SLOW MOTION BIKE RIDE

Per my computer’s radar, the early morning rain had passed, promising a dry ride up to when the next line of rain showers would arrive, which was around noontime. Ed, Gary and I took advantage of the break in the weather by doing a 30+ mile bike ride, albeit a rather slow bike ride. That’s okay because none of us are into speed.

 

I was somewhat surprised at the lack of riders this morning. On the other hand, South Florida is known for its fair weather cyclists. Thankfully, I’m not one of them!

 

Ed is 82, Gary is 68, and I’m 71, so slow going was right up our alley. What energy we saved by going slow was adequately used up by chatting endlessly. And it was productive chatting, the type that solves all of the world’s problems.

 

Now how’s that for an industrious bike ride!?

 

http://app.strava.com/activities/42449450

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/278261715

WALKING, WEIGHTS AND SWIMMING

WALKING

We’re back to the old routine of walking to and from the gym for a weight machine workout. And seeing as though the temperature was right around 77 degrees with a cooling breeze from the southeast, I must say that today’s walk was rather delightful.

http://www.mapmywalk.com/workout/237176018

 

WEIGHT WORKOUT

While in the gym, I vigorously tugged and pushed on all of the upper and lower body resistance machines. I felt pumped at the end of my 45 minute weight session.

 

 

SWIMMING
Holy catfish, we actually dove into our chilly condo pool for our first swim in nearly a year.

Out of curiosity, we were just going to test the water's temperature. But the next thing we knew, we were leaping into the pool.

The water was cold, but boy did it ever feel refreshing. The 1/4 mile swim was no sweat, literally.

DISNEY’S ROYAL FAMILY 5K

I gotta tell you, Walt Disney World really knows how to put on special running events. Last Saturday morning’s Royal Family 5K was no exception.

After arriving at the starting line outside of EPCOT right around 5 o’clock in the morning, my wife and I walked directly to where they were allowing race participants to have their picture taken with Mickey and Minnie Mouse. We were one of the first in line for our keepsake photo.

As usual, Disney put on a gala show of fireworks when the starting gun sounded at 6:30 a.m. And off we went – winding our way through EPCOT’s world showcase, weaving our way around hundreds and hundreds of walkers and runners.

Despite the crowded conditions at certain points on the course, we were overly pleased to finish with an overall walking pace of 15:07 per mile. I was especially pleased since this was my first running/walking event since I burned and crashed (knee) during the 2011 Wine and Dine Half Marathon.

I now know that I can participate in shorter running events and not be picked up by the bus. I am so happy!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/277684213

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK

Some days you have it and some days you don’t. And the same can be said about lower back ailments. Some days are good and some days are not so good.

 

It wasn’t a fast walk by any means, just one of those shuffle-along type walks. Regardless, while walking it felt like someone was twisting a knife inside my lower back. I could feel it in my right buttocks and the back of my right leg. I’m just not sure who I should blame, Mr. Spinal A Stenosis or Mr. Agony B Arthritis.

 

Anyway, my wife and I eventually made our way to the gym for a run and a weight workout respectively. She ran on a treadmill while I sat on a few of the resistance machines.

 

Now home, I’m wolfing down a cinnamon bun with a hot cup of coffee. In my view, I earned the extra calories.

 

Life is still good regardless of the bloody back.

 

http://www.mapmywalk.com/workout/235371738

 

INTERMEDIATE GROUP BIKE RIDE

This morning’s bike ride was another one of those bike rides that incorporated all types of terrain and speeds, from walking our bikes across a grassy field because of construction to fast-peddling our bikes through Weston and the Southwest Ranches. And in my case, I had to ride the bumpy sidewalks for two miles just to the meet up with my cycling companions prior to our 8 a.m. departure.

Like most Wednesday morning bike rides within our circle of cyclists, each cyclist has a choice between fast, intermediate and slow. Today there was only fast and intermediate, no slow.

On the out-portion of today’s ride, I rode with the slower intermediate group. On the return-ride, once again I chose to ride with the intermediate group. As a point of interest, four bikers that rode with the fast outbound group joined our intermediate group for the return ride back to the meet-up spot. Their reasons for slowing it down were wide-ranging.

There was one mishap today when Gary failed to click out of his pedals when coming to a stop. He embarrassingly fell while three or four cars loads of passengers starred at he and his fallen bike. One lady yelled out her car window that she has done that numerous times when riding her bike. I think she was trying to make Gary feel better. Other than one skinned up knee and his wounded pride, there was no permanent damage to him or his bike.

