When I first started riding I used to have a couple of routes I would take that were around my house so to speak. I live out in the sticks/woods and there are a few paved roads that go way back in the subdivision. I rode the same loop 5 times a week for a couple of years (or variations of the loop). Until I just got tired of the DOGS..... We have leash laws here but I guess a LOT of the people figure that they don't really apply because we live out in the sticks. Back then all I owned was a mountain bike so I would have to ride about a 1/2 mile to get to pavement. I got chased and bit by a dog on that half mile... right by my house. Tried out running it, but the dirt roads around here are mostly sand. It ran out from the side of the road chased me and bit me in the calf let go and ran off. I got on the cell called for a ride back to the house (that was about 3 blocks away). Got home called the police (cus I dunno if this dog has had its shots or anything). Blood running down my leg into my sock.... The neighbor (who still lives there BTW .. who i still an IDIOT.... living there with NO electricity for like 2 years now...) told the cops he had NO idea who's dog it was, even though it ran out of his yard. I described the dog and the cop went around a couple of blocks, called me on my cell and asked me to come look at a dog... Sure enough it was the dog...... AND ... The neighbor who said he did NOT know who's dog it was..... Was there at the house where the dog was found..... Anyway..... That was the only time I got bit..... but I got chased almost once a week..... got tired of it and quit riding around here. It kind of sucks too, because in the past year they paved another road that would make a GREAT 20 mile loop... Sorry for the rant..... DOH!!!

Yep..... I still need to get a cheap camera to mount on the bike..... Very nice pictures btw.....

yeah, I usually get chased once per ride, but only a couple of times has the dog been serious, usually they're just looking for fun. Yesterday, I got chased by two little 20lb dogs that seemed halfway serious, didn't care about a squirt in the face by my water bottle so I took it up a gear and left them, it was still annoying. One came a bit closer to my ankle than just a fun chase. On another road a medium sized dog gave a half hearted chase, with a grin rather than a snarl, no barks... started me though because he came up all stealth - gotta watch out for those stealth dogs. Then, two fenced in dogs (big, furry dogs, one german shepard and one husky looking thing) sorta halfway trotted behind their yard fence, but didn't even follow me the whole length of their yard - it was too hot out for them I guess. I especially hate dogs in the dark.. I only choose dog-free routes if I plan to ride in the dark, or start a ride in the dark. Haven't been bit yet, but I have dismounted to get my bike between me and the dog on one occasion.. that was probably the worst situation I had in the past few years. I carry the camera in my jersey pocket with the laniard hanging out so I can grab it out easily. Only takes a moment to stop and grab a few shots, though I usually have to turn around because I see the view, realize it's worth a picture, and have to turn around to go back and get it.

Even if they don't bite I'm always afraid that they will somehow get caught up in my wheel or something & make me crash....

NO ride today... was planning an evening ride and just checked the radar a bit ago.... Pretty big storm heading this way..... But man.. the temp is only about 79deg now..... ahhhhhh stupid lightning. I guess i'll have to start earlier... in the heat....

Another typical Florida summer day. Hot humid mornings and rain in the afternoon. However it is good to be back on the bike. :thumb:

36.6 miles today 6/22 with my daughter
457.5 miles this month
3342 miles this year
106 ride days TY vs 108 ride days LY
4157 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 44+% of goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
336 miles ahead of this date last year

Got out for a ride on Tues, left the house at about 6:30pm I think. It had cooled off a little bit to 92deg.... DOH!! Rode almost 10 miles into town (east) with a slight to a bit more than slight head wind. At times it was really slowing my already slow pace down. Was pretty fun on the way back though. Ended up riding 19.98 miles (went up and down the road near home a couple of times to get close to 20). Great ride... glad I went..

last night I had pulled together a 6 person group ride leaving from my driveway taking the same ~28 mile route I did on Sunday evening. Went really well, we had a good time. 3 people from our neighborhood including one guy two streets down that I just met on Saturday. That makes 5 of us that ride within a 4 mile radius, plus he has a small road bike for his son, and I've got one for my eldest daughter and across the street, they've got one for theirs so we might have some fun family rides too. Also picked up 2 riders using a new google group to try to connect riders in our rural county, 21 members so far.

pictures:
photo 1 photo 2 photo 3 photo 4

Didn't get to post yesterday, but I got in a 20 mile ride. I had to stop earlier than I wanted to, it was getting too dark on the trail. Today, however, I got in all the time I needed and finally got in a solid 30 mile ride. Seems that more and more people are getting out and walking or riding. I wish I could find some people to ride with, it seems to make the ride a little more pleasurable.

