Overpasses? Best hills in Pinellas County are the Clearwater Causeway and Sand Key Overpass. :-)

54 miles at 16.1 avg. not to shabby for me. Working my way up so I can do the Break Away To the Beach, I think it is 200 miles in two days.

Did what may be my last ride for a while. Knee surgery on Thursday morning so I'll be riding the trainer for about 4 weeks. :o
Everyone have fun without me. :cry:

This is just arthroscopic surgery. The same doc (sports med) did my other knee 3 years ago - same problem, same PT - ride the trainer. He said my running days were over (who's a runner?? :rolleyes:) but I could ride till I'm 100. :beer: He's a cyclist and bike commuter so we have lots to talk about whenever I see him. :)

Good luck!!! Hope all goes well!!

Hopefully you'll have a full and speedy recovery so you can back on the bike soon.

sorry...just saw this...weekends seems busy there..especially at the main trailhead and the one on 475 which is called the Land Bridge Trailhead. The further west you go, the less crowded it seems to be.

You should con them into going. Santos is one of the best mb trails around (or so I've been told). You can find the maps on the OMBA (Ocala Mountain bike Assoc) web page http://omba.org/

When hubby goes by himself, he normally starts over at the main trail head and heads west. He does do some blue trails (more difficult) depending on how he's feeling. I think he's a little more careful since his shoulder mishap and surgery.
When I go with him we normally start at either the 49th Ave Trailhead and head west or east over the Land Bridge that goes over I-75. Sometimes we start at the LandBridge Trailhead and head east but always on the yellow trails. Single track still freaks me out a little but hubby says the more you do it, the less paranoid you get. My biggest fear is having a head-on in an area where I can't see them coming.
Anyway, you should check it out. Heck if you do get down this way on a week day, let me know. Hubby would enjoy riding with someone faster than me. I normally only riding after work or on the weekends.

LOL..... I dunno how much faster I am .. I don't heal up like I used to when younger... and things seem to HURT more. So having said that I can usually ride the single track... but its more slow and careful, especially If I don't know the trail. MAYBE I can con the friends into riding if we make a day out of it... If I can I'll be sure to give you a holler on here, see if your husband would like to ride with us.

I've seen the land bridge from driving down I-75 and always wanted to go check it out. But I normally wont go someplace by myself mountain biking.

Hmmmmm SloSpoke's last post was the 12th (in this thread anyway), not like him to not post. Hope all is well with him & his wife.

Went for a really short ride to the post office & back.... 6.5 or 7 miles... HOT VERY VERY HOT..... Was going to ride a bit more but after standing in line at the post office and them coming back out in the heat..... I just headed for home.

GF got on wrong bus. :twitchy:

Seems that cell phones distract bus riders as much as car drivers...she didn't realize it until the bus was three miles away from the normal route.

Grabbed her car, tossed my bike in the back, and picked her up. She went to work and made it on-time, I got a surprise 4 mile sprint workout in the heat trying to make it back to my home office before anybody at the office tried to instant message me.

Thinking afterwards, perfect use of a bike. Walking back would have taken too long, if she drove me back she would have been late, and the bus schedule would have had me waiting twenty minutes.

Ooof. The heat and humidity turned it into the Alachua County Death Ride. Managed 18 miles at 15.1mph. I completely forgot that this time of year, sun angle means no shade whatsoever on Millhopper Road. First ride on the new Strada K tires - they seem to have passed the stick, rock, sharp-metal-object and broken-glass tests. It's SO reassurinig to be riding on kevlar-belted tires once again! Mister Tuffy liners are good, but they add a noticeable weight. The new brain bucket was VERY comfortable and cool. Shoulda gotten one of those years ago! :-) I think next week it'll be time and past time to start riding in the early morning before work.

