Monday Morning; Rain-Out

Here we are, looking out of the garage at the rain ruining any chance of our Monday morning ride.  Not you much earlier we had received a call from the local ringleader, stating that "Heaven had spoken" and today's ride was cancelled due to weather.

So the bike is mounted on the car, the bags are packed and we're waiting for the last laundry load in the dryer to finish and we'll slosh our way south on I-75 back to Tampa.

Sunday's Ride...

It was cold this morning when we left home to pedal to the starting point: 51 degrees and breezy.  Jackets and tights were a must for the beginning of the ride, although by the end I had shed the jacket and was seriously considering to lose the tights as well.

We opted for the longer of the two routes this morning, a route that always seemed to have a sharp wind blowing at us and plenty of rolling hills to get the leg muscles by the end of the ride.  Whoever said that Florida was flat has never gone bike riding east of The Villages.

By the time we had finished the ride and were safely back home we had a total of 50 miles pedalled.  I might add that the flags were sticking straight out from their poles; that's how brisk the wind has been ALL day!

Valerie wasn't hungry but I was... so I'm sitting in a near-by Chinese buffet doing what I do best.  Oink, oink!

The Rally Officially Begins...

Saturday morning arrived looking like rain was going to be the order of the day… the sky was dark and gloomy, a light rain was falling and the roads were wet. I wondered whether we’d even have much of a ride, perhaps opting for one of the shorter routes so we wouldn’t have to ride in the drizzle for any longer than we had to. (The people in the photo are getting ready for the start of the rally; notice the wet pavement in the parking lot!)

But as we pedaled toward the hotel to join up with the other riders for the start, the rain stopped. The road started drying out bit by bit, and there was a hint of blue sky peeking through the clouds every now and then. They were saying that the rain was probably over for the day… so we decided to go ahead and take the 62 mile loop and go for the gusto. After all, today is Valerie’s birthday and what could possibly say “I Love You” more than pedaling as far as possible?

As seems to be the norm, we started off with everyone but after 15 miles found ourselves very much alone… bringing up the rear once again. I never thought that riding at an average of about 15mph was slow, but I suppose I need to reevaluate that assessment being that we never seem to be able to keep up with the pack…

One of our highlights today was having a black bear cross the road in front of us when we were riding through the most rural portion of today’s course. We tried to stop and get the camera out, but the noise we created caused the bear to run for the cover of the dense plant life growing very close to the edge of the road. We pedaled past the point where he crossed the road but couldn’t see any sign of him.

We were surprised when the rest stops that were mentioned on our cue sheets turned into nothing more that convenience stores along the route… and the owner of one apparently wasn’t too warmed up to the idea of people just waltzing in to use the bathroom without making a purchase of some kind (not that I blame him, really). It was time for a Snickers bar anyway…

Lunch was served at a community center that was about 10 miles prior to the end of the route, and we surprised ourselves by making it there in time to have the box lunch that was prepared by Arby’s, surprisingly. And the sandwich that was part of the meal (walnut chicken salad, I believe) was actually very well made.

Lunch was over, and we fought 10 miles of a headwind back to the start/finish point (just to say we rode the whole course, and then pedaled back “home”… hitting the 70 mile mark as we rolled into the driveway.

Tonight is the banquet for the tandem riders, and it’s being held (conveniently) at a center about a quarter of a mile from where we’re staying. Sweet! We could actually walk there if we want to… depending on how the legs are feeling by then!

Friday Frolics...

Friday morning started out with rain – enough to push back the start time for our ride to 11:00 AM. Several of the “regulars” were there this morning, along with some tandem teams that had just arrived for the Florida Tandem Rally. There were going to be two groups riding the shorter loop; one “fast” group and one “slow” group. We overheard the leaders of the fast group say that they were going to keep the pace at around 18mph for the slower riders, and figured that meant us. (It also meant we could ride with the fast group.)