When I bid farewell to my cycling mates near the meet-up spot, I aimed for the county park that is located ½ mile from my humble abode. It was there that I added more mileage to my ride, something like six or seven additional miles.

From the 345 acre park to home, the ride was excruciatingly slow because of bumpy sidewalks as well as sprinkler systems that were being tested. There’s nothing like being sprayed by sprinklers near the ride’s end. Actually, with the average temperature right around 78.3 degrees Fahrenheit, the mist felt heavenly.

And so it is with city cycling…

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1144612

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/275667789

http://app.strava.com/activities/41644726

DEERING ESTATE TO FLORIDA CITY BIKE RIDE

Scott, Robert, Ron, Stephen and Sandy

Even though the wind coming off the Atlantic Ocean at a steady 18 mph with gusts to 27 mph was a huge cycling impediment, Monday’s bike ride from the Deering Estate to Florida City/Homestead and back was quite timely.
Deering Estate

Seeing as though the day before was the coldest day (43F) in South Florida so far this year, at least we didn’t have to bundle up like an Eskimo in the middle of winter. According to my Garmin Edge 500, our average temperature for this ride was somewhere around 73F. Nice, but we all know that the Garmin will record higher temps in the sun, and it was sunny almost the entire day.

After meeting up with Sandy S, Scott from the Poconos, Ron and Stephen at our local meet-up spot, we consolidated our bodies and bikes into two vehicles for the 32-mile ride down to the Deering Estate that’s located just south of Miami. Vehicular traffic was relatively minimal during our ride down because of the USA’s Presidents Day holiday. A drive that would normally take 1 ½ hours took only 45 minutes. Same thing on the return trip!

Leaving the Deering Estate around 9:45 in the morning, we pedaled our bikes through much of South Florida’s nursery and farm areas in the Redlands and then through places that I never knew existed.

We stopped for a potty break at Black Point Marina and Ocean Grill where oodles of yachts of all sizes were lured to their individual docks.  We wanted a cup of coffee, but we learned that the grill was not open for business until lunchtime.
Black-Point-Ocean-Grill-Cutler-Bay

Sandy and Robert at the Marina Ocean Grill

Continuing on through the farm lands, we eventually came upon the famed Homestead-Miami Speedway for a brief photo shoot at one of the entrances.
Homestead-Miami Speedway

While snapping our cameras, we could hear one of the race cars zipping around the track inside the large stadium. The sound of one car was deafening enough. I can’t imagine what it would sound like had several cars been racing around the oval track. Can you tell that I’m not a race car enthusiast?

Back into our own lanes, now crowded with vehicular traffic, we made our way to our favorite Mexican Restaurant in Homestead, FL.

Robert cycling in the Redlands

After enjoying our Mexican enchilada combo meals and beer at the La Quebradita Restaurant on Krome Avenue, we headed for Knaus Berry Farm for some sticky buns. Knaus Berry Farm I can’t believe that we stuffed ourselves with pecan and cinnamon sticky buns just 40 minutes after stuffing ourselves with Mexican food. We called it “fueling for the ride” instead of gluttony.

We made one more stop on the way back to the Deering Estate. Feeling exhausted after bucking the east wind since leaving Homestead, it was good to get out of the saddle one more time for a brief 20 minute break at Burr’s Berry Farm, Burr's Berry Farm where they grow their own strawberries in basket-like containers that hang on individual poles. I’ve never seen strawberries grown that way, but I can see the benefit when it comes to picking. I’d much rather pick while standing than leaning down.

Finally arriving back at the Deering Estate at 4 p.m., the starting point of the bike ride, all five of us were enormously tired from fighting the wind. The wind was our friend when cycling to Florida City and Homestead, but not when biking towards Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Our average speed from the Deering Estate to the Homestead-Miami Speedway was 15.3, from the speedway back to the Deering Estate 12.3, giving us an overall riding pace of 13.7. Much of our riding was on sidewalks, narrow bike paths and places where you just can’t open up the throttle on a road bike.

It was a fun but tiring ride with a bunch of great guys. I thoroughly enjoyed the laughs and the camaraderie.

Ride Video

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/275095768

CASUAL WALK AND GYM WORKOUT

I can’t believe how cold it felt this morning when I opened our front door to retrieve the morning newspaper. Not only was it cold, 42F with a wind chill of 36F, it was awfully windy. But looking on the bright side, the sky was/is perfectly clear with zero chance of rain or snow.

