oceanrider and I did a sucessful training run today in fact so sucessful we couldn't stop in Delray and ended up going clear to South Palm Beach.I estimate oceanrider did 40-41 miles and I did 62-63 miles(counting the ride in and back to A1A).I will let her post a trip report but it was definately an enjoyable ride.

RWTD and I met just into Palm Beach County from the Broward Line at a little market which is a favorite rest and relax area among the local cyclists. He had already been riding some time and was ready for a rest so we hung out in their comfy chairs under an umbrella by the beach for around 40 minutes or so.

The plan was to ride to Atlantic Blvd. and back which would have been a 20 miler with a couple rest stops in between. It was around 9:30 am when we left the market. The first stop was a pavillion on the ocean about 5 miles out where I took advantage of the public shower. The sun was shining and it was promising to be a hot one. From there we rode to our destination where there's a campy boardwalk with little french cafes and touristy type stores. After an espresso and croissants, I thought we were heading back and that was the end of that. WRONG!!

He had in mind this jetty park which was just a "little ways" away. A little ways away took us around another 10 miles, a public beach with an eatery to rest, absolutely the most obscenely gorgeous real estate on this coast that must rival the Pacific Coast Highway and a long hard rain/thunderstorm that both refreshed and was a pain in the butt. RWTD had to be reigned in as he wanted to keep going North but the day was wearing on and we had to turn around.

We were definitely dragging on the way back and we made about 3 or 4 rest stops at bike friendly beach side rest areas. This was a nice leisurely no rush pace but on the way home it was becoming crucial to keep going. All in all, our joint ride took around 5 and a half hours.

so oceanrider....40/41 miles...how'd you feel afterwards? think you can do double that?

-mike

I could have done another 20 with the conditions as they were. On a cooler day I could double that. A larger group would help too.

Why didn't you say something?Palm Beach was in our sights lol.Seriously what stopped us was a torrential downpour that made us realize when it let up we should be heading back.

Yes, the women *do* say that when im riding in front of them they always feel they can push farther and pedal harder...

maybe it has do with my ass being in the air as i ride

:D

:eek:

I moved this cuz we got off topic. The original plan as I recall was to go up 27 and adjacent highways to the Gainesville area. Isn't that North Central Florida? I expect temps at night to drop down into the upper 50's at night and days in the 70's unless there's some arctic blast that comes through which at that time of year isn't entirely impossible. Check out weather.com Of course you've spent some time there so you know the area better than I.

BTW, how's your knee?

I just did a killer leg workout yesterday including heavy squats and romanian deadlifts and my knees were fine.As i recall on our ride I felt a slight twitch in one knee as we stopped for a break but that break must have loosened it up as I didn't experience it again for the rest of the ride.

Hey Carl, why don't you come out here and I'll put you through a work out! I biked through constant rain today. It was miserable but it kept me from taking many breaks. I think I had a total of 15-20 minutes worth of rest in 7 hours of cycling. 80 miles. Plus one hell of an incline at the end. Not bad for a day, I say!

Nice to know you guys are getting together pedaling. Keep it up!

Dave

Dave Glad to hear your enjoying the rain and inclines now.Actually I would love to spend some time in B.C. biking(and crosscountry skiing)and have thought of doing just that when I can get some time.The exchange rate makes the cost of living there a bargain and there are apparently a ton of cycle friendly hostels and I guess from your reports remote camping spots as well.By the way one of the forumers Tmayder just did a tour of the sunshine coast of B.C. which is just north of Vancouver and it was reportedly very scenic and challenging if you are interested.Now if we can just get Mike to stop working so hard (lol)we might get a tour of our own together .

Mike, working hard? I'll believe it when I see it! Maybe he just doesn't want to be on the bike. I can't see letting that nice shiny yellow bike just sit there without putting some miles on it. Its a shame.
Nice to hear you are pedaling hard. When are you going to upgrade your wheels? I think you deserve a nice bike with all the miles you seem to have been doing.

So the ride with Ocean Rider went well?

Dave

I think I'll be looking for a good touring bike and panniers this fall(hopefully there will be some bargains).Actually the bike works fairly well in Fl. but I would hate to take it on a seriuos tour with any sustained elevation changes.I'm sure I would notice the difference with a better bike though.oceanrider did very well and withcontinued training would definately be able to do a fall tour.However if we don't get more interest soon the whole Nov. No. Fl. tour may fall apart.At least its good to hear Mike is likely not becoming a workaholic lol.

Hey RWTD, where u b? Thanks for the thumbs up on the ride. I think the guys are kind of leary of an old hippy lady on two wheels??? and wanted you to be the guinea pig so to speak:rolleyes: Hey guys, he survived the ride but now he's MIA so I'm beginning to rethink that conclusion.

Anyway, I kind of doubt I'll be able to make any type of fall tour. Life happened and life costs bucks and time. I will be getting away this fall but I'll be flying and greyhounding just to see America and my grown son.

I survived.In fact on Wed. I did a 87 mile training run all the way to Palm Beach and back and stopped at that beach in Lantana next to the Ritz Carlton again(what a beautiful beach).What I almost didn't survive was a ride into Ft. Lauderdale Beach today with all the beautiful women lol.By the way touring can be done very cheaply.On our Fl. tour we spent exactly zero dollars on lodging/camping fees and on my Keys trip I spent a total of 5 dollars for primitive camping one night.That is a total of 5 dollars for 10 nights and probably close to 1000 miles.If you buy all your food at grocery stores you will probably spend less than if you stayed at home and the exercise is much better. Let me know if you want to do another A1A training run maybe we can generate a little more interest this time( hint hint others)

I just did a breakthrough ride all the way to Jonathon Dickenson State Park north of Jupiter and back in one day.This is 134 miles per mapquest but I added a few more miles on off route diversions so I would say it was 135-140.My other long rides were 80-100 miles max .I was surprised how well I felt on the return and actually finished strong. Basically I rode up in the morning spent the afternoon around Jupiter and rode back in the evening.As I had never been on the stretch north of Palm Beach it was like a tour to me in fact if I had taken my tent I probably would have turned it into a weekend tour.We ought to try to get a weekend trip to JDSP together as it was really nice with loads of activities and I was also impressed with Jupiter Beach area my new favorite beach lol.

