Sunday, February 21, 2016

Florida. February 21, 2016.

We met in the Publix parking lot in Dunedin for today's bike club ride. We rode like the wind to get there, and of course arrived in plenty of time. The planned route was riding the bridges in Clearwater. Dianne tried to get Ray to do a different ride since we rode the bridges with the club last Saturday, but he stood firm. Here he is in the yellow helmet.


We found out this morning that 3 cyclists crashed yesterday, including our friend Ed. He's OK, but the man they picked up in the ambulance in Tarpon Springs is still in the hospital.

There were over 60 bikers there today, and only 2 rides. The A ride left first and went north to do an extra loop, passing us later on the outskirts of Clearwater. I was in the B group. There were about 30 of us and I was beside a woman in a Texas jersey and we got to talking... she thought I knew where we were going and I thought she knew. Fortunately we kept up with the group!

After a while she realized that I was from out of town and I realized that she was with the wrong club. She was supposed to meet a bike club from St. Petersburg in the same parking lot and ended up with us instead. Debra is a triathlete, originally from Texas and now a resident of St. Petersburg.


At about 25 miles into the ride (20 for the riders from the parking lot) we saw the A group at a rest stop. Ray waved them out and they joined us; we all had a rest stop a couple of miles later.  Pam asked if I was cold, and I told her I was overheating!  She laughed and told us she had on wool socks and a long sleeved undershirt. Dianne had on socks and undershirt too. They are both from the northeast originally, but have lived in Florida so long that they get cold when it's 60 degrees out!


We finished with almost 44 miles. I told Dianne that this was the first time I really enjoyed a ride with her club. I spent too much time on previous club rides just trying to keep up! As we were leaving the group to head home Pam asked us to come over for a glass of wine before I leave for home. That will be fun!

We drove over to the Land O'Lakes area mid afternoon to visit Bill's cousin Richard and his family. Rachel made a wonderful dinner and we had a great time! They have come here to visit when I am in Florida, but this is the first time we went to their home. Here we are: me and Reichen, Ethan, Rachel and Richard. I think I have adopted them as my own cousins now... One can never have too many cousins!



1 comment:

Unknown said...

Linda it was really nice to meet you on the ride Sunday. What a twist of fate to hook up with the wrong club, glad I did. What a nice group in the Suncoast Club. They were gracious and made me feel so welcome. It was a relief to have them watching out for me. Hope to meet again. Happy Cycling! Debra Ryder