Linda's Bike Log

January 29, 2012. Kona to Honolulu.

2012-01-29T22:21:00.004-05:00

We ate breakfast on the open air terrace, packed up and Woman Tours shuttled us to the airport. We saw these turkeys strutting their stuff around the resort this morning. Why turkeys?

There was not a person in line when I went through security at the airport. It is all open air, like other tropical airports I have flown into or out of. So different from the airports where I come from! It was a short flight to Honolulu, not even enough time to play Scrabble! We took a shuttle from Honolulu airport to our hotel, had some lunch and checked in. Below is the view of Waikiki Beach from our balcony. Bill is due to arrive later today and we will have 6 more days in Paradise! I can't imagine anything better than the Big Island of Hawaii, but I'll keep an open mind.

January 28, 2012. Waimea to Hapuna, HI. 46 miles.

2012-01-29T20:55:00.012-05:00

The top photo is yesterday's elevation profile--you can see that we had quite a climb after lunch, and then a little coast down at the very end of the ride. Today's profile is a bit different. We had a very short coast, then a climb of 6 or 7 miles, then a very long coast down with a few smaller hills at the end.It was a lovely morning to be on a bike! Sunny and bright, chilly enough to start out with a jacket, but VERY windy. There was a cross wind of about 30 MPH with gusts up to 40, according to Kristen who looked it up on her smart phone. We were in what I would call "high desert" when we started out--it was very dry, with little vegetation.

We were in rural areas all day, with cattle farms and horse ranches along our route. We could see the Pacific Ocean off to our left all morning. What a view these cattle have! I would bet that they don't even notice...

After a pretty tough climb, made tougher by the crosswind, we reached the crest at 3564 feet above sea level. The van was parked there for support; some riders had chosen to skip the climb and go straight to the downhill. Linda warned us that the downhill was more dangerous in the crosswind than the climb, but I was not giving up on my ride today!

Here is Dianne just ahead of me on the downhill ride.

At mile 22 we stopped in Hawi, a small town with galleries, cafes and shops. We spent about an hour there, having coffee and snacks, and SHOPPING, always a dangerous thing to do on a bike tour. The van was there to haul our purchases to the hotel.

The terrain had flattened out by the time we left Hawi. It was a lovely ride, and now the Pacific was on our right. We could see Mt. Haleakala on Maui in the distance across the blue expanse of ocean. We stopped a few times to look at the spouting of whales very close to shore. In the 18 miles from Hawi to Kawaihae Dianne and I saw 4 or 5 groups (pods?) of whales. Apparently this is part of their migration route. A couple of times they were close enough that I could see they were orcas. The cuesheet told us to ride 2 miles into Hapuna Beach State Park and then turn on the first paved road to the right--but the first paved road was only about .2 miles into the park. I turned there (and that was correct) but about half of the riders did not, and got some very hilly bonus miles on our last day of riding!
Dianne and I toasted the end of another great bike tour, removed our pedals, and gave our bikes to the leaders. We were both highly impressed with the quality and fit of the bikes we rented from Cycle Station back on the first day in Kailau-Kona. It gave me a whole new attitude toward renting a bike. It was so much like riding my own bike that I sometimes forgot that I wasn't!

We checked into our rooms and I went down to the pool--this resort has a 50-meter pool! I swam 1000 meters and then we went to the beach. I did not swim there since the red flag was up and I'd already swam. The water was clear and warm (we waded), and the beach was beautiful. What a great place to end our tour!We were all invited to Jen's room for a pre-dinner reception at 5:30. Here we are, drinking wine, enjoying hors d'ouvres, and saying farewell.

Jenny, Judy, and Ellen.

Sue, Denise, and Liz.

Ruth Ann and Kristen.

Me, Dianne, Kristen, and Jenny. Natalie and April.

Leaders Laurie and Jen (with the very chic key chain we used for the van all week).Cheryl and Linda.And Linda B, who was fashionably late. Somehow I missed photographing Tina...

ALOHA!

January 27, 2012. Hilo to Waimea, HI. 58 miles.

2012-01-27T21:43:00.008-05:00

We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant at 6:30. I could see Mauna Loa out my balcony window after breakfast--the sun on the slope made it look pink, but the entire top was obscured by clouds. It was a beautiful sight.

I was one of the last to leave, at about 7:30 AM. It was a slow morning for me... I had some breathing issues. Might be from yesterday's visit to the volcano. We rode on Hwy 19 for about 6 miles and then turned off on the scenic route to Onomea Bay. It was a lovely ride with little traffic. There was plenty of shade, and we all stopped a few times to take it all in.