But despite the sub-tropical deep-freeze  my wife and I braved the perilous elements by walking across the street to our fitness center. We were even forced to courageously walk back home after we did our individual workouts inside the warm gym. @Janet did the stair stepper while I did a round of resistance machines, all upper body. I’m saving my legs for tomorrow’s Charles Deering Estate http://www.deeringestate.com/ to Homestead (and back) bike ride.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/274494839

http://www.mapmywalk.com/workout/233814562

http://app.strava.com/activities/41274305

INTERMEDIATE CLUB BIKE RIDE

This morning’s bike ride, which began and ended in Plantation, FL, was with our club’s intermediate-pace group.  The only other ride option this morning was with the advanced group, and there was no way that I was going to ride in a pace-line at 20+ mph six-inches behind someone's rear wheel - with someone behind my rear wheel at the same distance.    

What began as a ride with eight riders ended up being a ride with seven riders. I’m not quite sure what happened to the husband of one of the female riders, but he was back at the meet-up place when the ride was over with.  He may have become bored with our moderate pace.   

While crossing one of the more busy intersections here in South Florida, the top to one of my water bottles careened off the bottle, jamming itself between my chain and the bike’s frame. When the top finally fell to the ground, the chain sort of cross-chained between the small crank and the large crank. After a quick off-road stop for a chain and derailleur adjustment, I was back on the road and back in the pace line.

Bye, bye bottle top, because I wasn't about to retrieve any bottle top in the middle of a busy South Florida intersection.  Besides, it more than likely was crushed beyond description moments after it hit the asphalt. 

We also did some sprints during today's ride.  Three times, if I recall!  Only once during those sprints did I find myself in the large chain ring. That was the time when I managed to hammer my Felt Z6 up to 25.3 mph and hold it there for a half mile or so.

Average moving pace for the 27.3 miles was 15.3 mph.  We took one break at mile 15 at one of our popular grocery stores.     

The average temperature during today’s ride was 67 degrees. On top of the cool temps, we had 100% cloud coverage and a 7 mph wind coming from the northwest. In my opinion, we had perfect weather for this morning's  fun bike ride.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/273884772

CASUAL WALKING AND RESISTANCE MACHINE SESSION

Either the satellites were wiggling around in outer space or my Garmin 110 was acting up, because the aerial view of this morning’s route has me casually walking across the lake that separates our residential area from the shopping mall and hospital area. I've heard of only one guy that’s been able to walk on water, and I’ll assure you that I’m not Him.

1.85 miles into my morning stroll, my youngest daughter calls me with questions regarding computers. Being somewhat technically challenged when it comes to wireless connections, I had to refer her to someone in her current locality. Allegedly, anyone that resides in her apartment complex has permission from the rental office to connect wirelessly through their system. It is supposedly a perk for residing in that particular complex. Nice!

3.08 miles into my walk, I took a break from walking by spending 1 hour and 7 minutes inside the gym tugging and pulling on resistance machines. I ended up doing two sets on each machine plus a bunch of knee lifts on the parallel bar. That was the most systematic, productive weight session I've done in quite some time. I need to do more of those!

When walking home from the gym via the hospital’s west-side parking area, the distance is approximately one mile. That one mile plus the mileage that I had prior to the weight session gave me 4.07 miles for the morning.

I’m well pleased with my walking distance, the pace, and the weight-machine session. I’ll feel no quilt whatsoever this evening when my wife and I dine at our favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant.

I'm thinking "Chicken Parmesan."  

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/273192861

http://www.mapmywalk.com/workout/232695256

TWO BIKE RIDES

Ride Number 1:

 

To test out my clicking left knee, my wife decided to do a short training run so that I could ride beside her to see if the knee was still misbehaving. It wasn't, so that cleared me to ride with my cycling mates.

To be continued…..

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1133308

 

Ride Number 2:

 

Immediately after learning that my left knee was behaving itself, and after refilling my water bottles at home, I headed towards the meet-up place for a meet with the Wednesday cycling gang.

Not wanting to push the knee beyond its limit, I chose to ride with the snail-paced group that consisted of Gary, Ed, Cape Cod Bernie, and I.

Bernie chose to ride his recumbent this morning, which was a squat sort of bike that had a highly-visible orange flag flapping in the wind during the entire ride. Good idea, that flag, especially since most of our riding is on busy roads. However, remind me to never again ride close behind a recumbent bike with a flag supported by a pole that is angled 45 degrees towards the rear. Darn thing nearly tickled my nose!

