailer was another matter.... the axle had bent, so the wheel was rubbing on one of the breaks.We also don't know what kind of other damage might be done to the welds, since this hit was enough to bend the axle (we called Burly who makes the trailers and they agreed).
I yelled at the driver to stop. I was afraid he'd drive off- and we'd be screwed... he didn't even get out of his car the whole time! I made him give me his insurance info, and we wrote down his car info. He also gave us his address- he said he lived just a few blocks away and that he had to pick up his daughter from school. I didn't want him to leave- I didn't care about his daughter really- the school wouldn't put her out on the street! I wanted him to buy us a new trailer! Cook let him go though.... since he promised to come right back.
after half an hour he still was gone. So we called his insurance, and a cop came to make report. He was about to write him a ticket for a hit and run (turns out that no matter what, in FL you can't leave the scene of an accident)- when the guy came back. Lucky timing. We walked back to his house- and the whole thing was really akward. They clearly had money- a Mercedes, huge house, huge yard w/ a pool...they were vegetarians, daughter is a vegan, used to live on a sailboat- I mean if he hadn't hit us we might've all been friends.
But there is no way you can say to me "well its some your fault too!" when you ran a STOP sign and hit me. It was broad daylight- and 15 feet of cyclists/gear jsut passed you, and you still went? How in the world do you miss us??? And try to blame me some?? After he came back and saw the cops I think he realized that we were serious. There was some issues w/ his insurance... so in the end he went to the bank and got cash to pay us for a new trailer PLUS overnight shipping AND he gave us a ride to our next spot- a hostel in FL City that would let us camp in the garden w/ the dog.
So alls well that ends well- and we have a new trailer on the way and will only be out one day.
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