The first smoothie place was not open yet; the second one was open but I did not get anything. Took a break, took inhaler, talked with April (in the photo below) and Natalie (who took the photo).

At mile 10 we got back on hwy 19, which fortunately had a generous shoulder. We started our day at sea level, and climbed gradually for the first 27 miles. After that we had a quick climb up to about 750 feet and stayed on that ridge for miles overlooking the ocean. There were a lot of bridges and gulches and I stopped to look and/or take photos frequently.

I passed the Train Museum, which I found interesting since I have neither seen nor heard a train since we've been here.

Right after the Train Museum we had a scheduled stop at a scenic overlook. There I found out that the train that used to be here was destroyed by the tsunami in 1942. There was an optional trip down to the shore to see the tsunami memorial, which I did not do. I would not have minded biking down to the shore--it was the coming back up that stopped me. Those who went said it was very worthwhile.

While at the scenic overlook one of the women saw a whale blowing up a spout of water. I did not see the whale, but it was not from lack of direction...

The fifteen miles from the scenic overlook to the lunch place was quite difficult. It was very hot and humid, and we started the "big climb" about three miles before lunch. We stopped at Tex Drive-In where there was something for everyone. Below you see Jen, Kristen, Ruth Ann, Natalie, Tina and Dianne. Tina rode well today--she had knee issues earlier in the week and ended up at Urgent Care.

We got off hwy 19 onto the Old Mamalahoa Hwy and climbed for the next 6 miles or so, without relief. I was pretty toasted when Linda stopped the van to offer water.... it was full of people who were even more toasted than me! She told me then that I was near the top (3000 feet) and that it would level out for the rest of the ride. I thanked her profusely--I had it in my head that I would be climbing until the end of the ride.

The old road had little traffic and it was cooler up there--the elevation makes a difference! As I was enjoying the view and the cooler temperature I heard something crash through the trees right over my head. I veered a little to avoid it. And it was this guy trying to sell me insurance! A gecko about 7 inches long landed almost on top of me! It knocked itself silly (or dead) when it landed--I did not stick around to find out if it recovered. I found out later that Dianne saw a whole family of wild boars cross the road--we had heard that they were here but no one in our group had seen one until today. It gets interesting when you get off the main roads...

We got back on Hwy 19 at mile 53, and rode the shoulder alongside heavy traffec the last 5 miles. We are at a small older motel, and it is very pleasant here--the weather is perfect. We're walking out later for dinner. And then it will be the end of another perfect cycling day on the big island of Hawaii.

January 26, 2012. Volcano to Hilo, HI. 42 miles.

2012-01-27T02:56:00.013-05:00

We started our day with breakfast at one of the larger cottages. There was continental breakfast in the rooms, but Linda supplemented that with eggs and oatmeal.

We rode back to the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park, where we had gone after dark last night to see the lava. We all stopped at the visitors center, but the trip further into the park to the observatory was optional. I opted to go, and saw many steam vents along the road. It looks eerie--like a prehistoric landscape. I guess that's appropriate, since the earth here is shifting and changing just like when it came into being as we know it.

As we cycled up to the observatory we also saw Kilauea Military Camp. Not sure how or when it came to be, but it looks up to date and occupied.
When we reached the observatory the plume from Halema'uma'u Crater was billlowing. It looks very different in the daytime, and is much closer than it appeared when we saw it as a glow on the horizon last night. While I was up there several other women from our tour arrived. I spent an hour up there and did not suffer any ill effects from breathing the sulfur gas (we were warned at the entry that it could be dangerous). At the visitors center the chart on the wall stated that today's air quality was "good" but partway up the mountain we saw a sign indicating otherwise.

We started the descent to Hilo as soon as we left the park. It was a glorious descent! We barely pedaled and did not have to temper it with the brakes--a perfect coast downhill for the better part of the next 25 miles! I flew right by the points of interest for today--the Wooden Bowl store and the Macadamia Nut factory. Had to slow down for construction at one point, but that gave me a chance to remove my jacket, since the rain had stopped spitting and the sun came out.

We rode most of the day on route 11, which had a wide shoulder most of the way. When I got to the hotel I did not see any of our riders, so I walked to a nearby restaurant for some lunch. We are on Banyan Street, named for the many large Banyan trees on both sides of the road.

I was given room 628, but it was so noisy from the very close elevator that Dianne even heard it! In the room with the door closed! So I asked for a different room. We went to room 314, far from the elevator, but the smell of mildew nearly knocked me over when I opened the door. Next we went to room 514, which is far from the elevator and smelled OK.... the view from the balcony is great!

