Got in my first ride of the year yesterday. The rain stopped and the temps were in the high 50's so the wife and I got out the trikes and went down to the cart paths in PTC. Got in a whole burning six miles. I could feel the fruitcake in my legs.

Unfortunately it was not prudent for me to ride today. We had snow/sleet/freezing rain over the weekend. A warm Sunday caused some melting, but this refroze over the night causing slick, well-rutted paths of travel. After today's warm-up I expect that all commuting routes to be a mess of slush, which will likely freeze again.

So I walked to work this morning. This was an expeditionary challenge tackling the moonscape terrain caused by the snow plows dumping on pedestrian walkways.

We got a break in the weather for the weekend. Beautiful near 70* afternoons. The wife and I met a friend in town and rode a few miles for a stop at the Mexican joint for "house specials" and a pitcher of 'ritas. Great time, bad for the mileage. Looking to ride again this afternoon.

It was 2 months ago today I did my last ride before my surgery. I rode from the Hernando trailhead to Inverness Bicycle and Fitness. Visited with Sherry (the owner) for about 20-30 minutes then headed north to Hernando. My sit bones did ok but the nether regions were a bit touchy from not riding I guess. Didn't want to overdo it so only rode 10.8 miles. :beer:

Good to hear you're back at it, Ron. :thumb:

Did my second post-surgery ride today. Rode north from Hernando to the Citrus Springs trailhead and turned around. Rode 13.8 miles. :)

It was a wonderful "Florida Chamber of Commerce" type day so headed out for another ride. :) Rode 15.5 miles today. The miles are starting to build up again. The sit bones and "nether region" are feeling better with each ride. :beer:

Another awesome day in west central Florida. :thumb: My mileage increased a bit. Did 19.5 miles today. :)

I getting "stronger" so did my usual ride today — 22.3 miles.
The ride was much more comfortable too. I've been riding with an "incontinence pad" and it wasn't comfortable with it stuffed into my bibs. I haven't needed it for the past 3 rides so went without one today and had no problems, so I suppose that means I'm making big progress. :D

Perfect weather today so headed out and did my usual Hernando to the north end of the trail ride and then back.
Met a guy from Australia at the north end. He said he flew from Australia to Cuba and rode all over Cuba on a folding bike. Then he flew to Miami and rode the folder from Miami to Tampa. Not sure of his route. In Tampa he met friends who took him to a bike shop where he bought a Surly LHT. It was fully equiped with front and rear panniers, camping gear, etc.
He said he was heading up US19 to Tallahassee. From there he is heading NW and will end up in Alaska. After riding around Alaska he wants to head down the west coast to LA or maybe Mexico before heading home next year. Sounded way too ambitious for me. But then he appeared to be late 20s.
I gave him some directions to get to US19 and wished him a safe journey.

Weather was perfect today,70 degrees light wind, for a change, so headed out to the country after work. And got in a nice 32 and a half mile ride, doesn't get much better than that...

Yup, rode to and from work 40 miles round trip.

Work? What's work? ;)

The wind was blowing again but I headed out for my usual ride. Got a good workout from the wind on the ride back to Hernando. :o

Took the Cannondale out today and rode a different route. First ride on the Cannondale since my surgery. Rode south to Floral City and back. Stopped at Inverness Bicycle and Fitness to visit Sherry. She said she missed seeing the bike. She missed it so much she bought a 2015 model almost exactly like it for herself. :)
Rode 24.7 miles.

I finally got my neighbor out for a ride today. I told him I'd ride the Litespeed since its heavier and a tad slower. ;) He has a Fuji Saratoga 2.0 (pedal-forward design). He test rode a Cannondale Synapse last Saturday and really liked it but wasn't sure if he would stick with riding so he said he'd try a few rides on his slow bike first. Our top speed was 12 mph and averaged 10.2 for the ride. :o He was really struggling. I thought he would want to turn around after 3-4 miles but he said we'd stop for water and a bathroom break at Citrus Springs. Then he wanted to continue north. I was surprised when he said he'd ride to the north end of the Withlacoochee Trail. Stopped there for water and a snack. Then headed south. I could tell he was getting tired so we stopped at Citrus Spring again and at one of the benches a few miles from Hernando. He did a lot of drafting behind me but did ok. I hope he doesn't cramp up or pass out this evening. I told him to drink lots of water. We rode 22.3 miles.

I told him to call me when he's ready for the next ride. I said we'd ride south next time. Maybe he'll decide to call and suggest we go to the bike shop to get the Synapse. Got my fingers crossed. :)

Did my usual ride today. Not sure how much riding I'll get to do this week. "Unexpected out-of-town company" called and said they'll be here before 6pm. They're supposed to stay till Sunday or Monday. I hope I can sneak off for a ride or two later in the week. :o

I got lucky. My wife and her friend wanted to go shopping so I hit the Withlacoochee Trail. Did my usual 22 miles ride. The wind is still hanging around. :o It would be nice to have a little of the wind this summer but it ain't gonna happen. :(

Got in 41 yesterday to keep the legs active for Sunday's Cross Florida ride. It's looking like the weather is going to be fairly nice and cool, a little windy with 10/15mph out of North and sunny instead of the earlier predicted rain.

Women shopping means free time for you so suggest more shopping today and hit the TRAIL again. :thumb:

I met lookinUp and her friend Lynn at the trail today. They rode from Inverness to Floral City. I rode from Hernando and caught up with them just north of Floral City. We stopped there for a bit a chatted, then head back to Inverness. lookinUp was riding her new orange TerraTrike Rambler. Very nice. :thumb:
Said our goodbyes at her car and I rode back to Hernando for a total of 24.3 miles.

168.8 mile Cross Florida in the books. 18.8mph moving average. Thank you all who helped in the crossing. Sag stops were well supplied and dinner was AWESOME. Next year hopefully some other local riders will join me.

Kudos. :thumb: :beer:

Another windy day so took the Litespeed out for a ride. Rode to the north end of the Withlacoochee Trail and then head south. Averaged ~14mph+ riding into the headwind. :o Rode south and decided to go to the bike shop. Averaged ~19mph+ with the nice tailwind. :) Talked with Sherry and Danny about a few things them headed back to the car. Total of 33 miles. :beer:

Took the Cannondale out last week. No wind that day. :) Today was windy so took the Litespeed out for a fast ride going north and a slower ride heading south. I've been researching non-aero wheels online and have just about decided on a hand built set from one of our Bike Forums members, Psimet2001. Just waiting to hear from him to confirm everything before placing the order. After I get them I can ride the Cannondale even on windy days. :thumb:

Took the Cannondale out today. Easy headwind while riding north and a better tailwind riding back to the car. :thumb:

Rode the Litespeed from Hernando to the north end of the Withlacoochee Trail and then headed south for the bike shop in Inverness to pick up some KoolStop brake pads for the new wheels I ordered yesterday from PSIMet.com for the Cannondale. :) The Vision Metron 55 carbon wheels will be on the auction block as soon as the new wheels get here. I'll post pics when they arrive.
Rode 33.3 miles. :beer: