This is the second time I have done this event. It's about a 3.5 hour drive from Bonita Springs and it was also a chance to visit with Nevada, my NJ riding friend who happens to have a house in Clermont, FL where the event happens each year and is hosted by the Florida Freewheeler's.
Nevada's new home in Florida
Chelsea, Nevada's silkie terrier. She was wearing a coat since it was so cold
I arrived on Saturday, the day before, to pick up the registration packet and to attend the bike expo which occurs both Saturday and Sunday. Nevada and I picked up our registration packet and we both purchased several items including a "Share the Road" jersey which supports safe cycling in the state of Florida.
The weather was expected to be very cold for Florida.....in the high 30's / low 40's. The latest start time for any ride was 9 AM as there was no mass start. At 9 AM the temperature was a balmy 44 degrees! I was cold even though I had brought enough warm gear to ride. The issue was that by the time we finished it would be close to 60. How you do dress for that??
Here are some photos from the event.
Getting ready for the ride. Can you tell it's cold??
The rest stop at Green Mountain Scenic Overlook
A fashion faux pax. Capri's with booties
Guess who we saw at the event? Snowflake the Paratrooper's three legged dog from the 2015 Veteran's ride
There was a sign that I wish I could have taken a photo of but we were in the middle of the climb. It was after we came out of the rest stop. It said....."Are We Having Fun Yet" Too funny but just what I was thinking.
A view of the lake around Waterfront Park
The finish line
We did the wall.....a 14 % climb which is the same climb Joe b, Leslie, Liz and Dave C did on the Mount Dora ride. In the end we ended up with 36 miles with 2300+ ft of climbing. Nevada and I had a vegetarian lunch, walked around the expo one more time and decided to head back to her house on our bikes. That added another 4 miles and 200 ft of climbing. It was a great ride and if you have never done this ride I highly recommend it. I did make a suggestion to the event organizer to add a 50 mile option. To go from 35 miles to the next ride level at 70 miles is tough for Florida Flatlanders that don't do hills regularly. Let's see what happens next year.
On Monday Nevada and I did a short 19 mile ride with 1400 ft of climbing before I headed back to Bonita Springs. There are very few places you can go on a bike in Clermont without a climb being part of the ride. Many of the climbs are about an 8-10% grade but the last one we did was Skyridge Drive with a 14 % grade. Since we didn't have time to do Sugarloaf Mountain at 14%....this was its replacement.
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