Lindaosm

15 miles on the north end of the Withlachochee today. We started at the trail head south of Citrus Spring. I think it's new. It's about a half mile from there to the trail. Rode down almost to Inverness and back. Nice ride. Not too hot. Top speed today was 16.5...but not for very long.

kjc9640

Monday 8/17/09... Short ride today with the other slo spoke team member (My daughter) the temp was 89 degrees and felt like 96 when we got back and the wind was ENE @ 17 due to the storms out their. All is well in slo spokes household.


Todays distance 25.86 (s)miles
Total distance this mo. 370.72 (s)miles
Total distance this yr. 4,117.23 (s)miles

It doesn't get any better than this!!!

kjc9640

Tuesday 8/18/09... Tough ride today with the other slo spoke team member (My daughter). The day started with her rear tire going flat then I could not get the tire to seat properly so it was off to the bike shop before we hit the road. Temp was in the high 70s with the humidity at 94% when we started. Wind was not a factor today but rain storms were. We got caught in three small showers and one real bad lightning storm. All is well in slo spokes household.


Todays distance 47.22 (s)miles
Total distance this mo. 417.94 (s)miles
Total distance this yr. 4,164.45 (s)miles

It doesn't get any better than this!!!

Boatdesigner

I did my usual 22.4 miles this morning. I had computer problems the last two days so couldn't report on my rides. Yesterday I only did 13.4 miles as I had to get home, so I rode hard to make up for it. Sunday I rode most of the way to Inverness, about 28 miles round trip. It looked like it was going to rain and I had to cut the lawn still, so I came back sooner than I planned. Typical, it never did rain!

I have ridden quite a bit of the Nature Coast Trail and the prettiest part to me was from the Chiefland Trailhead to Old Town. North of Old Town it is very open up to Cross City, running alongside Hwy 19 with very little to no shade. Trenton to Fanning Springs isn't bad, but there is a road in close proximity the whole way. No hills anywhere on the trail, so it is good if you don't like climbing. At certain times during the year, you can watch Sturgeon jumping in the river when you stop on the bridge. Boaters need to watch out as people have been seriously injured and even killed when they got hit by a jumping 5' long prehistoric Sturgeon!

kjc9640

Wednesday 8/19/09... Good ride today with the other slo spoke team member (My daughter). Temp was in the high 70s with the humidity at 95% when we started and only 84 degrees when we finished. The wind was not a factor today until we hit the rain storms. We got caught in one real hard wind and rain storm and it seemed like the rain was comming down sideways. We stopped in Winter Garden and took a tour of the Cat Trike factory, very interesting. Boy do I want one!!!!
All is well in slo spokes household.


Todays distance 33.89 (s)miles
Total distance this mo. 451.83 (s)miles
Total distance this yr. 4,198.34 (s)miles

It doesn't get any better than this!!!

Boatdesigner

Did my usual 22.4 miles today. It was really foggy out this morning, so damp that I had to take my glasses off. Good thing there isn't much traffic on the trail, my eyes are pretty bad without the glasses! There was so much moisture in the air that my arms were covered with a mist and water was dripping off the visor of my helmet. It did feel good though, nice and cool!

kjc9640

Thursday 8/20/09... Good ride today with the other slo spoke team member (My daughter Tina). At least it was a good day until I made a wrong turn and she crashed into my rear tire sending her to the pavement (road rash on the knee). Temp was in the low 80s with the humidity at 87% when we started and low 90s when we finished. The upside of the ride was we did not get caught in the rain today.
All is well in slo spokes household.


Todays distance 25.46 (s)miles
Total distance this mo. 477.29 (s)miles
Total distance this yr. 4,223.80 (s)miles

It doesn't get any better than this!!!

Boatdesigner

Same old same old . . . . 22.5 miles today. Beautiful morning though, nice and cool. I rode a little harder than normal and managed a 14.7 mph average. I'll probably take it easy tomorrow in order to save some energy for a longer rid on Saturday morning.

Jim, glad to hear you and your daughter made it through your ride without the need for medical professionals!

kjc9640

Boatdesigner, thanks for the thought. We were at a neighborhood intersection and I made a dumb move without announcing my intentions. However all is well and she still loves her daddy

kjc9640

Friday 8/21/09... Good solo ride today, the other slo spoke team member (my daughter Tina) went back to St Pete yesterday evening. The temp was in the mid 70s with the humidity at 92% when I started and low 90s when I finished. The upside of the ride was I beat the rain again today.
All is well in slo spokes household.

30.39 (s)miles today
507.68 (s)miles this month
4,254.19 (s)miles this year
14 ride days this mo.

It doesn't get any better than this!!!

Boatdesigner

Rode an easy 16.7 miles today. I conserved energy so I could possibly take a longer ride tomorrow. That gives me a little over 125 miles for the week so far, maybe I'll hit 160 this week. It has been really nice here first thing in the morning for the last couple of weeks! By the time the afternoon comes though, it is downright brutal out there. I can't wait until the fall when I can sleep a little later, I hate getting up at 6:30!

kjc9640

You sure hit the nail on the head with that statement

Boatdesigner

I am starting to think we're the only two who ride during the week! No wonder I have the whole trail to myself!

kjc9640

I have been thinking the same thing the post count has really dropped off lately

Lindaosm

We did ride today but not far. Less than 8 miles as we got caught in the rain. Tomorrow we plan on riding either the Suncoast or Pinellas Trail. Haven't decided yet. I normally only get to ride Friday thru Monday as I work the rest of the week. Hubby gets to ride almost everyday but on the mb trails at Santos mostly.

