MTB WITH DAUGHTER

“But the nations became wrathful, and your own wrath came, and the appointed time came for the dead to be judged and to reward your slaves the prophets and the holy ones and those fearing your name, the small and the great, and to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.”

I thought of Revelation 11:18 when my daughter and I rode through our county park earlier today, only two days after the ill-mannered revelers trashed this beautiful park in the name of fun. They are the concert-goers that I spoke of during Sunday’s escort ride, causing massive traffic jams before sunrise in an attempt to enter the park for the chili cook-off and country concert.

After riding through tons of trash and over heaps of broken glass on and around all of the bike trails, there are no words to express my abhorrence with much of the human race.  It’s a miracle that we didn't end up with flat tires. I might add that the buzzards were having a field day!

Regardless of the above, Diane and I enjoyed our eight-mile ride. We went down memory lane when we passed by the high school where Diane’s daughter, my granddaughter, graduated.

Diane is doing quite well with her bike riding. Her first ride was one mile, second ride was six miles, and today’s ride was eight miles. Her next ride will be double numbers. Soon, she will be joining me on many of my longer mountain bike rides. 

She’s turning out to be a wonderful wheel mate.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2196750

IMPERIAL HALF CENTURY BIKE RIDE

Shortly after signing up earlier this morning to compete in a virtual 50-miler with US Road Cycling, I decided that there is no better time than today to hit the road and trails for the Imperial half century. The thought of earning a medal for my efforts was my motivation.

 

So that’s what I did this morning, pedal my Felt Road Bike 50+ miles – partly with my cycling mates and partly by myself.

 

Approximately 70% of this ride was on asphalt bike trails and concrete sidewalks, which greatly decreased my overall pace. I’m not making excuses, but you just can’t get up to speed on bumpy bike trails and concrete sidewalks.

 

Anyway, near the end of today’s route loomed Mt. Trashmore in the Town of Davie’s Vista View Park.

 

After climbing the mountain, I met a lady at the top of the mount that was managing a professional photo shoot. Here’s the story: Just last night, my youngest daughter assisted the lady in Wal-Mart when the lady lost the keys to her rental car. She concluded that she lost the keys while trying on shoes, and thought maybe the keys were dropped inside a shoe.

 

The lady was in tears, so my youngest came to the rescue and found her keys – and yes, they were inside a shoe. Diane also helped her find a nice pair of sneakers to wear on the photo shoot.

 

And by golly, she was actually wearing those blue sneakers when I met her on the mount.

 

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2195139

ESCORT MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE

While my wife did a Miami Half Marathon/Glass Slipper training run/walk, I rode alongside her on my mountain bike.

 

While riding and running, we observed the foolishness of countless car, trucks and peds attempting to get inside CB Smith Park for the annual Chili Cook-Off.

 

In one word: Craziness!

 

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2190405#

NEIGHBORHOOD MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE

This was an impromptu mountain bike ride around the neighborhood as well as past where I used to work

and where my granddaughter graduated from high school.

There was a great deal of activity in the county park when I passed by because tomorrow the park and local country music radio station will be hosting the Chili Cook-off, an annual event that consists of many flavors of chili plus a few popular country music stars doing their thing live onstage. We can hear them singing from our screened patio.

The average temperature during this ride was 80F.  Check out that beautiful blue sky in the above picture!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2188198

A TRIO OF RIDERS

After patiently waiting for fifteen minutes, I was going to give my wheel mates two more minutes to arrive at our biking meet-up spot. If they didn't show, I was then going to map out a route of my own to do. I’m no stranger to solo bikes rides, so either way I was going to get in some miles.

First Rey arrived and then Stephen, surprised as I was that the others did not show – nor did the truants let us know that they would not be riding today. Oh well, maybe some of them shied away from the low temps and strong northerly wind. Quite frankly, it was a perfect day for a ride.

We took the typical boring route to Einstein Bros Bagel shop in Weston. But after we enjoyed our snacks and coffee outdoors on Einstein’s patio, we rode on a combination of bike trails and roads, ending up in Robins Park in Davie, FL.

Greeting us in the sub-tropical park were several attractive young ladies on horseback, smiling from ear to ear as they galloped past us while we were crossing the narrow bridge that is located near the east side of Flamingo Gardens.

In the horses wake, of course, were a few obstacles to dodge. My only request was that my wheel mates in front of me miss the dung piles. We all know how rear wheels throw water and debris back towards the trailing biker.

Thankfully, my wish was granted!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2184898

DAUGHTER TRAINING RIDE IN COUNTY PARK

My youngest daughter’s second bike training ride was today, in the relative safety of our neighborhood county park.

My daughter, my wife and I hopped on our individual bikes and then headed for the park, which is only 5/10ths of a mile from our gated community. Once in the park, we navigated on most of the bike trails, staying off the perimeter road where an occasional car or truck passes by.

With the temps in the high 50’s and the sky void of clouds, it was a perfect time of day for a leisure ride. The ducks and geese were enjoying the park and mild weather as well.

There were no mishaps, no close calls, just bunch of fun riding and laughing. We even took the time for some photo ops at various “Kodak” locations.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2183042

SMALL GROUP ROAD-BIKE RIDE

This morning’s road-bike ride was typical of most of our weekday group bike rides except this time I broke off from the small group with the sole purpose of riding farther than I would have ridden had I stayed with them. 

