Lindaosm

Lots of riding this last week. Hubby and I went on vacation up in the panhandle area. We rode the Four Freedoms Trail in Madison and also the 30a bike trail that runs from Destin east. I really like that trail and finally managed to get back to my 20+ miles without a rest. Hope to post some pictures later tonight. Hubby rode around the campground in Chipley (I thought we had hills in Ocala, wrong!). At Falling Waters State Park (Chipley) the campground is at the top of a hill (more like a mountain to me). We also managed to ride our mbs around and outside of Suwannee River State Park. Saturday we did our normal Withlachochee ride from Inverness north to Hernando and back. Sunday it was a breezy ride (see my above post) on the Withlachochee Bay Trail north of Crystal River. Unforunately now it's back to work so only weekend riding.

RonH

The "big rain" from Isaac ended yesterday afternoon and the sun came out today so I had to get out. Did my usual ride to Stone Mtn for a total of 27.3 miles.

Glad to hear your mileage is picking up Linda.

zzOtherlandzz

Yep... Got a ride in Friday. Decided to go check out Caravel Ranch a St. Johns Water Management area just south of the barge canal on ST road 19 (south of Palatka). We shoulda just loaded up and left when we seen the spider on my bike before we even started down the trail... LOL ... (got rid of that spider without killing it I might ad) The trail became flooded about 1/4 mile down. We thought maybe it was just that section so we rode in standing water for another 1/4 mile and decided we had enough of that. TOO many mosquitoes and too much water. Headed back towards the truck and took a branching trail that looked dryer. It was and we followed it and actually lost the trail. So as we wandered around a bit looking for the trail (with all the mosquitoes) my friend throws on the brakes and rips his helmet off and throws it.... I was like what the hell?? A BIG OLE spider crawled down from his helmet onto his glasses..... IT WAS BIG ... Made it back to the truck and decided to try the main entrance that was closer to the barge canal bridge. We found some nice hard pack roads and 2 track trails. We stayed out of the deep woods and had a nice ride. Ended up riding between 8 and 9 miles.. I will check it out more later this fall when it dries out some ....

Entrance to the flooded trail in the woods.


Leaned by bike on the table for 5 minutes... Had a spider on it....


Small flood gates/dam ... A lot of water flowing through here after all the rain lately.


Tried to get a shot of the water coming out the other side from under the road..


Went through this gate, the trail was nice but still a bit soggy. Tires were sticking in the soggy grass and wet sand/mud... Fun though!!

Lindaosm

Jay,
We tried riding that area a year or so ago. At that time it wasn't as wet but...there was lots of sand and we gave up after awhile. We did go down the road that leads to Rodeheaver's (sp) Boy's Ranch and took a left at the entrance. At the end of that road there was a primitive camping area next to the barge canal and a trail that ran east. We took it for awhile but the stickers were really bad. We finally gave up and road over to Rodman's and rode around there for awhile. We've been staying off the mbs for awhile as most of the areas we like to ride are too wet and if they're not wet, they are loaded with skeeters!!

Not much riding for us since we've been back from vacation. Unfortunately my one and only co-worker (other than my boss who's only there once a week at this time of the year) has been out ill and I am trying to pick up her work load. Hoping Monday we can get out early and maybe head to Gainesville or Hawthorne to ride.

RonH

Summer is back -- 90 degrees today. Did my usual ride to Stone Mtn with 2 laps around the mtn. Total of 32.5 miles.

zzOtherlandzz

I'm willing to give it another shot later this fall me thinks. The trails and service roads at the main entrance on the east side of the road just south of the bridge were pretty nice to ride on. The 2 track roads would have been nice, if they were dried out just a bit more... They were still "okay" but not quite "nice" yet lol. We did see two large flocks of wild turkeys, that was pretty cool. Also seen a couple of deer.

zzOtherlandzz

Yep... Rode Sunday... The Sunday group ride never really came together as a "group" ride though.. Couple of people bailed. Another had car trouble and was late... said not to wait up. Four people got there a bit early and took off on the trail. We passed each other along the trial though.. Three of us were riding together for awhile until Bill broke a spoke... he headed back. On the way back we caught up with broken spoke Bill and car trouble Dana .... lol We finished the last 8 or 9 miles together back to the parking area. I ended up riding almost 32 miles... Nice ride!!!!