This lasted for about one third of the ride, and then the pace just kept picking up, bit by bit, until we could no longer keep up. To make matters worse, a poorly worded cue sheet had a few of us stragglers turning onto a circular road 2 miles before we were supposed to… so while we’re riding in a clockwise direction, the main pack of tandem cyclists went whizzing by us in a counter clockwise direction… smiling and waving (and no doubt wondering why we were going the wrong direction).

We probably lost a mile of total distance, but in the end it was still a good ride… relatively fast for our abilities, but nice to know that we could keep up with “the older kids” at least for a little while.

I’m writing this at 2:00 PM (don’t know when I’ll be by a wi/fi hotspot to post it). The official registration for the tandem rally begins at 3:00 PM today, and we’re expecting Valerie’s sister and grandmother to show up here sometime around 4:00 so they can all visit with each other. Tomorrow comes the longest ride of our stay, weather permitting!

Thursday Came and Thursday Went...

Thursday started off well… and then things went a little downhill. We met up with the group for their usual 8:30 AM ride, and managed to hang on to them for the first couple of miles. Then we decided we were too warm with our coats on, and slowed down while trying to get them off.

By the time we had doffed the excess warmth and Valerie was able to stuff both of our coats into the pannier, the group was already down the hill and up the other side. When we crested that same hill, the group was out of sight. Throw in the fact that I don’t know the way their course runs, along with going through a round-about and having to guess which direction to go… well, game over… I lost.

We were on our own for the morning ride, and looped around a large circuit that I knew was part of their route in the hope we might intersect them somewhere along the way. Nope… didn’t happen. So we rode until about the time that they would usually arrive at the end point of their ride by Panera Bread and met them just as they were pulling up. It seems that nobody realized we dropped off the back as fast as we did, and by the time they realized we were gone they could see us any easier than we could see them. No biggie… we still had a decent ride albeit alone.

After the coffee and snack break we followed one of the riders over to their new home and got to take the tour… wow. Other than there being six or seven tandems occupying an immaculate four car garage, there was the small matter of their large house. Again… wow, but this time with more feeling!

As with many homes here, there is a large screened patio off the back of the house, or as some of the folks seem to call it here – the birdcage. I realized that I was out of my element when I walked into “the birdcage” and came to the conclusion that it was as big as our whole house! Add another “wow” with a slightly deflated tone to it… maybe mixed with a slight sigh.

We later met the group for a late Mexican lunch (or early dinner…) and when we were done enjoying their company, got to go and witness another ultra-impressive home. This one was essentially the same floor plan as the one we marveled at earlier, but there were different tweaks and design options that just blew us away.

Kids… when your parents tell you to study hard, there’s a reason! We saw a couple of them today. Wow.

...The Rest of Wednesday!

We left the house about 3:00 PM and rode in to Sumpter Landing (one of the town squares in The Villages) where I was able to snag some wi/fi at the local Starbucks and work on this blog, download e-mail and generally look like a dork sitting inside the coffee house with my laptop.

As you can see from the photo, we drove the golf cart into town! How upscale are we now?

We decided to go visit the sales office to see what sort of arm-twisting tactics they might employ. All in all, things were easy and we went out and looked at a couple homes that might be in our price range. The wheels are turning… we really would like to live here and the fact that there are several tandem bicyclists here is a real draw for us.

Time will tell…

Wednesday... So Far!

Wednesday has been an overcast, yet comfortable day that saw us meet up with the local tandem riders for their usual 22 mile ride. After doing the social ride, and enjoying a break at Panera Bread, we continued on alone to do 28 more miles just to bring our daily total to an even 50. It’s been a while since we’ve ridden that much, usually hitting the 40 mile mark when we’ve had a day off in Boise.

I think part of the “problem” is that in Boise we hardly ever leave our house before 10:00 AM, and then have an hour’s drive just to get to the Treasure Valley (where Boise is located) to ride. In Florida, we’ve been getting up at 6:30 AM and heading out the door shortly after 8:00 AM to meet up with the other tandem riders by 8:30 AM – their departure time for the ride.

