Airboat Ride in Everglades City

April 8, 2015

My family came for a visit the week after Easter.  Although we did many fun things I wanted to highlight our air boat ride in the Everglades City.  We chose Speedy Johnson's air boat since my brother recommended them.  It was a good choice.  Although we didn't see any alligators.....the water is too salty this time of year and the alligators are fresh water predators....we did see a raccoon and a dolphin.  The fun part of the trip was how fast the boat was speeding around the everglades.  I was sure glad that had noise resistance headphone for our ears.  We would have gone deaf with out them.

Steve.....our captain of the boat.  He was Coast Guard certified as we learned all boat captains have to be to operate an air boat.

Some other air boats we passed




And of course......

Rocky the raccoon.  Although he is nocturnal naturally in most other states he comes out at low tide looking for food.  People have trained him to beg.  Some of the people did feed him.  He stood up on his hind legs and begged for food from our boat but we had nothing to share.

Ride Cancelled on 4/15

Due to lack of attendance.....come on back Dennis, Bruce and Bob.....the Wednesday 4/15 ride is cancelled.

See you all next week if there is interest.

The Chocolate Bunny Ride

Friday April 3rd

Was I surprised to receive a package from Our Lady of the Perpetual Headwinds to remind me of tomorrow's Chocolate Bunny Ride.   Laura and I created this ride a number of years back.  It has become a tradition and each Easter weekend this ride takes place.  Barring any bad storms in NJ this ride will once again be done.  If you have never done the ride you owe it to yourself.....and your bike....to do this ride.  Check the ride book or contact Laura for the start time.

Laura has enhanced the ride over the years to include chocolate bunnies or eggs at the end of the ride to celebrate finishing the ride.  She has even added extra bunnies for jokes that merit a bunny.  I think John Kramarz is the top winner in this category....or at least he was on the last Chocolate Bunny ride I attended while living in NJ.

So Laura....package received and acknowledged. ( with the Homestead coffee beans as an added treat!!!)  It brought a smile to my face....and to my heart.  It makes me miss you all back in NJ and the fun times we had.

The best part below.....

The message from Laura....while private....did say that she and the gang will teach me how to climb hills again.   I have to say I am concerned about keeping up with the gang when I return for a long visit.  In Florida the only thing there is are flat roads.  Hopefully the wind training here will give me a little help when I come back to visit this summer.  Of course I will be on Seabiscuit ( my beater bike) which is heavier so I will have to use that excuse as much as I can while suffering on some of the most scenic hills in all of NJ!

Happy cycling until we meet this summer.  I plan to be in NJ from mid July until the second week of September thanks to a very kind person who will let me and my two girls, Cindy and Tracey, stay in their house.   What great friends I have. 

Thursday 3/27 ride to Naples

Thursday March 26th

This ride left from Naples Cyclery as usual and as usual Matt was late.  Too funny.  I am getting to expect him to be late for the start of the ride.   He is worth waiting for, though.  I also had a NJ visitor, Marty Killmer,  staying with me and I was able to rent a bike so that he could join the gang. 

The attendees were Marty, Bob Wood, Matt and myself.  I like those stats....3 guys and 1 gal.  I felt very protected.  In fact, Marty and Matt are both retired police officers so they had lots to talk about. 

We stopped at Naples Pier so that Marty could walk the pier and see the Gulf of Mexico.  He and Matt and Bob saw dolphins swimming around the pier.  It piqued my interest so when they got back I hurried down the pier to catch a glimpse of them.  I did see one but he was fast and I was not able to get a photo.  However I did get a photo of this.

It's a pelican.  Lots of them here.

One more photo at the pier.

Familiar faces, aren't they?  Matt on the left, Bob Wood in the center and Marty on the right. 

We rode to the end of Port Royale on Gordon Ave and returned via the fingers of Port Royale so that we could show Marty some of the stunning houses.

We stopped at Bad Ass Coffee.  Always something to see there.

My new car.....a Rolls Royce.   I keep getting it mixed up with a Bentley!

Very nice.


We ended with 32 miles and a very nice tailwind home.  The temps were in the 80's by the time we finished so it was just the right time to be finished.

Wednesday April 1st ride

The ride this week will on Wednesday at 8:30 AM from Naples Cyclery.  You would be a fool not to show up on April Fool's Day.  Approximate mileage will be 30 miles.  We will go to Naples and stop at our usual rest stop....Bad Ass Coffee.   Dennis....maybe they will have that special T-shirt for you on this visit!  If so you can be sure I will pick one up for you.

Ride on Thursday 3/26

The ride this week will move from Wednesday to Thursday.  Marty Killmer will be arriving Tuesday night late and he would like to ride with the SW FL PFW.   Therefore I need an extra day to find a bike rental and get him fitted for the bike.  We will leave Naples Cyclery on Thursday at 8:30 AM for a ride through Naples and of course the rest stop being Bad Ass Coffee. 

The Miracle Limbs in Motion Ride

March 21st, 2015

There are charity rides every weekend in this sunny state of FL.  I have limited myself to one a month but I am probably done for a while.   The Miracle Limbs in Motion ride was organized to raise funds for amputees.  There were several amputees which prosthetic limbs who did not ride but attended the event.  One of my neighbors lost his leg when a boat ran over him so I wanted to ride this ride for him.

The ride was very well organized with lots of food from local restaurants who donated the food.....or at least I think so.  I decided to ride with two of the riders from the TREK Naples Saturday morning ride and we did the 42 mile route.  The rest of that TREK group opted for the 62 mile ride.  It's now about enjoying the ride rather than speed and with fighting a cold it was definitely the right decision.  The other group rode at 25 mph for a good part of the ride which was exactly what I was not looking forward to doing.

We picked up two others....a husband ( Ross) and wife(Mary)... who lived in Sanibel....well were in the transition of moving from Chicago to Sanibel..  Now we were five and a very well oiled machine who understood drafting which gave us a good advantage to fight the little wind that was out there.  We ended up hooking with another group in the last five miles doing 23 mph.  Yikes.  Just what I wanted to avoid but it was only five miles.  It was the longest five miles I have ever ridden.   I hung on until the end....maybe because I wanted to get back to the start and of course......to the food! We exchanged phone numbers so that we can ride together in the future.

Now back to the charity ride.

My riding number

The route. 

It was a great ride but I was glad to be home at the end and take a long nap on the couch!