Dianne and I walked out for ice cream and then walked to the little island park visible from our balcony. We vanned to dinner, which was superb. What a great day!

January 25, 2012. Volcano, Hawaii.

2012-01-26T02:06:00.006-05:00

This was a non-riding day. We used to call them "rest" days, but that was not the case today! Dianne and I walked about a half mile to go to breakfast at the Lava Rock Cafe. We decided that if we were going to hike we needed protein for breakfast. She is feeling much better and finally got her appetite back.

After we ate we walked to the Post Office. We had to mail the internet connector back to our original hotel! When Dianne was sick I asked her (by phone) to check and see if I left my phone charging cord in the room. She asked if it was a black box with a wire coming out of it. I said yes, and look at what I got!

We went back to our cottage, played one game of Scrabble and it was time to go hiking!

The leaders drove us to Volcanoes National Park. We could see the crater of the Kilauea Iki volcano far below us, with plumes of steam escaping from the crater floor.

Here I am at the rim flanked by Jen and Laurie from Woman Tours.

And here we all are-except for the other leader, Linda, who went to the visitors center to get trail maps.

We could see a large plume from a volcano in the distance beyond the crater. What an impressive sight!

Most of us decided to do the 4 mile Kilauea Iki Trail through the rain forest to the steaming crater floor. It was not an easy hike--rocky terrain, loose stones, and quite steep in places, but when we got to the bottom it was like being in a different world!

We could smell the fire and brimstone! There were large fissures in the lake bed, and places where the steam escaped from below the floor. April and Natalie and I are below--we hiked a distance with Linda and Cheryl to get up close to this vent.

Of course after hiking 400 feet down into the crater we had to hike UP 400 feet to get out of it. It was quite steep... When we got to the top we turned around and hiked the Lava Tube Trail down into the tunnels formed during a long ago eruption.

We returned to our cottages and I called Lynn, my nephew's wife. She lives here (he does too when he's not out to sea). Lynn came to pick us up in her cool Tennessee Titans pickup truck and hauled us off to her house. Dianne was going to go do the laundry instead, but when Lynn offered her laundry facilities to us, Dianne decided to go with us. We had a great time! We went to Lynn and David's house, met the little granddaughter Lily and her nanny, put the clothes in the washer and went out to dinner. We had great food, got to know one another better, and there was even a guitarist playing and singing! Lynn insisted on buying our dinner--told us that David told her she'd better treat his auntie right! Thank you, both of you!

Then it was back to Lynn's to get the laundry, and back to the cottages, just in time to get in the van to drive back to Volcanoes Park to see the volcano at night! We could see an orange glow waxing and waning, but no lava was visible. It was thick with "vog", the volcanic smog that plagues this area making people like me cough.... It was impressive none the less. I think we could not have packed one more thing into this day. Rest day? Hardly.

January 24, 2012. Captain Cook to Volcano, HI. 55 miles.

2012-01-25T03:01:00.006-05:00

Kristen has been talking about Spam since yesterday... she had heard it was a staple in Hawaii, even available at McDonalds! We have not been to McD's but it was on our breakfast menu today. Here she is with her Spam. (I think she only ate one bite). I think this hotel used to be a boarding house--our room has twin beds and a bathroom that was obviously added later. And the building goes on and on.... which is all fine, but there are chickens and roosters very close by, and don't ever think that the roosters only crow at dawn! From about 3 AM until we left at 7:30 it was constant dueling roosters! Not a good night for sleep.

There were fewer coffee plantations today, as we moved into the Macacamia nut area of the island. There were some small cattle farms and this zebra and donkey along the road. Now where did that come from?

Women were harvesting Macadamia nuts, picking them up off the ground--the ones they picked up were brown, and the trees were still laden with green nuts. Apparently it's a very long season.

The hills were less steep this morning, and it was a lovely ride. Again we could see the ocean far below us. We stopped at mile 31 for a water and rest room break. Some riders got a snack at the Hawaiian Barbecue place. Below are Sue, Denise, me and Ellen.

I ate my trail mix at the BBQ and held out for the bakery to eat lunch. There was a warning on the cue sheet: "strong winds possible for next few miles". Ha! It was strong winds the rest of the way, accompanied by rain for the next 10 or 12 miles. But the sandwich and treat from the Punalu'u bakery were great!

We had been warned that the last 30 miles was all climbing and that if we were not at the Black Sands Beach by 1:30 not to attempt the climb. After yesterday's steep climbs that verbage scared me, and it was 1:50 when I reached the beach, so I stopped, along with most of the rest of the group. Only one rider prevailed to the top. Yay Liz!