Went out hoping to get in 30+ miles but then it started to thunder and lightning so I had to cut my ride short to 18 miles - AND THEN NOTHING!! No rain. No more thunder or lightning. So I came in for no reason. :mad:

Surgery went well yesterday. :) No pain or real discomfort yet. :thumb:
Did 6 minutes on the new trainer this morning. My doc said do 5 minutes this morning, five minutes this afternoon. Will make the jump to 10 minutes X 2 tomorrow. :rolleyes: Glad my sports med doc is a cyclist. :beer:
At least I can watch the TdF while I'm riding and resting.

Speaking of the TdF, what type of "contaminated beef" did Contador the doper eat last night? He's riding much better today than yesterday.
Go Andy, Frank, and Cadel.

Coool.... Glad your surgery went well.

I dunno what he ate..... I'm just glad he doesn't get his name on the alp.... Should be an interesting time trial tomorrow for sure. Andy needs to ride like he did in the time trial last year.

Did 40 miles with the club this morning, and even got my 14yo to go with me. It's hard going through Micanopy without stopping and spending a ton of money on antiques. :)

Made the jump to 12 minutes this morning. No pain or discomfort. Sure looks nice outside. :o I see the doc on Tuesday and get the bandages off. I'll find out more then. If I have to stay on the trainer for 4 weeks like he originally said, well .................

Loaded up the panniers with packages and some other stuff (to simulate loaded panniers LOL) and headed to the post office. Left the house a bit after 11am, temp was creeping up already. Dropped off the stuff at the post office and 2 guys were checking out my bike when I came out. Wow what kind of bike is that? How heavy is it? Are those disc brakes good?. Where did you get it? (I don't think either of them had ever heard of Craigslist). They were both on bikes too... One was a mid 90's Trek Mountain bike the other a mid 90's Giant maybe a comfort bike? One guys cassette on the Giant is all loose, he asks where there is a bike shop (because obviously I KNOW STUFF... LOL ) I tell them the local shop owner is a good guy reasonable prices. (local being 15 miles away). I tell them its almost across the street from the court house in town... He says ohhh by the probation office. YEP... He says ohhh i have to go there next week maybe i'll go to the bike shop... (I'm laughing inside). They both kinda have the look of guys that ride their bikes because they don't have a car or license)... But who knows..... was a good little chat.

I practiced pacing myself a bit.... riding a bit slower than when I ride with no bags or extra weight. On a 20 mile ride doesn't really matter but on a 50 mile ride loaded it would matter (for me anyway). Kind of weird riding like that... I'm used to riding harder putting out more effort (still slow by most standards on here).

Anyway..... ended up riding a bit over 20 miles. By the time I got back the temp on the back porch said 100 deg...... TOOOOO HOT... Good ride though!!!

Edit: ... Also fixed my camera that I usually mount on the bike. Soooo maybe pictures next ride..

With my lovely wife away for the weekend, I was able to get in a couple rides today. Did 33 miles this morning and another 22 this afternoon. I got back from the afternoon ride just before the rain started. :D

17 miles this morning before it got too hot, but of course the sauna was already "turned on" here
in Tampa with humidity about 100 % :)

Wow does that even work ? I know the skateboarder Danny Way had ligaments from Cadavers put in his knees

:lol: :lol: Maybe that's why they were checking out your bike.
Glad you got the camera fixed. :thumb: We need pics, especially of the people you meet. ;)

I was just re-reading some of the past posts and this caught my eye. You had a total knee replacement? I thought that was for "old" people.

Yeah I had the same thought, like maybe he was looking for a bike upgrade lol.. I was telling my buddy (the one that was riding with me for awhile) about my encounter at the post office and he says he knows the guy. Says he has NEVER owned a car as long as he has known him. My buddy grew up around here so he knows everybody.

NO ride today... but I worked outside cleaning out/up my shed and carport area...... I think I sweated gallons in the 5hrs I was outside today.... HOT!!

Yup old people and a lot of sports guys . Knees are usually the first thing to go in Professional athletes.

Check this about skateboarder Danny Way
http://www.encinitasmag.com/stories/way.html