Took the Litespeed over to the Withlacoochee Trail today. Rode south from Inverness to about 3 miles south of Floral City and decided to turn around after checking the sky and the radar.
Rode north to about the 42 mile marker and decided it was time to head for the car because the sky was getting REALLY dark.
Made it to the shelter at the Hernando trailhead and waited out the rain for ~30 minutes. Then took off and got to the car without getting wet. Yay!! :)
Rode a total of 41.6 miles.

No ride tomorrow. We're meeting the electrician and the builder at the house. :D
No ride Wednesday because I have a blood test at 8:45AM and then a colonoscopy consult (what's to consult?) at 11:00AM.

Yep..... I got a VERY VERY wet ride in today.... I achieved my goal of riding for 30 days in a row (had planned to do the whole month of May, bike month). I ended up with 707 miles for the 30 days... Some of that on the mountain bike... But mostly on the road bike...

I dunno what to do now......... Maybe go on a bike ride tomorrow?? LOL

Kudos. :thumb:
Sounds like you've earned enough points to buy yourself a new bike. ;)

LOL.... Thanks... Your comment made me laugh because it is just what my friend who owns the bike shop in Palatka said.... Of course I could go into his shop and tell him my tire needs some air.... and he would say "Time for a new bike".... Kind of a standing joke..... not even sure how it got started :D

Well I guess I'm half way there.... I have the points for a new bike..... now I just need the $ ... lol

ZZ OL ZZ,
I like that line of reasoning the shop owner has, but I'm the same as you, find the money first, they won't give the bikes away for some reason. Ride today was the second time this week I barely beat the pop up T'Storm of the afternoon. It got black as a cow's insides to the northwest as I rode, you could see the line as I ride through the cotton fields north of our home. Got to the house and got put everything away and here comes the rain and thunder. Whew.

Bill

Well.... The Tuesday ride got called do to weather and a meeting of some sort.... Normally we would ride anyway (the ones that ride & don't do meetings)... But the weather was looking bad... So my 30 days of riding was done..... I was starting a new challenge of "30 days without riding" <joke> ...... Until about 9:30pm when I got a text from a friend that said "you up for a late night ride?"... I could not resist.... Got the headlight & reflective vest and got geared up and went for a ride..... I ended up with 14.4 miles... friend got 19.2 for the night... Was really fun, something different to do.... keeps riding interesting doing something different... Sooooo day 31 in the books....

Today was poor performance day. I just couldn't get any speed for some reason. :o Did a pathetic 26.5 miles.

Our company couldn't decide if today was Withlacoochee ride day or go do something else. They finally decided to do something else. So I left for the Suncoast Trail. It was 11AM by the time I got to the SR50 trailhead. I was planning on riding to SR52 but the weather didn't cooperate. I ran into light rain just before I got to County Line Rd. Checked the radar on my phone and decide to continue. Made it another couple of miles and it started raining harder so decided to head for the car. The rain stopped before I got to County Line Rd. so decided to go south some more. Rode a few miles and it got really dark and the rain really started coming down. Turned around and headed for the car. The sun came out by the time I got to Anderson Snow park but I kept on heading to the car.
Managed 27.3 miles.

Cleaned up the bike and lubed late this afternoon. :beer:


Since our company includes an 8 y/o we're watching Happy Feet Too rather than something more to our liking. Oh wow. :rolleyes:

Our company went to Clearwater to see some dolphin show so I was out on the Suncoast around 9:30AM. We have to be quiet because our company sleeps in later than we do. :notamused: I was hoping to get our earlier. I rode from SR50 to the north end. Got as far as the trail closed sign (just a few feet south of the 40 mile marker).

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=323106 http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=323107

Then turned around and rode down to Extreme Bicycles to update Z on the trail closing (His shop ride goes north this Saturday).
It got really hot while I was riding. That's why I wanted to get out earlier. I think they're leaving Saturday. :notamused:
Rode 27.6 miles.


Famous quote by Ben Franklin (from Poor Richard's Almanack 1736): Fish and visitors smell in three days.

The 8 year old wanted to ride on the Withlacoochee Trail yesterday so I put some platform pedals on the Litespeed :eek: and rode wearing regular shorts and t-shirt. We started in Inverness next to the red caboose and rode to here.

http://i373.photobucket.com/albums/o...psf4f93482.jpg

Then turned around and rode back to the car. After we got to where the car was parked he wanted to ride a little farther south so we rode down to the SR44 overpass and then back to the car.
He managed 8 miles. Not bad for a kid that couldn't ride a bike less than a week ago.

yeah, i rode today. a near lack of sleep last night after an 11 miler. this am a 3.5 miler, then after work another 11. so tired. but, beer has somehow reinvigorated me. nah....i'm down! time to crash!