At mile 15, give or take a few meters, we stopped for our one and only rest stop. Trail mix and coffee was my energy-boosting snack of choice. And cycling at an average pace of 11 mph, I most certainly needed a boost.

Gary needed to get back home earlier than normal for a business meeting, so the four of us left well before the other two groups parted from the coffee/bagel shoppe. And wouldn't you know that the energy sucking wind was right in our faces the entire 13 miles back to the car park.

I thoroughly enjoyed this morning’s bike ride. And I was exceedingly thrilled that not once did my left knee click like it was doing during Monday’s faster bike ride.

In my case, I believe the recipe for a healthy, non-clicking knee is biking at a moderate or slow speed. I never strayed from the recipe today!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1133309

SLOW STROLL AND WEIGHT MACHINES

Not to sound like Pooh Bear’s friend, Eeyore, but lately I've been experiencing one of two physical issues nearly every day. If it isn't my lower back, then it’s my left knee. If it’s not the knee, then it’s the back. Today it is both!

And then I watched Dr. OZ on TV yesterday and he tells the live audience and television viewers to be cautious regarding pain relievers, pills in particular. He suggested that Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen are the bad boys and that aspirin is possibly the savior. Okay! I was aware that too much of the first two would do a nasty job on your liver, but I am also aware that too much aspirin will do a job on your stomach. Everything in moderation, I suppose. I wonder if I can tell that to my pain.

Anyway, I took a morning stroll to the gym this morning with plans on only walking directly to the gym and then directly home. Despite the clicking left knee, something that began during Sunday’s slow bike ride, that wasn't about to happen on such a beautiful day.

After coming out of the gym handsomely bulked up from the weight machine session, I decided to head home via the longer route that wiggles its way through the hospital’s enormous parking lot. This would add an extra ½ mile to my morning stroll.

Being the great observer that I am, I noticed that hospital employees drive more SUV’s than sedans. In my warped opinion, this may mean one of two things. Either they are making big bucks in their chosen medical profession or they are rapidly multiplying at home and are in dire need of additional room in their vehicles. Or it may be both reasons. 

Not that my meaningless surveillance has squat to do with exercising, I just thought I’d pass on my keen observations to my DM friends.

http://www.mapmywalk.com/workout/231910962

TWO BIKE RIDES

Ride No. 1

My first ride of the day was an escort ride, which amounted to riding my road bike alongside my wife while she did a training run in the vicinity of our neighborhood.

When we were close to the cycling meet-up spot, I headed north to the spot and my wife headed south towards our home. At that point, she had just over one mile to go to complete her run and I had maybe one half mile to go before I met up with my cycling mates.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1131040

 

Ride No. 2

Shortly after meeting up with my cycling mates, and after being introduced to our new cycling companion, Scott, from the Poconos, we headed through the Rock Creek residential area and then west along Griffin Road and the gator infested canal. Soft pedaling at 20 mph along Griffin was contributable to the strong ESE wind coming off the Atlantic Ocean. There are moments when the wind is your friend!

The ride along Weston Road in certain areas is always interesting with traffic on both sides of the bike lane. There’s never a dull moment when riding on that busy road in rush hour traffic.

After enjoying my snack and Gatorade at Einstein’s, five of us headed towards Markham Park and the east/west cycling trail.

After biking on the trail directly into the ruthless wind for 6.2 miles, we turned south on S. Pine Island Road, cycled through Pine Island Ridge, rode through some residential neighborhoods, and then scurried into Tree Tops Park where the trails are bumpy, curvy and hilly.

After stopping for a potty break and conversation at the park’s office, we saddled up and left the log-cabin style office building, eventually exiting the park on Nob Hill Road.

As we rode south on Hiatus Road where the meet-up spot is located, Steve and I bid our fellow cyclists goodbye. We still had some riding to do before we came to our individual streets. Because of road resurfacing along Hiatus Rd., we had to ride on the sidewalk for a mile or so – hence the slower pace.

Much to my surprise and delight, when I arrived home my wife greeted me with a kiss and a freshly made white-chocolate pie. The kiss was no surprise, but the pie was.

Life can’t get any better than this!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1131041

CYCLING CLUB BEGINNER’S BIKE RIDE

As soon as I arrived at the cycling club's meet-up spot, I had no choice but to join the new rider's group. Other than the advanced+ group and the beginner’s group, there were no other ride options available on this beautiful sub-tropical morning in South Florida. I don’t want to appear like I’m bragging about our weather, but our temperature at the beginning of this morning’s ride was 70F. It never got above 75F.