Dianne and Laurie were the last to arrive at the beach--quite a number had shuttled in, while several of us rode the distance. We were all glad to see Dianne back on her bike!

We piled into the van and headed up to Volcano Park. On the way up I thought it did not seem that steep and that I could have ridden it. Of course we were in the van at the time, not on our bikes. I am bummed about stopping when I did (55 miles).

January 23, 2012. Kona to Captain Cook, HI. 35 miles.

2012-01-25T02:19:00.004-05:00

This is Sue from Vermont, whom I missed in yesterday's introductions. She looks happy to be here, but who wouldn't be?

I had a bad moment this morning when I took my camelbak out of the suitcase and found that I'd forgotten the lid to the reservoir.... it used to be attached but broke off last year and worked fine until now. And I ALWAYS ride with a camelbak. But my bad moment was nothing compared to Dianne's---she could not ride today! She's been sick since lunch yesterday and was too sick and weak to get on the bike. This after coming all this way to ride her bike in Hawaii!

We left the hotel about 8:30 after breakfast and map meeting. There was a 5-mile warmup and then we started the climb. And we climbed and we climbed. From mile 6.1 to mile 17.3 that's about all we read on the cue sheets. Cross highway and climb, turn corner and climb....

Tina and I and some others stopped at the Lako Rd. turnoff from Hualalai Rd to see the spectacular view and take some photos.

We stopped again later, both to rest from the relentless climbing and to look at the beautiful views from high above the Pacific Ocean.

We began our descent with a steep downhill, stopping partway down at the Coffee Factory. There are coffee plantations everywhere. We are in Kona after all. In addition to the coffee plantations, we saw bananas, cherries, and avocados in the fields along the roadside. There are home-made signs stating "we buy coffee" and "we buy cherries" all along the route.

At mile 25 we stopped at Puuhonoa O Honaunau National Historic Park. We walked through the visitors center and the outdoor displays, then headed over to the nearby public park where we ate lunch and snorkeled in the clear water--the variety of fish and coral was truly amazing--the colors of the fish were so brilliant that they looked like cartoons!

Although we had only biked 25 miles so far, it was really hard climbing out from the snorkeling spot. Maybe the addition leg-work we did with the fins made a difference. Several miles back into the ride there was a sign for a Painted Chuch. We had to go up a steep 1/2 mile incline to get there and found... a church painted white! But the interior of the church was spectacular!

We ended up climbing 1500 feet in the last 10 miles, and there was not much to break the climb--no rolling hills on this route! We arrived at our lodging for the night--the Manago Hotel, a relic from the 40s. After showers and tomorrow's map meeting we went to a local Japanese restaurant for dinner. Dianne was still too sick to eat.

January 22, 2012. Hawaii.

2012-01-23T11:12:00.010-05:00

This resort is built on the site of a historical royal palace. I don't know how that can be.... but restoration is ongoing. Right on the hotel site! I walked out on the slippery black lava rocks to see what I could see, not crossing the barriers of course....After breakfast I walked up to see this little Catholic church. I had it in mind to go to Mass there, but a sign on the front said Mass at 7:30 PM on Saturdays only. I was quite disappointed. You would not believe how small this church is! It looks like it could hold about 10 people!Dianne and I met up with the tour leaders, Linda and Laurie, and they drove us out to Cycle Station bike shop, where we were fitted up for our rental bikes. This is Julia, below, who took excellent care of me! If you look closely you can see the great jersey she is wearing--Tiki Gods and all! I ordered one for a souvenir, but it will not arrive until I am home. I left the shop with a bike that feels so comfortable that it could be my own. I had been leery about riding a rental bike, but what a fit I had when they were done! Dianne had a bit more trouble and had to change from the bike she intended to rent, but she ended up well fit too. It's only a week, but there are some long days on this trip and a bike that fits is absolutely imperative! I was missing a bike lock when I got to the hotel, and Julia drove over to bring it to me at the end of the day.At 5:00 we met up with the rest of the group. Here are some of them: Jenny from California (who we know from the west coast trip) standing in the back, Liz from NC on the right, and Tina from WI in the chair.Below are Ruth and her niece Kristen both from MN, and Jen from Woman Tours. I had met her once before but have emailed with her many times.Here are April and Natalie, from Nebraska.Tour leaders Laurie and Linda look happy to be here! Of course Linda is from Montana--what Montanan would not want to be in Hawaii in January? We know Linda from last year's Southern Tour.In the purple shirt is Denise from Vermont. Her luggage had not arrived yet when we went to dinner... she seemed pretty cool about it.We filled out release forms, piled into the van and went to dinner. Dianne, Linda (OR) and Cheryl (WA) above, and Ellen (VT) and Judy (NC) below. Somehow I missed Sue, and she was sitting right next to me at the meeting and at dinner! We are from everywhere around the country, but we'll all be friends by the end of this week--it's always fun to do these tours and meet up with old friends and make some new ones.!