Ron, don't know how long the 8 year old is staying, but you're welcome to come borrow a tandem and take him for a real ride. If he can do 8 miles on a bmx bike, he's good for 25 on a tandem, and he'll love the increased speed!

We have 2 that would probably work for both of you ... a Burley road tandem and a cheapo Pacific Dualie flat bar machine.

Thanks for the offer Bill but they finally went home yesterday. :whew:


My 11 year old grandson got here about an hour ago. He didn't bring his bike (BMX style) but he did bring his bow so we'll be doing some shooting in the side yard.

Yep... Got a ride in Tuesday.... An evening ride the regular Tues ride kind of fizzled out so there was just 2 of us. We went and rode a loop in East Palatka to Hastings. Missed a turn that I usually take so on the alternate route back to the normal route got chased by 2 big dogs. One was an old guy that didn't even have the energy to bark and chase at the same time. Ran along side me for a bit (safe distance away too). The other one chasing my friends was bigger, louder, younger & more aggressive. Good reason for me to remember to turn the next time. But on the plus side if we had not missed the turn we would never have seen this...

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=324283

Overall we did a bit over 30 miles... The last 4 in the dark (with lights of course).

As Steve Martin once said, "What the hell IS that?"

I've seen several of those lately but none quite that big. Most have already drooped over from the weight on the long stem and flower at the end.

I think they call them a century plant... I had to ask myself...

^^^ I looked it up and you're right. :thumb:



Left early today and got to SR50 on the Suncoast Trail around 8:30AM. Rode south. Decided to explore and be daring. :rolleyes: Rode down to this water station (between mile marker 7 and 8).

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=324611

Then headed north. Didn't realize there were a few places where the trail was right next to the highway. Didn't bother me. I was just surprised to see two of these. I guess its because the road and the trail are "sharing" the same bridge.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=324610

Stopped at Extreme Bicycles for a few minutes, then headed for the car.
Rode a total of 46.3 miles.

Nice photos Ron.... Seeing your photo of the bridge reminded me that they are close to finishing the dedicated path over the Memorial Bridge in Palatka. We were supposed to have a "grand opening" tomorrow the 22nd but... That's not going to happen It got delayed again. This time because while drilling holes for the rail on about the last 500ft of bridge they were going to hit an electrical conduit. So naturally they had to get an engineer out, draw new plans, get it approved. Ohhh yeah but in the meantime the construction company pulled the workers off to another job. Anyway the plans were approved about 5 weeks ago and they still haven't restarted on the bridge... GRRRRRRR!!!

Be sure to post pics when they finally do have the grand opening.

Didn't get out quite as early today. Got to the SR50 trailhead just before 10AM. Headed north on the Litespeed to tackle the mountains on the north end of the trail. Got to the blockade and had a gel and rested a minute. Then rode south to Spring Hill Dr. Turned around and headed for the car. Rode 29.1 miles. Stopped at the nearest convenience store and picked up a low fat chocolate milk. :)

Went for a morning bike and eat ride this morning starting at the clock tower in Palatka. We noticed that they were working on the bridge again FINALLY!! So took a lil detour and checked it out. In theory it should be completed in the next few weeks <crossing fingers>. But the powers that be have decided to wail until mid August to have the grand opening ceremonies for the trail.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=324956

Yep, I rode Sunday... Took both bikes, rode about 16 on the pavement and then 13 on the pavement and the part of the trail under construction that isn't paved yet. Great leisurely ride with friends on a Sunday evening. They are making some really good progress on the next section of trail. Getting closer to having the bridge done (which most likely takes longer to do than the rest of the trail.) When this section is done the paved section will be over 18 miles long from west of Keystone Heights to about 7 miles east of Florahome. The Palatka Lake Butler Trail by the way...

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=325214http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=325215http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=325216http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=325217

Glad to see the progress. I know you're excited. :thumb:

FINALLY -- I got to ride today. Haven't ridden since June 22. Grandson was here last week -- no bike -- and then the rain. :(
Rode north from SR50 on the Suncoast until I just gave up. My 68-1/2 year old body loses too much fitness when I go for long periods without riding and my bad heart doesn't help. :o Turned around and headed south. Finally got warmed up after ~9 miles. Rode to Lawless Rd to see the goats and turned around and headed for the car.
Didn't see many cyclists. I guess everyone left town early for the long weekend.
Rode a total of 33.8 miles.