We were done riding right around 1:00 PM, which in some cases is when we actually get started when we’re at home! It’s 2:55 PM as I write this and I’ve already cleaned up, gone out to lunch (driving the golf cart) and then returned home to work on this blog entry. I could get used to this…

While riding along Buena Vista Boulevard in the southernmost part of The Villages this morning, we spotted a bald eagle perched atop a street lamp. I brought the bike to a stop in order to take a picture; as soon as Valerie handed me the camera he flew off and landed in a nearby field. So, in case you’re wondering… the picture that doesn’t appear with today’s blog entry shows a bald eagle on top of a lamp post. Really. You’ll just have to trust me on this one!

[View a map of The Villages]

Visiting Grandma...

We had a good visit with Valerie's grandmother, driving into Gainesville to do some shopping and catch dinner at a Red Lobster (not our first choice for sea food, but it was right along the route back to the freeway... so what the heck!

Grandma loves crab legs, so that's what she had.  Notice the blurring of the hand as she's going for those crab legs at full speed!

Tuesday So Far...

We met some of the tandem riders at The Villages for a brisk 28 mile ride this morning.  Again, we were the absolute last people back at the start/finish area!  There were two other tandem teams that hung back with us, claiming they were slower than the rest.  But they were still faster than us!

We are now somewhere near the town of Archer, and are going to take Valerie's grandmother out for shopping  and dinner, probably in Gainesville.  That's them in the picture...

In Florida!

The last time I really did any blogging, it was for the benefit of my mother (who enjoyed reading of our exploits any time we took a vacation). She's no longer around to read them, but I might still have a friend or two that might be vaguely amused with our adventures, so for that person... here we go again!

It's Monday night in The Villages, Florida, and I'm sitting in a Starbucks working on a mocha and this blog entry... and I'm finding the mocha much more satisfying! The sun is down, and the village square is hopping with people milling about, most of whom are 55 years of age or older, as this is a retirement community (a HUGE one).

We flew in to Tampa on Sunday, arriving at Valerie's father-in-law's house around 5:00 PM. I immediately set to work getting the tandem out of the case and reassembled, and by 7:00 PM we were on the road to the Hard Rock Casino for dinner. Valerie covered the money we both invested in the slot machines, and walked away with about $20 more than we started with. That's better than the usual outcome!

The plan was to get up this morning and hit the road, so we'd have most of the day to ride. But my father-in-law's computer was giving him some problems in the e-mail department, he had gone with a new provider a couple of weeks earlier and to top it off we discovered that the phone numbers had been botched. The one that was to be disconnected was still in service, and the one that was supposed to become the primary business number wasn't working... leaving us to wonder if over the last couple of weeks any potential clients called, only to get a “number not in service” recording.

Anyway, after working with that all morning and getting a new e-mail client set up along with the new account and the old (and making sure that all the addresses were able to send and receive), we finally hit the road around 2:30 PM. My usual homing pigeon instincts were not at work today, and I blew right past the exit that I needed to get off of I-75 and onto a smaller country road. (Okay... I just didn't recognize the landmarks. Senility, perhaps? I'm in the right place...)

I did recognize the next exit, and knew exactly how to navigate my way back to The Villages by finding US 301 South... and the rest is history. We made it, opened up the house and quickly got on the bike and got in a paltry 15 miles before the sun went down. Tomorrow will hopefully be a little better for us in the mileage department. The more riding we get in before Friday, the better. The reason we're here is for the Florida Tandem Rally, put on by the Florida Panthers. (A tandem club here in the state.)

And the photo? These are the two other forms of transportation that we use when we're not on the tandem. There are a lot of folks who drive golf carts here, and I'm more than happy to join their ranks! So... until next time... here's wishing folks in cooler climates the best! We're enjoying having a final taste of near-summer temperatures!