I don't think I can get to N Florida in Nov. but I'd love to do something a little more informal down here in S. Fla.
I need to do something pretty casual and it seems that the local club rides are a little too advanced for me right now. I'm not sure yet what my max distance is, but the wife and I did 15 miles Monday night without too much trouble. Probably could have done more.
The wife and I are planning to ride to Ft. Lauderdale Beach on Sunday morning (9/22) and head north. We live about 6 or 7 mi. from the beach so I don't know how far north we can go, but we are ready to push it a bit. We'll include a breakfast stop in there somewhere. We are cruising about 12 mph or so.
If anyone is going to be down that way Sun, maybe we can hook up and ride a bit.

ChipR

If anyone sees a blue Fuji Royale with a fit guy lumbering up and down the roads of Florida, it's probably RWTD. He reminds me of Forest Gump the way he keeps on going. A century and a half in a day is pretty amazing. And in the summer in Florida. You are one of the most driven cyclists I know when it comes to covering distance. It's truly a great accomplishment. I'm working on thinking... mind you just thinking... about training for a METRIC century. My riding has been taking the form of commuting to and from school and wherever I need to go which is absolutely not the same as rec riding. I truthfully don't feel much like rec riding after commuting. Still, I know I need the regular workout I get from a 10 or more mile regular rec ride.

I'm sorry to bail but I don't see myself doing any touring this fall. Money's tight now that I'm going to school full time again and my focus is just elsewhere. If things change, I'll post.

oceanrider just ride to have fun not train for anything specific.If you get a good base of 40 mile rides in which I know you can do you will be in a position to do a metric century ,tour or just further increase you local milage.Planning a tour without the base milage or experience riding on roads with heavy traffic probably seems overwhelming.As for the roads you are unconfortable on just take the sidewalks and gradually work on riding more on the roads as you get more confident (that is what I did).I actually did another 140 miler to JDSP(went about 2 miles past and turned around to top my previous milage)on Monday however my knee started acting up on the return trip.I made it back fine and as it didn't hurt off the bike even when I did a leg workout last night I started out today planning a more modest 90-100 miler.However at about 30 my knee really acted up and I got off and pushed the bike awhile to rest my knee.Anyway I turned around and made it back by gripping the handlebars real tight which seemed to take the stress off my knee.Anyway I guess I should do more modest milage for awhile to let my knee recuperate fully. Chip I may be interested in going into the beach on Sunday but I live more like 15 miles away. Maybe we could meet,gab a bit to eat, rde,whatever.oceanrider you interested you don't live that far away .A ride there and back would be a good training distance.I did remember the road just south of Pompano is real rough due to construction but the sidewalk is available.

Hey all, I started reading your posts, but 3 pages was way too much and dates a long time back... call me lazy, but what I really want to know is where you guys stand in organizing a tour here in Florida. I'm new to touring, still in the process of acquiring gear, but I ride almost everyday on key biscayne, so i can handle the miles. All I've been thinking lately is about getting on the bike and riding away, so you can count me in to whatever rides you guys can come up with. Best to all.

I'm still around here in No. Broward and interested in some touring in particularly maybe the long weekend type maybe say to Key West and back at any timeand then maybe a longer trip at some point if it can be organized.Mike hasn't been on the board in a while but I bet if we got something started he might be interested.oceanrider seems to be refocusing on school lately and hasn't been on the board for a while either maybe like with Mike if we got something organized she might have an interest.The weather is sure starting to get better I think the hot,rainy,humid season just officially ended .Dave said he would be interestd in a longer tour around Fl. when he gets back from his tour.I read where you wanted to try Baja Ca. Maybe some of us could meet Dave out in San Deigo and ride with him down that way.Just dreaming out loud as thats a long way away and I am not sure I could do it or not but it would sure be fun.

Cool, i still don't have all the gear i need, just the bike. I will start buying my gear by the end of the month (after i get my late tax refund). I plan to be all geared up by thanksgiving, when I plan to take a four day tour north of gainsville around the springs.
Meanwhile, the most I'll do are long day rides.
I'll be around.

Mike here...

I work at University of Miami now, so i dont have much time for rec riding...or riding much at all...its a shame. The weekends are off, but im usually recovering from the week of work...we'll see what happens, i wanna get out on the road again soon. Perhaps after i move out of my house ill have time.

Same boat as Mike. In addition to my studies, just took a part time mall job for the holiday season. Then in January I'm taking 15 credits so until summer when it's too hot to tour, I'm out.

The weather is still pretty hot with temps in the upper 80's but next week toward the end of the week it's supposed to cool down nicely for at least a few days. I'm definitely going to make it a point to find time to get out for some rec riding.

I look forward to doing some more miles in Florida in the future now that I have a decent knowledge of the touring game. Maybe another ring around the 'pond', Carl?
It would be nice to link up with some of the other BF Floridians that have surfaced.

Carl, I think one tour I'd like to try is going across the everglades like we did, and then after Arcadia, cutting up through the middle of Florida where all those lakes are. Just cycling clear up to the top or something.

Are any Florida bikers here a part of local bike clubs?

Dave