January 21, 2012. Hawaii.

2012-01-22T11:02:00.005-05:00

We went down to breakfast at 6:30 yesterday, having been up since 4 AM, still suffering jet lag. Open air buffet was very nice--something for everyone: bananas, sticky rice, bacon and eggs... and Kona Cofffee, of course. We are on a "black sand" beach, surrounded by lava fields. We could see many people surfing just up the beach from us, and paddlers in outriggers and kayaks passed by along the shore.

This area is a haven for the endangered green turtles, which are quite large, about 2 feet across. I saw one near shore and walked across the rocks to get his photo.

We took a shuttle to town and saw the oldest church in the Hawaiian Islands, started by the missionaries in 1820.

It was a pretty ambitious undertaking, building a church this size back then!

We had lunch at Fish Hoppers, right on Ali'i drive, and discussed how crazy it must be here during the week of IronMan competition. There was "official" IronMan gear available for sale, but since I did not do the race I do not deserve to wear the shirt!

We took the shuttle back to the hotel, ate dinner here, read our books, and I tried to recover--still suffering sinusitis. I sure hope I feel better by tomorrow.... Here we go again, on a new biking adventure!

January 20, 2012. Hawaii.

2012-01-21T10:29:00.006-05:00

Dianne arrived in Detroit on Wednesday afternoon, to spend a little time here before leaving on Friday. She brought the "Chocolate Edition" of Scrabble! We did not play it,but I posed it for a photo with the cup she brought me last time. We did, however, play Scrabble on the non-edible board...

The grandkids came over on Thursday and it was a crazy busy day. I was not feeling up to par, so finally around 5:30 PM enough parents were present to watch the little ones and I drove myself over to Urgent care. My face and head were so sore that I was afraid flying would be dangerous.... Doc dignosed sinusitis, gave me an injection and 4 prescriptions.... I am starting to feel better, but not out of the woods yet. It's good that we don't start cycling until Monday.

We had a grueling day yesterday! I did not sleep the night before, so I was wide awake when Bill's alarm went off at 4 AM. We were at the airport at 5:30 for our 7 AM flight to Phoenix. We had an uneventful flight, sharing our row with a nice young man named Terry. He tolerated our incessant Scrabble playing, even commenting on some of the words and the strategy involved in playing. The only thing he did wrong was to call us "old ladies"! we passed through some turbulence (had to hold on to the board to keep it from spilling) and afterward he told us that this was his first time flying but he could not show his fear when we old ladies did not flinch. Imagine that!

After about 2 hours in Phoenix airport we boarded the plane for Kona. I guess I consider flying a necessary evil to be able to go where we want to go... we arrived at Kona at 4:30 local time, which is 10:30 PM in Michigan. It was an incredibly long day on those planes! We broke our record by playing 16 full games of Scrabble while in transit! (I'm ahead).

This is the view from our hotel room. Today we plan to walk around and acclimate. I'll take some more photos of this beautful place today and the rest of our time here. We are going to cycle around the big island of Hawaii all week, then fly to Honolulu and meet up with Bill to tour that island for another week (sans bikes). It is like Paradise here--beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, flowers.... and Bill is home shoveling 5 inches of snow on his birthday!

November in Michigan

2011-11-27T15:55:00.006-05:00

We have had a remarkable November! The weather has been warmer than usual. It's raining today, but a couple of Sundays ago a group of us did a nice long bike ride, and yesterday I went out on my bike--it was in the mid 50's! Wonderful weather for Michigan at this time of year. Last Saturday was the Blitzen the Dotte race, a local 5K that takes place in Wyandotte, right before the big Christmas parade. Adam and Toby ran the kids' race and Alison and I did the 5K. This was the first time she has run in ages, so kudos to her for coming out.

The photo below was taken right after we finished running, and as you can see, we survived pretty well.

Francis stayed with the kids while Alison and I ran, and they all had fun watching for us to cross the finish line. I tried to get a family photo of them for their Christmas card...

I placed second in my age group. I was behind Josie (on the left, below) and could see her but could not catch her. We run together frequently in the Island Road Runners. She finished 48 seconds ahead of me. The third place woman in our age group is on the right. I found out the next day that there were 28 women in our group! That made it all the sweeter to place second!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at our house--all the kids and grandkids were here, and some good friends. We tried to get a photo of the 4 grandkids, but this is the best I could do... there are several in which 2 or 3 kids look great and the others are looking somewhere else. Oh well. As my dear cousin used to say "they are children, not soldiers".