FunkyStickman

Since I was off work today, did 51 miles with the local club. They were doing 18 and 20 MPH the whole way, I was able to keep up with the group all the way until the last 10 miles or so. Ran out of steam fighting the wind coming back.

You can see my LHT in the foreground there... yeah, the non-carbon one with the rack.

zzOtherlandzz

Funky.... It is always interesting to see what your riding!! Cool pics too!!!

I got out for a ride today (Mon)... Friend and I decided to go to San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park. I had been to the parking area a couple of times while goofing off waiting on people in G.ville. But never actually rode any of the trails.... A friend of ours rode the trails Sunday ... So we decided to give it a shot today!! Some VERY COOL trails... hardly any sand which is odd and rare in Florida.. I rode 32 miles yesterday on the rode bike and was fine after... We rode 12-14 miles today in the woods on the trails and i'm whooped!! Had a blast though. LOTS of elevation changes!!! First time I've actually ridden trails that were made specifically for mountain biking. So needless to say I'm still not that good at dealing with roots... But I managed to ride most of the trails and only had to bail and walk a few times where I didn't quite feel comfortable. I think with some more practice I might graduate to being okay at dealing with roots... :-) Cam the guy I was riding with (way stronger rider than me) was really cool... Rode at my pace which made the whole ride more enjoyable for me. I'm pretty sure he had a good time too... He flew through some of the down hill sections and just waited up for me...

Bottom line.... Great ride.... I'm whooped going to bed .... hahahaha

RonH

Well I rode today but it was nothing to brag about. But at least I made it home.
Did my usual ride to Stone Mtn. It was cloudy but comfortable out and back. Did one lap and stopped to rest. I was dragging my tongue the last mile of the lap. Rested and did another lap. I was whipped after that and rested for about 15 minutes, then headed home. Did a total or 32.1 miles. These hills and the extra poundage around my middle are killing me.

RonH

I took the Felt out today. Was planning on maybe 3 laps around Stone Mtn. I rode out there and was all set for the big event. I got less than 1/2 mile and had to stop (lots of traffic, cars and pedestrians) for police directing traffic. Rode another 1/2 mile and had to stop again. I asked myself what was going on, why so many pedestrians? Then I saw a sign for Yellow Daisy Festival parking. Not good. I rode another 1/2 mile and had to stop again. So I decided to finish the lap and get outta that place.
Maybe Monday will be better.
Did a whopping 27.4 miles.

FunkyStickman

27 miles is better than nothing! Most days I'm lucky if I get to ride at all.

Looks like I will be working the bnext several Saturdays (our factory decided to catch up production we lost for Hurricane Isaac) so no riding for me for a while... I will have to hit the trainer, and the MS150 from Hammond to McComb is October 6-7! Hopefully I will be in shape for it, going to try to do the first day in under 6 hours on the LHT.

RonH

Hit the trainer? Have you ever thought about riding to work? Lots of fun.


Took the Litespeed out today for my usual Stone Mtn ride. Did much better than my last outing on the Litespeed. Did 2 laps with no problems. Total of 33.2 miles.

zzOtherlandzz

Couple of rides since my last post. Got out Sunday for the group ride for lack of a better word. I might call it a group if anybody decided to show up LOL With the threat of rain nobody showed up (at the time I did anyway). First 10 miles DRY the trail was dry I was dry... Turned around and quarter of a mile later I was poured on... It poured on me for the next 7 miles.. By the time I got back to where I was parked it had quit raining. So I kept going did another 10 or 11 miles, and came back. By the time I got loaded up the sun was out and it was starting to clear up nicely. That was about 6pm. If we had just planned the ride for 6pm the weather would have been great and everybody might have showed up... .... Great ride anyway.. 29 miles I think...

RonH

The weather was great today (70F when I left home) so I decided to try for 3 laps around the mtn. Haven't done that since last fall.
I felt great all the way out despite a slight headwind. Did one lap and felt better than usual so decided not to do my usual "stop and rest for 5 minutes before doing another lap" and continued on to the 2nd lap. Saw a large group (~30) of younger riders (25-35 y/o). Did a short rest after the second lap and gulped down a GU gel. Saw the same group again on my 3rd lap. I was riding CW and they were riding CCW. Do they know something I don't? Is CCW easier than CW? Finished the 3rd lap and stopped to fill my water bottles and then headed home. Got home and wasn't as whipped as usual. Did a total of 37.4 miles.

mrz80

Made it out last Saturday and this past Tuesday for club rides - 38 and 22 miles respectively. Feeling fairly good. It rained Saturday and I hosed all the mud off the bike and then forgot to lube it up again before the ride Tuesday. It SQUEALED like nobody's business for the first 5 miles. Must. Lube. Chain. Must. Lube. Chain.

