Christmas Week in Bonita Springs

Friday December 25th

The week of Christmas has been very busy here in Bonita Springs.  I closed on my NJ house and am now officially a non-NJ homeowner!  It was a very long day and needed some holiday cheer so my neighbor Angela and I drove to a section of Naples called Victoria Park to see their holidays lights.  Every street had a theme and it took over an hour to see all the houses and the lights.   Here are some photos

 This street had the arches of lights at every other mailbox.  It was awesome!

 Very patriotic

This place is definitely worth the drive. 

On Christmas Eve a few of us got together in the morning to ride and decided to head out towards Ave Maria so that we would have a headwind on the Joeout and a tailwind on the way back.

 Me , Joe and Bob

I have to ask Rudolph how to cut down on wind resistance with those antlers!!

On Christmas Day, Bruce and Diane, who are here for a visit, invited me to Christmas brunch.  My neighbor Marci didn't have a place to go on Christmas so she came with me.

 The ladies.   Meg, me, Diane and Marci.   Bruce, Bob and a neighbor of Bruce's....Tony....were also in attendance and made the day enjoyable as well!

Those antlers just keep following my head!   Thank goodness Christmas is over and the antlers will be gone for another year.   Thank you Bruce and Diane for a yummy brunch and great company and conversation!

Thanks to all for a wonderful Christmas Day and may we keep smiling and be thankful for great health and wonderful friends.

Snow in Bonita Springs??

Wednesday 12/2/15

Who says there is no snow in FL?   Bah humbug.  So what if it's fake snow.  One of my good friends here, Angela , and I attended the tree lighting in downtown Bonita Springs on Tuesday 12/1.  I had heard about this fake snow thing but I had to see it to believe it. 

Behind the spray of ice there were two guys loading bags of ice into a wood chipper.  You can see the stream of ice being directed into a gated area for kids to have ice snowball fights!

The place of ice snowballs as it was being streamed into this gated area.  The held the kids back until it was filled with enough ice.

Here are some other photos from the event.

It was like a carnival complete with lights.....and of course.....food

 My friend Angela covered in fake snow....which was soap bubbles being spit out of some type of blower machine.

The glasses had blinking lights.  I just happen to stand in front of a lighted tree and look at the effect. Too funny.  It looks like I am thinking and my head is smoking!



On Wednesday night , 12/2, the community where I live had their own tree lighting ceremony.  Here are some photos from that event.

The arrival of Mr. & Mrs. Claus...

Special guest.....

The Grinch himself.

I was able to get up close and personal with him!!

 This is what he gave out as a gift.  It was chocolate disguised as coal.   Read the tag....very cute.


And of course....the Claus's as well.

I got a solid chocolate Santa from them.   Yummy.

It's been a lot of fun these past few days.  Getting in the Christmas spirit.......are you?

The Day After the Horrible Hundred

Monday November 16th

Nevada ( Laura) and I had planned to do another ride the day after the event if we had enough left in our legs.   It would be a short ride as I needed to get on the road and head back home after being away for three days.

Our goal was to climb Sugarloaf Mountain.  The hard way has a 13% climb but is shorter than the more gentle climb in the opposite direction.  We were brave and decided to climb up the steeper side.

This is the hard climb at 13%.  It was the best shot I could get.....although far away from the start of the climb....due to sun glare.

We both made it to the top without having to walk.......woohoo!

At the top there is a resident who puts out water for cyclists.  Although he is not a rider he makes sure that water container is out there every day.  The only thing he asks is if the container is empty to walk around the side of the house and refill it.   What a nice person.

The sign points to the water container and says.....Help yourself.

He doesn't require it but there is box for donations to the Wounded Warriors.  So far since July he has raised $1,400. 

We finished with 24 miles and 1,800 ft of climbing.   Not bad for a short ride.  When in Clermont you have to do hills!

The Horrible Hundred

Sunday November 15th

This is a ride not to miss.  It's in central Florida and has hills.   Yes.....you heard me right....hills in Florida!  I had to come and see it and ride it for myself.

This is a very organized ride with lots of vendors on both Saturday and Sunday and the ability to pick up your registration materials on Saturday if you pre-register.  There are 35...really 38....70....really 75 and 100 mile rides in the hills.  This is a challenging   ride with lots of elevation and is hosted by the Florida Freewheelers out of Waterfront Park in Clermont.

Nevada Laura...my riding buddy from NJ who is now staying in Florida.... and I did the 38 mile ride and finished with 2,780 feet of climbing.

The 38 mile route complete with elevation and direction of the ride.  First time I have ever seen a cue sheet with the direction of the ride!

My ride number

They usually have a mass start but they changed that this year.  Thank goodness.  They had 1,900 pre-registered riders.


Each of the rest stops had a theme.  Unfortunately I was only able to experience one since Nevada and I did the shorter ride.  The theme for this ride was a Biker Bar.  70's music in the background and volunteers dressed up as motorcylists with tattooed arms....very clever!

The rest stop was at the Green Mountain Scenic Overlook & Trailhead

A built in bike pump near the bathrooms.  How convenient.

My riding buddy!!



There was one special rider at this rest stop.  He was paralzyed and was riding with hand cranks.  I will think twice again before complaining about doing a hill.  Kudos to him!