My friend Lisa drove an hour and a half to help me set up the Christmas Village, and it looks better than ever. It was Bill's idea to take the furniture out of the room--that sure made a difference! We even have trains this year--something we frequently talk about but seldom get to do. Taking the furniture out made it possible!

The trains go right by the train station, and a lot of people are hanging around the station.... we don't have any passenger cars yet. Maybe by Christmas we'll have some passenger cars and the people will have some place to go!

October 13, 2011. Caryville, TN

2011-10-19T10:51:00.003-04:00

It was another rainy morning in Tennessee, so we did not ride. Instead we got into the truck and drove to Norris Dam State Park. There we learned about the massive TVA system, including Norris Dam. This is Norris Lake below--it extend 56 miles up the Powell River and 73 miles into the Clinch River. There are houseboats for rent here, and we discussed trailering our sailboat down here to spend some time on this lovely lake.

We visited other sites in the park, including the working grist mill and threshing barn, which were moved here from the areas flooded by the Norris Dam. We also visited the museum and visitors' center.

We met Pat for lunch, then stopped in at the tourist center in Clinton, TN, near the dam and the park. Ethel was very helpful to us at the tourist center and we came home armed with maps and infomation in case we decide to come back and spend some time on the lake.

We returned to Tom and Pat's house, then went to dinner at the local barbecue place. On Mondays and Thursdays they have music available--people come from miles around to play and sing bluegrass music, and you don't know from one week to the next who will be on stage. We were fortunate that the Chicken Man was here--this is him on stage in the red shirt. The boy in the red shirt was celebrating his birthday. Chicken man performed his famous Chicken song, among others, and we all had a grand time. It's funny--when Tom called to make a reservation for dinner I thought to myself that it would not be very busy in the off season--the restaurant is within the Cove Lake State Park. The place was packed, with people waiting to get in! At least a dozen musicians stepped up and played and sang many old favorites and some songs I had never heard before.

At one point I said to Pat "isn't that the woman from the tourist center?" sitting near us. And it was! She got up on stage and sang for the crowd. She sang several songs including "Mule Skinner Blues", which I remember from when I was a kid. She is quite the yodeler!

Otis was on the phone with a friend from home, and we learned that the Tigers won their game. What a great night!

October, 12, 2011. Caryville, TN. 46 miles.

2011-10-18T23:34:00.005-04:00

We decided that since we did not ride yesterday we would do 2 rides today. We started out on a misty morning--the mountains were shrouded until after noon!

Our first ride started at a shopping center, and went out on country roads to Speedwell, where we stopped for a break at the historic Speedwell Academy. Pat's father used to ride his mule to this school when he was a boy.The outhouses were used back then, but are padlocked now, as is the school building.

We all took a break against the wall of the neighboring church, and ate our snack before continuing on our ride.

Our next stop was at a small bait shop and restaurant, where we had a cup of coffee on the "Liar's Bench".

There is no flat ground here--it's all hills and mountains. We tried to stay together, which is hard even on flat rides! After the bait shop we were on the highway the rest of the way, so the hills were not as steep.

We packed up the bikes and headed back to Tom's house for lunch. Then Tom, Fred, Otis and I got back on the bikes for our second ride. This time it was mostly uphill the first 10 miles, and then downhill on the way back! We passed under the railroad tracks at this trestle, and later in the ride looked down on it from far above, then passed it on a grade crossing... like I said, there is no flat ground here!

Kudzu grows rampant here--sometimes it is hard to identify the things it has grown over.

After our second ride Fred, Tom, Bill and I drove out to see the elk, which were reintroduced here about 2001. They had to put the truck in 4-wheel drive to get up to the trailhead and it was an uphill hike from there to get to their stomping grounds.

We counted 36 elk in the field, and watched them until it was nearly dark. They watched us too, although we are supposed to be invisible...

The mountains were laid out before us, and again we could see the trees beginning to change to their fall colors.

Pat and Doris cooked supper for us tonight, then we watched the Tigers lose another game to the Texas Rangers. It hurt to stay up so late just to see them lose. I never watch television at home, but it's easy to get involved in these games, especially in a houseful of sports fans!

October 11, 2011. Caryville, TN.