My goal was thirty miles, I reached 34 miles. Success!

I broke off from the group at SW 26^th St and 142^nd Avenue.

With a steady wind of 15-20 mph coming out of the NW, the ride towards Weston was slow yet steady. The second half of today’s ride was much easier as well as a tad bit warmer than whet it was in the beginning.  The temperature at the beginning of the ride was 50F.

There were two groups today, one slow and one fast. I chose the slower of the two. 

Thanks Ed, Wally, Greg and Gary for the enjoyable ride.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2181249

TWO PARK MOUNTAIN-BIKE RIDE

Even though I had all intentions of keeping this impromptu MTB ride between 10 to 12 miles, I ended up with just over 20 miles. I suppose when you’re having so much fun you just don’t want it to end, not only during biking but during numerous activities that we engage in throughout our lifetime.

Biking around Mt. Trashmore’s dirt and gravel bike trail was one of the physical highlights of this brief ride. So was taking a breather underneath a picnic pavilion in the same park. In one word; tranquil!

After coming off of the South New River Bike Trail, I secured my bike inside our truck that was parked at my wife’s place of employment. As good luck would have it, she was scheduled for her lunch break just as I walked into the building. Perfect timing!

The Chicken Teriyaki sub sandwich was enjoyed by both of us.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2179552#

COOL BIKE RIDE IN THE TROPICS

It was a bit on the chilly side this morning, so I dressed to fit the occasion – long tights, one long-sleeved cool max shirt, one cycling jersey and one high-visibility wind breaker. Turned out, I was overdressed once the sun showed its full brightness.

There were eight cyclists this morning split into two groups. Greg, Sandy, Stephen and I made up the faster of the two groups while Ed, Wally, Rey and Gary made up the slower of the two groups.

Not wanting to spend too much time yakking away at Einstein’s Bagel Shoppe, my group left earlier than normal. We rode the Green-way from Markham Park to Flamingo Road and then took the Flaming Road’s service road all the way to Tom’s abode. Tom wasn't allowed to come out to play this morning because his yard chores piled up on him. In fact, we stopped by his home only to find him outdoors watering his new trees and plants.

After one quick stop at Flamingo Gardens for a facility break, we headed back to the meet-up spot. End of story…

RE-TRAINING RIDE

This was my youngest daughter's first re-training bike ride. It's been ages since she has been on a bicycle.

She did great!

Next ride, CB Smith County Park for some needed road training!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2139092#

GROUP RIDE WITH THREE STOPS

Robert at Flamingo Gardens

Bob, Greg, Ron and Sandy at
Alex's Bike Shop

This morning I rode with Sandy, Ron and Greg. Ed, Rey, Wally and Gary showed up, but they rode in their own little group. The problem is, they seldom like to take different routes back to the meet-up spot. I’m more into varying our return route to make the ride more interesting.

We stopped at three different places today, Einstein’s Bagel Shoppe, Alex’s Bike Shoppe, and Flamingo Gardens. While in Flamingo Gardens, we took advantage of the resting Peacocks by taking several pictures.

According to my Garmin Edge 500, the temperature reached a high of 82F during our ride. It is 82F here in South Florida and -20F in some of our northern states. Guess where I’d rather be! However, according to the weather genius’, our temperature should drop down in the lower forties tomorrow morning.

I’m sure glad tomorrow is a scheduled weight lifting day and not a bike riding day.

Bob with Peacock at
Flamingo Gardens

http://www.strava.com/activities/104506828

INTERMEDIATE CLUB BIKE RIDE

Shari, my favorite group leader, was the leader of this morning’s intermediate-paced road-bike ride.

Altogether, there were nine riders in this morning's group.

The ride was relatively slow, but that’s what you would expect from a ride that took us through many residential neighborhoods and several parks.

There was one mechanical this morning when my rear tire went flat, and one mishap when a young boy of 10 years of age went down at an intersection. He and his father got tangled up when coming to a stop.

Other than the boy’s bruised pride, thankfully there were no injuries.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2133939

Group-of-Five Road Bike Ride

Despite the strong northerly wind (gusts to 30 mph) that was smacking us in the face when heading north, this morning’s weather was picture perfect for a bike ride or anything else one might do outdoors. Even gardening would have been fun in this type of weather.

According to the Weather Channel, the low was at or near 60F, partly cloudy and only 50% humidity. Perfecto! My bike’s Garmin Edge 500 confirmed the temperature.

After riding to the traditional bagel shoppe in Weston, the five of us, Sandy, Ron, Greg, Tom and I, headed south on Weston Road towards the South Post Bridge. This particular bridge crossing over Interstate Highway 75! Believe it or not, my top speed of 27 mph was not realized when descending the bridge. Mine and everyone else’s top speed was measured when heading south on six-lane Flamingo Road in Cooper City. However, it may be safe to say that at the time we were showing off in front of an attractive Senorita that was cycling south in our bike lane.

If we were lizards, we probably would have thrust out our colorful throats when passing the young lady. Just to make it crystal clear, though, I was not the lead biker. I was the last of five to pass.

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2128444

NEW YEAR’S DAY ESCORT BIKE RIDE

While my wife did a training run in the rain around the mall's parking lot, I rode alongside her on my road bike.

Other than a slight drizzle, the weather was perfect for a training run.  Average temperature was 73F!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2121579#