Linda

droobieinop

sorry, might be the only ones posting, but I ride usually 6 days a week. My laptop crapped out on me, I lost my wifi and bt, arggghh.

I haven't even been keeping track, but I normally do 13 ish round trip on my commute and then the morning rides of 20-40.

I've been feeling good and I've been making progress. Some of the guys are trying to get me to race next month, not so sure about that.

Gavush

76 miles today. I planned on about 60 but didn't do the math very well. I rode out to the bike shop for the Sat. Am group ride (19 miles) did the group ride and finished back at the bike shop at 61 miles w/ a 17.6 average (best all year, even for much shorter rides) My legs were rather sore, but I still had to get home... miles 61-70 were rather uncomfortable. Miles 70-76 just plain hurt, in 1st and 2nd gear the whole time. I called my wife at mile 70 to come get me and I had made it to 76 by the time she came around.. I was about a mile from home but I welcomed the lift back. My legs hurt terribly for about 25-30 minutes after.

Boatdesigner

My ride started out nice this morning, but there were big ugly clouds out over the Gulf. The wind was barely blowing so I thought I had plenty of time before they rolled inland. So I rode down to Inverness and at about 17 miles turned around, that's when I noticed the big, very black clouds and a beautiful rainbow! It also dawned on me that a rainbow usually comes with rain.

Once I got to Hernando, the sky opened up on me. Luckily there was one of those covered picnic benches so I was able to get out of the rain for a little bit while it blew over. Once it slowed down I headed for home and got completely soaked from the water coming off the tires. As I got closer to home the sun came out again and it got blazing hot as it was now after 10am.

I made it home just before some really nasty weather came through, heavy rain, high winds and lightning. I now have a major job of cleaning my bike up so I can ride again tomorrow. Not a terrible day though, as I made it 35.6 miles which gave me 161 for the week, my biggest week evah!

wolfpack 

70mi/4hr on the fixie.

kjc9640

Sunday 8/23/09... Good solo 62.85 mile ride today. Managed to get back home before the rain stated. The temp was in the mid 70s with the humidity at 94% when I started and High 80s when I finished. I saw a lot of property under water up in the Sanford area today, those poor folks get flooded every year it seems like. The upside of the ride was I beat the rain again today and I felt like I could have gone for a full 100.
All is well in slo spoke Jims' household.

62.85 (s)miles today
570.53 (s)miles this month
4,317.04 (s)miles this year
15 ride days this mo.

It doesn't get any better than this!!!

Lindaosm

yes I did. Yesterday we went down to Tampa with the intention of riding the Suncoast Trail. About the time we got there it started pouring. So, we went further down into Tampa off of I-75 and Fletcher to the Wilderness Trail. My husband has been down there and done the mb trails and said that they had a paved path. We did about 14 miles of which about 10 were on pavement and the rest was on shell rock up on a levee. Just about the time we started on the one way paved loop, it started raining. Luckily no lightening so we donned the rain gear and kept going. The trail was nice and had several lean tos and covered rest stop areas. By the time we got back we looked like we had been playing in the mud. Both the bikes and us were covered in mud. We did have several wildlife sightings. Lots of turkeys and several deer.

Today we went to Hawthorne and rode the Gainesville/Hawthorne trail. I did my first 28 miler and actually felt pretty good when we finished. My top speed was about 18 but not for long. I think I averaged about 12 overall. At least we had no rain today. The weather was gorgeous. There was a wonderful breeze off of Paines Prairie at the overlook where we stopped for a quick break. It almost felt like a fall day. Had a nice lunch at a local BBQ place and now we're home and I'm headed to the recliner for a nap.

Linda

Boatdesigner

I convinced the family to ride with me today, so I loaded the bikes in the old pickup and we went to the trail that runs along the Cross Florida Barge Canal. Normally this is a 10 mile round trip, but there is a new bridge under construction on HWY 19 over the canal and they have part of the trail blocked off. I think we covered about 9 miles.

When we left the sky was looking pretty black and then looked even worse when we got there. I thought for sure we would be turning around in a mile or so and running for cover. Amazingly, the rain held off! On the way down the trail we saw a deer in the woods, but she was a bit shy. This is the view at the end of the trail:

There were some really nice reflections on the water:


Looking out to the Gulf:

On the way back we stopped and looked out over the salt marsh:

A little further along we came across another deer, I had my camera ready this time!

She was looking for Mom:

A family photo:


Rides don't have to be long and epic to be memorable and fun!

Lindaosm

This is one of our favorite rides! It was also my first back in March. It's the Withlachochee Bay Trail. Great pictures. We've also seen deer on our rides.

Linda

kjc9640

Boatdesigner,
Great photos thanks for posting them. Love to see deer on my rides. I use to hunt when I was younger but now I only shoot with a camera.

kjc9640

Tuesday 8/25/09... Good solo 38.10 mile ride today. The temp was 75 degrees at 5 am when I started this morning with the humidity at 92% and mid 80s when I finished. The upside of the ride was I beat the heat and rain again today and I felt like I could have gone for a full 100. Breakfast at Panera was great.
All is well in slo spoke Jims' household.

38.10 (s)miles today
608.63 (s)miles this month
4,355.14 (s)miles this year
16 ride days this month