Another Humid Ride in Florida

September 13 2014

Woke up to very humid conditions and a good chance of rain but I went to the ride start just to check it out.  On the way....in the distance to the north near the beaches.....lightning brightened the dark morning sky.  It was only 6:30 AM.  The ride starts at 7 AM!

There were many eager faces ready to ride.  I am getting to know some of them by their names already.  Even before the ride started one flat.....ugh.   Concerned about the rain I just wanted to get going as we did after the flat was changed.

The group was choppy and disorganized with wide gaps between riders.   We eventually lost a good portion of the group and we didn't know why.  We went the usual route and stopped at Panera's in Coconut Point for a quick water break before heading back.  The group that we lost joined back with us as we started to head back to the TREK Naples store.  We found out that ther were two more flats from the same bike.  Ouch.  It turns out that there was a hole in the tire itself and a dollar bill inserted in the tire finally fixed the problem.   The ride picked up and the group broke down into two groups.  I stayed with the slower group.  We headed back and turned on Vanderbuilt Beach Road which is the "Speed Zone" which is equivalent to the Macho Mile coming back to Cranbury.   I was able to achieve 27.5 mph for a few seconds ( sorry Laura.....no proof/photo of that number on the speed odometer) but tonight my legs know I was pedaling that fast.

I also bought a rear blinking rechargeable light as a safety precaution for riding the Florida roads....even in the daylight.   Thanks TREK Naples for suggesting it.  Works like a charm and is very bright.

Here is the rest stop at the end of the ride.....37 miles.  The Second Cup

Treats in the display case.....Cake Pops

They have day old muffins ( Laura...I almost bought one in your honor but I couldn't finish it without you and Jim to help!)

I hope that the route will change from time to time.  This is the third week of the same route and I am getting bored. 

I decided to do extra miles at the end of the ride with one of the riders, Tom Donahue, who I met back in February when I first rode with this group.  He had ridden to the ride so I rode part of the way back to his rental home with him.   He will be moving here permanently soon and is having a house built within a mile of the TREK store.

We rode through Pelican Bay which has about 20 sub developments and great roads for riding.  I rode about 3 miles out and decided to turn back as I need to get back to run some errands before heading back to the girls who were waiting for me at home.

I ended up with 43 miles for the day.  Longest ride here so far!