Here is a Florida hill.

Five miles from the finish I had a flat....the third one in three weeks. Ugh....  One of the gals behind me worked at the bike shop and took my back tire off and found a metal wire in the tire which she couldn't get it out so they called the sag.  However, three guys came by and one of the guys, Joe, was determined to get that piece out of the tire and get me back on the road which he did.  I was able to finish the ride thanks to Joe I sent the sag on its way.....without me.  People are so nice here....and very helpful. 

The finish line.

Once back I was able to get the one of the guys from the Florida Freewheelers....sponsors of the ride....to change the front tire.   Yes....I said the front tire.  Back tire was in better condition than the back....there was bubbling in the front tire,,,and a piece missing on the sidewall.... which required it to be changed.  Thank you to Chris who changed it for me!


I highly recommend this ride to anyone considering a visit to Central Florida.  Clermont is approximately 45 minutes from Disney.  It's a cyclist's paradise for anyone who enjoys riding in the hills.

Veteran's Day Ride

Sunday November 8th

It's been a while since I blogged.  It's been a adjustment to re-entry into the Florida life....and cycling.  It's been hot......hotter than it should be for this time of year and an adjustment to flat riding and pace lines.

Today there was an organized event for Veteran's.  Instead of going to a breakfast which seems a popular option here I decided to ride my bike in honor of them.  The ride was escorted in the front by a hummer and a police car in the rear.  We rode along US 41 and occupied one full lane.  Seventy eager faces willing to ride in the heat of the day for 55 miles at a pace of 20-22 mph.  Scary for sure....at least for me.  However, you just can't believe the draft you get from a hummer.....

The Southwest Florida cycling club.....in our new jerseys and shorts.   The dog in the front belonged to a paratrooper who provided one of the sag vehicles.  This dog was rescued from dog fighting in Immokalee, FL years ago and had only three legs but could run with the best of them....and such a happy pup   His name was Jake and we adopted him as our mascot for the day.

The dog and his sag wagon that was provided for us.

At the start of the ride getting ready but stopping for a quick photo.

The end of the ride rest stop.  We had hamburgers and hot dogs to go with the beer or soda.

The regular menu.


We also had a stop at mile 24 and it was manned by the Tour de Cure members.  Well stocked rest stop complete with smiling faces.  Unfortunately it was a quick stop so I wasn't able to get a photo.  

The Birthday Ride

September 26th, 2015

Today was my birthday...and a milestone one at that....60 yrs old.  I decided it was time to do a 60 mile ride for 60 years of age. Since I like the hills Joe M. found an old route of mine and tweeked it a bit due to current poor road conditions or closed roads.  Thank you Joe!

The day was cloudy and windy and I never really warmed up the entire ride.  That's unusual.  Thanks to Ron S. for arm warmers he gave me a few weeks ago. We met at my house and Joe M. brought a little gift from Edie and himself.  Laura rode up with Jim B and also had a nice gift of bling for me.  Thank you all for that. 

We left right around 9 AM as planned and rode to Sergentsville to our first rest stop.  Once on the road again we headed back to ride over the Sourlands on our way back home before we stopped for a second rest stop and then back to my house to finish the ride.

The gang on the ride today.....minus Tom H..

We celebrated with a ice cream cake and it was the end to a great ride!  Thanks to everyone who made my day special.

So what about these 60 years.  Cycling has been a big part of my life the last 18 years of them.  It has taught me self-confidence and helped me to meet some very wonderful people along the way.  It has given me a reason to travel to Europe as well as to many national parks and other US cities to explore.  It doesn't get any better than that.  

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me over the years to keep riding.

The Ride for McBride

September 20, 2015

I was lucky enough to still be in NJ to do this yearly event which is in honor of one of own Princeton Freewheeler's and our friend who lost his life while cycling five years ago this November.  No one knows what really happened but it really doesn't matter does it?  What matters is that we lost a good friend.  The family, especially his son, who gives a speech about his dad each year at this event is still emotional as are the rest of his family and the cyclists who attend this ride.   Jim B has blogged about his ride and I will include a link to his blog page which will describe the ride and has photos from the day's event.


http://seemingverb.blogspot.com/2015/09/mcbride-2015.html


May you rest in peace our dear friend Joe McBride knowing that you are very missed but not forgotten.

Wine Tasting at Old York Cellars

Friday September 18th

A few friends and I decided to do a bit of wine tasting of the NJ wines at Old York Cellars Winery.  It is an estate winery which means that all the grapes used in the wines are grown on the premises.  Along with the wines they paired  chocolates with different percentages that were to be matched with each wine.  They also have a series called "What Exit is This."   There is a wine from this series in white, red and dessert wines.  I tried the "What Exit is This" from the red series that was exit 98 on the Garden State Parkway which is Spring Lake and another red that was Exit 6 ( the turnpike maybe??)which represented Trenton.   The wines are decent and this is one of  few winery's in NJ in my opinion that are worthwhile to visit for tastings.

http://www.oldyorkcellars.com/

Here are some photos from my visit

Enjoying a glass of Trenton Red on the patio of the winery. 

 The vineyards

 The building and vats where the grapes are fermented

It was a beautiful day to enjoy a glass of wine on the patio and look at the Sourland Mountain range where we often ride.