Well I just looked at my odometer and it reads 15,303 miles and I'm still not out of Florida. I've been doing a lot of riding around the cul d' sac and other places in Florida though. I've made several one day trips to Gainesville, Fl. where Michelle lives. On New Year's day 2009 Brett joined me and we did the trip in just over 7 hours for the 142.5 mile route, averaging just under 20 miles per hour for the ride. I've also joined the Suncoast cycling club here in Pinellas County. They're a good group to ride with on Saturdays and Sundays. Normally do 50 plus miles per outing with them. It's a little easier doing the group rides since you can draft in the peloton. We ride a different route each time but stay relatively close to home.
Since January, 2006 I've had two additional accidents that hurt my bike, and I've also had two surgeries one to fix my left knee which I injured bowling with the grandkids and the other to fix my big butt which I injured sitting on it too much. My weight has decreased to 265 but I was as low as 250 last fall. This past winter was unseasonably cold and windy and my hibernation added an additional 15 to the poundage. Due to the bike accidents and wear over time I've replaced most of the parts on my Specialized Sequoia. I have new wheels, new handle bars, a new saddle, new shifters, new clipless pedals and shoes, a new front sprocket (3 gears), and a new cassette (8 gears) on the back. Thank goodness the frame has held up.
In July, 2009 Margie gave me permission to do a multi-day ride outside the state of Florida. The ride is the RedSpoke, Redmond to Spokane ride. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Debbie and Scott Phillips will be going along as well as Tim Arnold. I've mentioned it to Brett and hopefully he can join us too. It's a five day ride across Washington State. You have mountains, rivers, rain, sunshine, desert and hills. The ride and time with everyone should be fun.
Here's a link to the Red-Spoke Ride which gives you everything you always wanted to know about it:
http://www.redspoke.org/ride.htm
Here's a map of the Red-Spoke Ride:
View Larger Map
So between now and July I'll probably be riding 200-300 miles a week. I've found a ride I like to do almost daily which I call the Starkey Loop. It's about 60 miles round trip and goes north along the Anclote River road to Trouble Creek and then east through the Starkey Wilderness Park and then south on the Suncoast trail to highway 54, then on to Trinity and McMullen Booth Road and home.
Since January, 2006 I've had two additional accidents that hurt my bike, and I've also had two surgeries one to fix my left knee which I injured bowling with the grandkids and the other to fix my big butt which I injured sitting on it too much. My weight has decreased to 265 but I was as low as 250 last fall. This past winter was unseasonably cold and windy and my hibernation added an additional 15 to the poundage. Due to the bike accidents and wear over time I've replaced most of the parts on my Specialized Sequoia. I have new wheels, new handle bars, a new saddle, new shifters, new clipless pedals and shoes, a new front sprocket (3 gears), and a new cassette (8 gears) on the back. Thank goodness the frame has held up.
In July, 2009 Margie gave me permission to do a multi-day ride outside the state of Florida. The ride is the RedSpoke, Redmond to Spokane ride. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Debbie and Scott Phillips will be going along as well as Tim Arnold. I've mentioned it to Brett and hopefully he can join us too. It's a five day ride across Washington State. You have mountains, rivers, rain, sunshine, desert and hills. The ride and time with everyone should be fun.
Here's a link to the Red-Spoke Ride which gives you everything you always wanted to know about it:
http://www.redspoke.org/ride.htm
Here's a map of the Red-Spoke Ride:
View Larger Map
So between now and July I'll probably be riding 200-300 miles a week. I've found a ride I like to do almost daily which I call the Starkey Loop. It's about 60 miles round trip and goes north along the Anclote River road to Trouble Creek and then east through the Starkey Wilderness Park and then south on the Suncoast trail to highway 54, then on to Trinity and McMullen Booth Road and home.