After our ride leader and our club president went over many of the pace-line rules, club guidelines and traffic laws, we scurried out of there at a pace that would make a turtle feel proud.

After traveling through the industrial section of Sunrise and then Markham County Park, we headed for the lanes in Weston where it’s an infraction of the law to ride outside the marked bike lanes. I can’t say that I disagree with this law. If the town of Weston was good enough to build bike lanes for our safe usage, then by golly we ought to use them instead of the motorized traffic lanes. Nearly eight miles of this ride were in those wide bike lanes.

After one main rest-stop at one of our local grocery stores, and then a couple of minor ones alongside the lanes, once again we pedaled through the County Park and industrial section on the way back to the meet-up location.

I had my Contour Roam digital camera rolling the entire 2 hours. Other than three voluptuous women riding along with us wearing colorful cycling shorts and cycling jerseys, there was nothing eye-popping or anything out of the ordinary happening that would warrant making a U-Tube video of this ride.

Hummmm….on second thought…where is my camera’s USB cable?

Y’all have a sensational, safe Sunday!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1129536

http://app.strava.com/activities/40428051

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/271757850

SPEED WALK TRAINING HAS BEGUN

I really want to participate in Walt Disney World’s Mickey & Minnie’s Royal Family 5K two weeks from now, and I also want to participate in and complete April’s Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville, TN. I am signed up to walk both events.

That being said, it’s time to get serious with my speed walking, ailing lower back or no ailing back.

This morning’s walk with my wife was a perfect example of picking up the pace. We didn't go too fast, just fast enough so that we can claim this morning’s walk as an adequate workout.

Mission accomplished!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/271265525

ESCORT BIKE RIDE

Boy oh boy, did it ever feel good to venture outside and then do an escort bike ride, which amounted to riding alongside my awesome marathon-running wife while she did a training run for her upcoming Walt Disney World running event, the Princess Half Marathon.

And how could we both not love the weather!? With the average temperature right around 72 degrees, the sky covered with high altitude clouds and a slight breeze coming in from the Florida Everglades, we often commented to one another what a beautiful morning it was for a run or a ride.

Now back home, we intend on eating a robust breakfast and then watch the 1941 version of “Dumbo,” the Walt Disney World elephant with large ears. Yesterday we watched the movie “K-19: The Widow maker.” Outstanding movie!

In closing, that head cold that had me down and out for the past two days is finally leaving my body. I hope it never returns! Bye bye head cold…

Everyone have a wonderful day and weekend!!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1126568

TWO BIKE RIDES IN ONE

This morning’s 40-mile bike ride was another one of those rides that had fast moments and slow moments. Quite honestly, I could categorize this ride as two rides in one.

Nine miles of this morning’s ride I rode solo on sidewalks and neighborhood streets. While riding on the sidewalks, I found myself dodging dogs, dog walkers, ducks, geese, moms and their baby buggies, low-hanging branches, pedestrians, and cars parked across the sidewalks (supposedly illegal in this town). I also had to slow down to a crawl on some of the sidewalks because of uneven surfaces. The city and county really need to fix those bloody things.

On the way back from the coffee shop, four of us (Sandy S, Tom, Ron and myself) took a detour through Weston, opening up our bike throttles to 20+ mph for quite a while. There was very little wind this morning, so direction of travel had little to no impact on our speed.

We also veered off of Boy Scout Road into Vista View Park where Mt. Trashmore is located. After climbing the one road that leads to the top of the mountain of trash (It used to be a landfill), we watched the model airplane enthusiasts fly their electric model planes. They were flying regular prop airplanes, jet airplanes and helicopters. My favorite was the jet.

I thoroughly enjoyed this ride as well as the companionship of my cycling mates. The riding pace with my mates was 14.2 mph with a top speed of 24.9 mph. Overall, however, including the slow sidewalk riding, my pace was only 12.6 mph.

I’m beginning to notice an improvement in my heart rate when going fast. In truth, I have my cycling mates to thank for that. They are the ones that urge me to pedal faster and faster and faster until I’m breathless.

Breathless!? 

Wait, why am I thanking them? LOL

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/269676861

SOLO SUPER-BOWL SUNDAY BIKE RIDE

My 2011 Felt Z6 Road Bike

Not comfortable with the group that showed up at the meet-up spot, I decided to do a ride all by my lonesome.

Because of multiple charity rides that took place in our area today, very few club members showed up for this morning’s bike ride that began at Lester’s Diner in Sunrise, FL. The cyclists that did show up were all crazies, at least in my opinion. They’re the ones that ride in a pace-line inches apart at speeds in excess of 20 mph. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it’s just not my cup of tea.