2011-10-18T22:35:00.008-04:00

Our friends Tom and Pat own a place in Caryville, TN, and they invited us for a cycling vacation. Of course we are always more than ready for cycling! Fred and Doris (pictured below) and Bill and I drove together and arrived in time for a home cooked dinner and the baseball game yesterday. Unfortunately the Tigers lost that game after 11 innings. Tuesday morning it was raining so we did not ride our bikes as planned. It cleared up in the middle of the day, too late for cycling, but not too late to take a hike! Tom and Pat live within sight of Cumberland Mountain, and Tom (below) took us there to hike a trail to the top.

He recommended we all bring a walking stick, but I did not.... fortunately he had a few spares. We really needed them, as the trail was steep and rocky.

Otis (above) had 2 walking sticks, since he has a bad ankle. Pat did not go on the hike; she needed to go to visit her ailing father.

As we ascended the trail we saw various stages of waterfalls feeding into the river at the bottom.The photos above give you an idea of how steep and rocky this trail is. We followed many switchbacks to get to the top. Tom showed us a very large rock partway up and we speculated on how it got there...We finally reached the summit, where there was a flag already planted. We took a break there and looked down on our surroundings.The colors are just beginning to change here.On the way back down I started picking up bottles and cans that people left along the trail. At first I flattened them and put them in my pockets. When my pockets were full the others helped me carry things, and we put some in the backpacks.... when we were nearly at the bottom I found a plastic bag, which we easily filled.We ended up with quite a pile of stuff... and we did not go far off the trail. We could see more junk on the banks of the river below us; we did what we could. Now if only we could convince people to carry out what they carry in!

We reconvened at Tom and Pat's, showered and went out to dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant. Then we watched another ballgame--this time the Tigers won! Yay! This was the third game of the 7-game ALCS series, and the first win for our home team.

October 2, 2011. Cranston, RI. 30 miles.

2011-10-08T21:32:00.002-04:00

On Saturday we drove back to Rhode Island from Provincetown, MA in light rain. We took our time getting there, since there was no real agenda. Then on Sunday, Tex, from the southern tier ride, came over to ride with us and have dinner. Here we are with Narragansett Bay in the background: Kathie, Dianne, Tex and me.Less than 2 miles into our ride Tex had a flat tire--there she was with no spare tube and no tire pump! Kathie loaned her a tube, I changed the tire, and Dianne pumped it up with my small frame mounted pump. We're not Boy Scouts, but we are certainly prepared!

Kathie gave us a grand tour of the area, much of it settled in the 1600s. These old places are amazing to me. In the 1600s there were Native American outposts in Michigan, but no European settlements.

We rode one of Kathie's regular routes, so she knew of every pothole and lane change. We stopped by a couple of lighthouses on our tour, of course... the one below is the US Coast Guard Warwick Lighthouse.

We called Bill when we had about 10 miles to go, and he preheated the oven and put in the lasagna that Kathie had the presence of mind to make a week ahead and freeze. The 5 of us had a great dinner, drank some wine, had some laughs. It was a great way to end our adventure. Of course Dianne and I played Scrabble after Tex left. We tallied our scores at the end of the night; that's when we know the trip is really over.

Sept. 30, 2011. Cape Cod. 43 miles.

2011-10-06T21:38:00.002-04:00

The Cape Cod Rail Trail was less than half a mile from our rooms, so we drove to breakfast and then biked out to the trail. We got on at Orleans, which means we missed only 13 miles of this trail system this week. The trail ended at Wellfleet.

As we headed up toward Provincetown, we rode along the beach for a long time. What a great place! There was not much traffic, as most of the tourists and summer folks have already gone.

Kathie had her cue sheets from the MS 150 ride, so we used those until we were close to Truro and Hwy 6 became too busy to ride. We got off on 6A, and found a place for lunch and ice cream.

Bill met us for lunch--he is very aware of where we are at all times; that can't be easy.

Right outside Provincetown we got on the bike path through the National Seashore, and it was super! The man at the Visitor's Center had told me it was very hilly, and he was right---they did not cut a path through the dunes, but curved around, up and down.... it was a super path.

We entered Provincetown and found our way to the condo that belongs to Kathie's neighbors. They were kind enough to lend it to us for the night, and we really enjoyed it! We drove down the narrow streets to find a place for dinner, which Dianne bought for all of us--what a nice treat! Then it was back to the condo, Scrabble, and bed. Tomorrow morning we head back to Kathie's house.

Sept. 29, 2011. Rest day at Cape Cod

2011-10-06T21:18:00.005-04:00

We walked out for breakfast, then returned to the Inn and packed up. We parked the bikes and walked around the old wharf in Nantucket town while waiting for the 10:30 ferry back to Hyannis.