came home, mowed the lawn, decided it was too nice out to go inside, hopped on my mtb and cruised around the neighborhood, then down the road to a friends house, who wasn't home, then through another neighborhood, then over into town to the church where my wife was to raid the car for some $$ for a soda at the coffee shop, and saw the redbox movies on her seat, so went over to mcdonalds and returned the movies, then to the coffee shop and had an orange crush, then back home. Beautiful night... nice temps, big moon... left at dusk and got home well after dark. map my ride says 7.8 miles.

mapmyride route

Nope. :(

Got on my bike, started riding down the street when I heard a weird humming noise. I felt like I was pedaling like a madman in a granny gear too. Took it back to the house, the tire was rubbing against the frame! My dad had been tinkering with the bike and didn't put the wheel back on that well. So I get the tire trued and start riding again. Felt pretty good for a while until the chain kept jumping in 5th gear. Couldn't figure it out (my best guess is that the derailleur is rubbing against the chain but have not a very good clue), so I figured I'd quit while I was ahead and tinker with it. By the time I got it fixed up, I had to go to work. Bummer. Oh well, I'll make up for it by going on an 40 miler tomorrow. :D

For some reason I could not sleep this morning.... Woke up at around 6am kept trying to go back to sleep. Finally decided to go for a ride. I left the house at about 8:30ish ... Found out it is exactly 11 miles to my nephews front door (including walking the bike up to the door LOL). Had a cold water and BS'ed with him for a bout 15 min and took off again. Didn't ride straight home rode around a bit and then headed home. Ended up riding 26.24 miles. Yep.... it was 97 when I walked in the door. Great ride though felt pretty good the whole way ...

Got in a good 21 mile ride yesterday. I was finishing up my ride just as the sun was setting, it was really nice. I wish I had a camera with me to take some shots of the views I had of the sunset. Especially when the sun was setting behind the college, it was really neat. It was nice as the temps dropped off with the sunset.

Was feeling kind of lousy most of the day, but decided I was going to ride anyway..... Glad I did!!! Took off at about 6:30pm on the road bike. About 4 miles into the ride I started riding east in to a pretty good headwind.. I just kept grinding it out thinking.... I'll have a tail wind to finish up the ride. Kept saying that over and over in my head to keep me motivated. I rode about 7 miles into the wind, and decided to turn around because the black clouds were starting to roll in. I swear as soon as I turned around the wind died all together .... lol (ok maybe not quite as soon as i turned around but it seemed like it). So ended up riding most of the 7 miles or so back to the house in NO wind.. As they say.... the calm before the storm... LOL ..... Never did rain or anything BTW. But the temp did drop about 8 or 9 deg when the clouds rolled in.... Great ride... good workout.... Ended up riding 18.26 miles I think..

The mountain bike is calling my name.... might go someplace and ride tomorrow... not sure.....

did 50 miles on the hills of San Antonio, FL today.
2410 feet of ascent according to my Garmin 305
great ride even though my friend had 3 flats, he went through all of our spare tubes and co2.

Went for a 22.5 mile ride. Wanted to do more but had a few problems. My wife is out of town so my emergency SAG option is walk home or in emergency call 911. Of course at about as far from my house as possible on my route (9-10 mi) my back tire goes flat. No problem, until I open my seat bag and realize my tire levers are in the garage, I forgot to put them back the other day when I changed the front tube. It was a slow leak so I decided to try and inflate it as high as it would go (40 psi) and take the shortest route home. Made it about a mile when I could feel the tire lose traction in a turn. I decided at this point it is going to be too dangerous to ride home on it. I'm still at least a two hour walk home with either walking in socks or ruining my cleats. Can you pry a tire off with your hands? I wonder. As it turns out with the right motivation you can. Its not easy, but it can be done. So after all that I change the tire and have an uneventful ride home.

Yesterday, went for a 54 mile ride, one of my longest yet. I am pretty proud of myself, I have been trying to up my distance. It was getting nice and hot toward the end of my ride at about 4pm. There were several people out riding on the trail. If you are familiar with Alabama I went from a parking lot on Jacksonville State to the Georgia state line and back. I feel fortunant to have a nice bike trail as close to the house as I do.

I'm on vacation at the Outer Banks (NC) this week, and kicked things off with a 30-mile out-and-back down Rt. 12 from Corolla to Southern Shores. This road is challenging to me, because it's all flat with a steady wind, so there's no relief from pedaling effort like I get in the hilly terrain I normally ride. Plus it was already blazing hot at 7:30 this morning so I was sweating like a really sweaty guy.

