Starting out early this morning with no particular direction or route in mind, I headed eastward from my home so the wind would be at my back during the second half of my solo mountain-bike ride. I figured there would be nothing better than to have the ocean wind pushing me westward whenever I began to tire during the backside of the sub-tropical 37-mile ride. I was right!
For the most part, on the way to the ocean I remained on Griffin Road’s undulating sidewalks, making many stops at cross walks, intersections and driveways. A lot of time was wasted at those!
After riding underneath Interstate 95, I rode on the hilly, scenic terrain that lies on the south side of the Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale Airport. I had a ball riding up and down the steep inclines.
From there, I switched to Old Griffin Road and then Stirling Road until I crossed over the Intercostal Waterway, which is a sight to behold all by itself. You can bet that I stopped midway on the bridge for some photos.
The return ride was on sidewalks as well, mostly on the north side of both Hollywood and Pines Boulevards. While riding through downtown Hollywood, it was apparent that I startled a table full of visitors whenever I rode somewhat close to their sidewalk breakfast table. That’ll teach them for not sharing their food with hungry me. At that point of the ride, I was famished.
The highlight of the ride, of course, was when I rode along Hollywood Beach’s famed beach boardwalk. People wearing scanty bathing suits soaking up the sun were in abundance, as were outdoor café’s full of breakfast goers and coffee sippers.
There were also hordes of walkers, runners and bikers sharing the boardwalk with me. Who could blame them, for the temperature was steady at 80F with a comforting 10 mph ocean breeze. Perfect!
How can it be that the north is experiencing such bad weather, while here in South Florida we are enjoying weather to almost die for!?