So, anyone else heading to Bartow for the Tour de Tow tomorrow? I'll be out there on the 37 mile loop, resplendent in my uber-tech-geek Cisco jersey. :-)

zzOtherlandzz

LOL..... I hate it when I do that!!!!

I have been SOOOOO busy this week I haven't ridden since Tues..... I HOPE I can get a ride in tomorrow afternoon/evening...

RonH

Took the Litespeed out today and did the pie ride. Did 3 laps around Stone Mtn for a total of 37.6 miles. First time I've done 3 laps on the Litespeed since Oct 2010.

twentysomething

Yes, rode today. Been too long.

BTW, nice bikes Ron.

RonH

Thanks. Got pics of your Cannondale? I like bike pics.

zzOtherlandzz

Got out for the Sunday afternoon picnic ride. I got there a bit early so I could ride a bit more. The picnic rides are fun... and lots of good BS'ing but tend to be a bit short (even by my standards). So I got there a bit early and rode about 12 miles and back to the park where I met up with everybody else. About 15 of us showed up. Ended up riding another fast paced 12 miles (by my standards of course).. And then a bit more at a bit slower casual pace. Ended up with about 36 miles. Had some great food and BS'ing afterwords. Tried some apple cinnamon cheesecake.. REALLY good had to force myself not to eat more.. hahah... AWESOME weather by the way, temps a bit lower finally!!

Just a pre ride pic of bike & truck..

mrz80

Did the 37 mile route on the Tour de Tow on Saturday. Brutal easterly winds made the first half of the out-and-back route memorably painful, but having that breeze on the backside made for a tearing fun 30mph dash down Lake Hendry Road. Zoom zoom zoom indeed! 'course now Tuesday my right calf keeps cramping. And my work schedule has me motorvating all over the state all this week. Don't know when my next shot at riding will be.

Next big rides: Santa Fe 55 in G'ville in October, Rotary metric in Bartow in November.

RonH

Cool start today. It was 53F this morning. Waited until it got a little warmer (66F) before I headed out on the Felt. Did my usual ride to Stone Mtn, did 3 laps for a total of 33.6 miles.
When I got home I found a deep cut in my front tire. I won't be riding for the next 9-10 days (cataract surgery on the other eye tomorrow) so I'll have plenty of time to install a new tire, clean the bikes, lube the chains, etc.

Since I'll be "blind" for a few days and with the kind of luck I have my bow that I ordered on 9/4 will probably come in tomorrow.

zzOtherlandzz

I got out for a ride Thursday... Mom and sister were going to Gville to do some stuff... So I tagged along and got dropped off in G.ville and rode the Gainesville Hawthorne trail. Rode from the G.ville end to Hawthorne and started back. Ended up riding 25.5 miles before I got picked up by my mom and sister.... They were done!! Great ride.. It was NICE to see water in all the streams / creeks on the trail!!

Tried out the new panorama photo thing on the iPhone... after the OS6 upgrade.... Kind of cool just messing around. Picture is taken from the bench at the end of the trail in Hawthorne..

Lindaosm

wow, love the picture! Hubby and I rode it several weeks ago and yes, good to see all the water.

I haven't been posting but we've been riding. Wednesday after work we rode the Withlachochee from Holder to Hernando and back. Only about 12 miles but nice ride and we missed the rain. Last night we went over to the 49th Ave Trailhead in Ocala and rode to the Land Bridge. I was very nervous as it's the first time I've been on a non-paved trail since my hip surgery in late April and this trail is very rocky and has some pretty good climbs. And....I didn't have my mb and was on my hybrid. Did ok...only about 5 miles but I think I burnt more calories than the night before...I think mostly from fear. Today we rode out to the Withlachochee Bay Trail. It was around noon but overcast so not too hot and we beat the rain again. Hoping tomorrow to get out again. I'm thinking we might try to go up to the Nature Coast Trail and ride it. Will try to get some pictures this time. Next weekend we are off rving near the Suwannee River so hoping to get some riding in then.