Decided to go check out the progress on the paving of the Palatka Lake Butler trail today. Took the road bike to ride just the paved part. They are making progress on the section they are paving. I ended up riding the whole paved part of the trail plus the paved trail that goes from Keystone Heights up to Golds Head state park. For Florida that is a pretty hilly ride to the park. Its about 6 miles long but has quite a few hills to it. More downhill on the way back but still a couple of good hills thrown in for good measure. I passed about 15 people out on the 2 trails. Ended up riding 22.48 miles.. I got to the trail at about 6:15 or so ... had some good cloud cover so the temps were in the mid 80's instead of the mid 90's..... Was a great ride....

My second outer banks ride this week. Another windy morning, so I kept it short and did a fast 17 miler up to the north end of 12 and back. I got dropped by a few hardened roadies, but I was able to dust every tourist, so I had that going for me.

6/25 23 mile night ride with the D
6/26 No ride today
6/27 No ride
6/28 Went out to ride and got about 1/8 of a mile from the house and the back tire blew. Went back home took the wheels off of the bike and drove them to the LBS. New tires and tubes and had the wheels trued.
6/29 30.4 miles with a heat index of 98 and humidity 55%

576 miles this month
3461 miles this year
110 ride days TY vs 113 ride days LY
4038 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 46% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
253 miles ahead of this date last year

Got out for a ride today around 1pm or so. NOT near as hot as it has been, some nice cloud cover for almost the whole ride. Rode down SR19 south of Palatka to the barge canal bridge and turned around. I've only ridden over the bridge a few times over the years. There is NO shoulder over the bridge and its very scary with the log trucks, dump trucks and other semi trucks flying by. Then rode back west on SR20 towards home. Ended up riding 28.23 miles all together. Was a pretty good ride even when I thought the head wind was gonna WIN.... lol

Ohhh I got about 2miles from home and the sun came out and the temps started going up faster than I could ride...

6/30
18.5 miles today. I took some instructions from one of TSIs post and made a handle bar mount for my camera. I took about 40 picture (2048 x 1536 size) and most of them came out pretty well. I think I had to delete about 6 of them due to camera shake. I plan to try it again tomorrow with some different settings (640 x 480 size). I hope to be able to use the video feature of the camera as well. I was riding about 10/12 mph when I took these photos. (Photos right to left) photo 1 is the entrance to the Seminole Wekiva Trail at the San Sabastion Trail Head. Photo 2 is the entrance to the Seminole Softball Complex. Photo 3 is the entrance to the bike tunnel under SR 434 a very dangerous intersection.

594 miles this month
3479 miles this year
111 ride days TY vs 113 ride days LY
4020 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 46% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August
272 miles ahead of this date last year

Very cool pics..... I really really was going to take a few pictures today.... But it is such a pain to take the phone out (5mp camera on the new phone, takes great pics) from under the seat, take it out of the ziplock (looked like rain on my ride... never got rained on but did ride a bit on wet roads) take the pics and put it all back away.... I really need to get a cheap camera... DOH!!

7/1
32 miles today. Still playing with the camera mount. Below are some photos from today's ride as seen through the eyes of my bike. I had to take a pix of the guy on the trike (that may be my next ride if I can get the wife's permission:rolleyes:) I generally get off of the trail and ride about a 3 mile section through an area called Heathrow. Pretty upscale neighborhood and way beyond my pocketbook.

32 miles this month
3511 miles this year
112 ride days TY vs 114 ride days LY
3988 miles needed to hit 2010 goal (7500 miles)
I am @ 46% of my goal. I need to be @ 66.6% (5000 miles) by the end of August

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...014510&thumb=1http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...014536&thumb=1http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...014564&thumb=1http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...014585&thumb=1http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...014608&thumb=1http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...014631&thumb=1

284 miles ahead of this date last year

The camera mount cost me about $3.00 to make and you can buy good digital cameras for about $150 these days. Having the camera mounted on the bars is really the way to go. I took 86 pictures today and never stopped for any of them. I had about 6/8 that were not any good for one reason or another. Those you just delete and keep on shooting. I reset my camera to not be in power saver mode so I did go through 2 sets of rechargeable batteries today. I will probably get bored with this in a few days but what the heck I am enjoying it now.:lol:

17.something miles w/ Trace Bike shop group ride this evening, it was fun to be able to catch up with some folks I have not seen since the MS150 ride in October.

So far as cameras, I think my wife paid $100 for my 8mp nikon coolpix - mine has a lanyard on it that I leave hanging out of my left jersey pocket (lefty) and I reach back, put my wrist through it and pull the camera out - turn it on and snap away... though I usually do stop to take pictures so I can get them just right, and often I see "the shot" as I'm riding by and turn around for it.