Category Archives: Training

Final Shakedown & Thanks

Posted on by
1

Today started off on a mixed note. I spent most of yesterday re-packing my B.O.B. trailer for our last training ride today. I don’t know where all that stuff came from but my B.O.B. was way over-stuffed. The center of gravity was too high and when Bob and I took off I felt shaky on the bike for the first time.

We were a little late to join the group that we ride with so we just rode south. I was still feeling a little shaky and when we got to Floral City, and my back tire looked a little soft. Duh, over-packed and a soft tire makes for an unstable ride.

My B.O.B. is bigger than your B.O.B. - not a good thing

Bob continued south while I changed my tire. I put on the new tire and tire liner I have been carrying for our trip. When Bob returned we went to breakfast at Shamrock.

When we came out of Shamrock’s there was a small bag of goodies with a card stuck on my B.O.B. A gift from Cindy and Regis for our trip. Kind of made my whole day.

Goody Bag Surprise

Bob then told me he had a gift from Mary & Rick and Mari & Jerry for me, what a nice group of people to think of us in that way; really means a lot. Thank you guys and girls!

Thoughtful gifts for cyclists from Mary & Rick, Mari & Jerry, and Regis & Cindy

Bob’s brother in Rhode Island also sent us very bright bike shirts for our ride. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

Can You "See Me? Wear" Jerseys

Cheryl (my Beautiful Bride ) has been working hard on getting our web site up for the trip and it looks great, I am one lucky guy.

Oh! One other gift I received: my sister did some needle-point on a jacket for me for the ride. I drew-up the design and she did a fantastic job of making it something I can be proud to wear.

Joann, Me and the great jacket logo she embroidered for me

After the ride Bob helped me re-pack my stuff and I feel much more confident my B.O.B. won’t be over-loaded now. So a day that started off a little shaky ended up pretty good.

Training: 2nd Overnight

Posted on by
4

Dunnellon, FL <—> Manatee Springs State Park, FL

Bob and I took off from Dunnellon yesterday for an overnight tent camping at Manatee Springs Park. It was a 50+ miles ride each way and pretty flat, no hills.

Everything went well until about 1.5 miles from our camp site after we already entered the park when I got a flat tire, my first flat so far in our training.

The woman staffer at the Park entrance said to watch for the fireflies at night. Manatee Springs is a very nice park and I plan on taking Cheryl and Shadow there sometime. The weather looked dark, there was a forecast for thunder storms, so first we set up our tents.

Campsite, Bike, Tents

It did sprinkle a little but no storm. The park had a clean restroom and hot showers which we enjoyed. After cooking some food we walked around the park and enjoyed the scenery, crystal clear water in the river and watching the wildlife.

Manatee Springs State Park

There is no phone signal there or WiFi. I had used my Spot GPS, set on tracking, so Cheryl could see our progress on her computer. She was able to see that we had reached the park ok. I like using the Spot GPS just for that reason. When you can’t call on the phone to let  someone know that you reached your destination, the GPS does it for you. I wrote Cheryl an email on my iTouch, even though I knew I couldn’t send it.

It was getting dark so I went to my tent to settle in for the night. Bob called me and said that the fireflies were out; something so small was a treat for us. The fireflies looked so bright, like little strobe lights. Really neat, I think.

This morning when we got up there were deer walking around, about 50 or 75 feet from our tents. I just love to watch wildlife up close. I grabbed my camera and took some video of the deer as a little boy from another camp site tried to walk up to the deer. Awesome.

After we packed up our gear we headed for Chiefland to get some breakfast. About 25 miles from Dunnellon, halfway there, we stopped for a break and as I was stopping, I couldn’t unclip my foot from the pedal and down I went. I hadn’t done that in awhile, ouch. Good lesson to make me aware to unclip before I stop.

All and all it was a good trip. Great to see my Beautiful Bride and Shadow again.

______________

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming, “WOW!! WHAT A RIDE TO GLORY!!”

 

Training: 1st Overnight

Posted on by
2

Inverness, FL < — > Hillsborough River State Park, FL

Dick Marr, leader of our group, the Withlacoochee Bicycle RIders, came up with the idea of over an overnight camping trip to Hillsborough River State Park. This would be a great shake down for our upcoming cross country bike ride. It would be a 60 mile one way trip with a couple of hills for fun :-)! We could check to see that we packed everything we will need on our cross-country trip as well as setting up and taking down our tents. Plus the 120 miles in 2 days would be another test of our readiness.

We started, as usual for our Thursday group ride, from Wallace Brooks Park and met for breakfast. The Group then departed north back to Wallace Brooks and Bob, Dick and I headed south for Hillsborough. Jerry, Mari and Mary and Rick hung around to see us off.

Some of the Withlacoochee Bicycle Riders Group

The hardest part of the trip was this hill. It doesn’t look like much from this angle, but it was bad.

"The HILL"

This is where Bob found out his gearing on his bike was not right for our trip. Good to find it now than later. He now has a different bike with the right gearing. Another bad thing about this hill was there was no shoulder and traffic came very close.

Dick in the lead, Bob right behind, going into Hillsborough State Park

Dick setting up his tent.

Dick's and my tent are up, Bob working on his. Bob since has added hooks to his tent which makes for a faster set up.

This first overnighter was a great learning experience, for me anyway.
Thanks, Dick!

Spot GPS Map of Our Route Below:


View First Overnight Ride in a larger map