This being Super Bowl Sunday in the United States, I didn't want to spend too much time in the saddle anyway. I also wanted to stop by my wife’s store for lunch during her one-hour break, so I basically cycled this morning with a self-induced time frame.

FYI, I did have lunch with my wife. We shared a toasted, foot-long, tuna-fish sub sandwich at her store’s Subway. It was scrumptious.

As far as my riding went, I biked on the roads that twisted in and around an industrial park, plus I biked inside of Markham County Park. There were a negligible amount of vehicles in both areas. Both the industrial park and Markham Park are located on the eastern edge of the Florida Everglades.

The temperature range during my ride was from 59F to 66F, the sky was clear and the wind was coming from the NNW between 7 - 11 mph. It was a very pleasant day in the sub-tropics!

There were lots and lots of people out walking, running, cycling and walking their dogs this morning. That’s always nice to see!

Ride by Garmin Connect

WALKING, TALKING AND LIFTING

After cycling for three days in a row, I thought it best to stay out of the saddle today and in its place do some walking, talking and weight lifting. All three missions have been accomplished and it’s only 10 A.M.

Right after putting a load of laundry into the clothes dryer earlier this morning, I set out walking in the general direction of our hospital’s fitness center. Not a fast walk, just a smell-the-roses type walk.

After just over a mile of walking, I ambled into the gym and did most of the upper and lower body resistance machines. I did a little bit of chatting as well. I was in the gym for maybe 40 minutes.

Wondering what direction I should walk to reach the three-mile mark, I chose to walk around our state-of-the-art hospital, all the while checking out all of the completed construction that had been going on for what seemed like years. The place is awesome! How comforting is it to know that one of South Florida’s highest rated hospitals is right across the street from our home!

Total walk this morning was 5 kilometers in temps from 59F to 63F. Comfortable temperatures and 10% cloud coverage made for a pleasant morning walk.

After posting this somewhat boring post, I have to make a quick visit to my favorite LBS for some tubes, a rear flashing light, a small patch kit and some chain lube. Boy oh boy, biking sure does get expensive!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/268655951

POST LAKE OKEECHOBEE RECOVERY RIDE

I started out this morning forgetting to put air in my tires prior to walking downstairs with my bike. I never do that! It was back up the stairs again, clickety clack on the concrete stairs with my cycling shoes on, only this time I had the air pump in my hand. And then it was right back up the stairs to secure the pump back inside our condo. That stair-climber workout ought to count for something, don’t you think?

After being escorted across a busy intersection by one of our lovely county school crossing guards, I made my way to the meet-up spot at Bogart’s for the meet with some of my crazy cycling buddies. We were all crazy today because the temperature had fallen to 57.2F with the wind coming out of the north at 17 mph with gusts to 25 mph. (I can faintly hear you U.S. Northerners and Europeans snickering at me)

The ride to the bagel and coffee shop was pretty much routine regardless of the steady wind in our faces. Isn't it always in our faces?

Today at our renowned coffee shop, I enjoyed a free bagel and shmear with my paid-for coffee. What a deal! Sign up to receive email advertisements and you, too, can occasionally enjoy a freebie.

Riding back to the meet-up spot was a joy compared to riding into the wind. To break up the return ride, we stopped in at Tom’s place. It was there that I checked the air in my rear tire. You see, after enjoying a free bagel and paid-for coffee, and after hopping on my bike for the return ride, I discovered that my rear tire was flat. How annoying!

With the help of Sandy, Steve and Ron, we were back on the road in less than five minutes. Problem was, my compressed-air thingamabob put too much air into the tire. We initially put air into the new tire with an emergency hand pump, and then afterwards I used the compressed-air thingy.

Anyway, in checking the air pressure at Tom’s place, I learned that we had over 140 pounds in the tire. Almost 145 lbs.! Way too much! My rear, or I should say the rear of the bike, was bouncing all over the place. I was darn lucky that the tire didn't blow during the eight-mile ride to Tom’s place.

To add a twist and some miles to today’s ride, at the end of my ride I rode through the county park that is located ½ mile from our gated community. I wanted to see if the paid guests at last weekend’s Chili Cook-Off left the place in a mess. They did, but I learned that several groups of workers had already cleaned up the place.

It was good to see the park cleared of all debris, which helped to make the last two miles of today’s ride very enjoyable.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/268358094

http://app.strava.com/activities/39375974