At Hyannis we dropped Kathie and Dianne off at the JFK Museum and Bill drove me back to Falmouth to pick up a book and go to the bike shop. We've been looking for bike jerseys like one I remembered seeing on my coast to coast trip in 2008.... I found a similar one in Falmouth, and bought one for me and one for Bill. By the time we got back to Hyannis it was past time for lunch. It drizzled on and off all day, a good choice for a rest day!

We drove out to the Cape Cod National Seashore Visitors Center and spent some time there.

I walked across the road to the Nauset Light, which has been moved inland to escape erosion. We decided later that this is the lighthouse on the Cape Cod Potato Chips package that we've been eating all week.

We stopped at another beach along the National Seashore and took each others' photos.

We drove to Orleans, got our rooms, and went to supper. Played some Scrabble, went to bed. We keep talking about how fortunate we are that the rainy forecast we saw before we came here did not come true! We don't mind a day of rain, especially on a rest day!

Sept. 28, 2011. Nantucket. 25 miles.

2011-10-06T20:37:00.008-04:00

We decided yesterday that we would take the fast boat to Nantucket this morning--a one hour ride instead of the 2 hours it takes on the traditional ferry. After breakfast we packed our stuff into the truck, drove to the ferry dock and unloaded our bikes and overnight bags.

Dianne and I played a couple of games of Scrabble on the boat--Kathie was rather surprised that we were not on deck seeing the sights.... I guess she does not know us that well yet!

Upon arriving we walked our bikes and bags to the Inn that we had reserved. It was too early to check in so we stashed our bags under the stairs and toured Nantucket by bike. There are many bike paths here, with all bike routes very well marked. First we rode out to Siasconset (usually called 'Sconset) and had a very good lunch at the restaurant shown below.

There is a building code here--exterior changes to buildings must conform to the look of the island, that is, cedar shingles. Most have white trim, but we saw a few with other colors of trim. Below you can see the public rest room building in 'Sconset.

After lunch we rode out to Sankaty Head light house and spent some time there reading the history, taking in the view, and taking photos, of course. Bill stayed by the bikes while we explored.

We got back on the bike path, stopping again at the Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum, where we took a tour and watched a film. There is a long history of Nantucket residents rescuing sailors from shipwrecks and other misfortunes on the sea.

After the museum we headed back to our inn. It was hot and windy today, but fortunately the wind was from the east, so we had the headwind in the morning and a tailwind all the way home.

Kathie and Dianne went to the Whaling Museum , but Bill and I went to our room , took care of the bikes and took a shower. We met up again later and walked next door to go to dinner at "an 1840s Whaling Inn". The end of another wonderful day!

Sept. 27, 2011. Cape Cod. 40 miles

2011-10-06T10:31:00.007-04:00

When we mapped out this morning's ride, we decided to ride the roads in the morning and the bike path in the afternoon-- good choice! Bill dropped us off near Dennis this morning.
The church above was established in 1817. I am really enjoying all the history here. Some of the towns date back to the 1600s!

We made a lot of stops today as we rode along the beach on county roads. We are trying to stay off of the busy roads--even though tourist season is officially over, there is still a lot of traffic.

We were impressed with the cottages along Nantucket Sound. Like most of the homes on Cape Cod, they are of weathered cedar shingles. We could well imagine spending a week here in the fall!

Bill met us in Chatham for lunch, which we ate outdoors and thouroughly enjoyed! Then we did some shopping in Chatham before getting back on the bikes.

We continued our circle tour along the water, stopping at the Chatham lighthouse. After a while all the coves started looking alike so we headed for the bike path and the end of today's ride.

The Cape Cod Rail Trail was a real joy at the end of the day! We made the right choice of route (thank you Kathie). There was very little traffic on the trail today. We laughed when we discussed what it must be like in the summer--it must be crazy... Drivers have to give way to pedestrians in marked walkways wherever the path crosses the road, and the drivers we encountered always did. Signs directed us to get off the bikes and walk, but we did not always do this.

When we got to the end of the bike trail Bill was waiting for us. We loaded the bikes and he drove us to Hyannis. It was already 5:00 when he picked us up, so we showered and went to supper. Dianne and I played a couple of games of Scrabble, then called it another perfect day on the cape.

Sept. 26, 2011. Martha's Vineyard. 46 miles.

2011-10-03T20:53:00.007-04:00

It was foggy this morning when Dianne, Kathie and I got on our bikes and rode down to the ferry docks at Woods Hole. The ferry was there right on time and we loaded our bikes and headed for the upper deck. There was not much to see in the fog, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. Bill took the day off.

After a ferry ride of about 45 minutes, we arrived at Vineyard Haven on Martha's Vineyard. Our first stop was at the Black Dog for breakfast. Yes, we know it's a very touristy thing to do, but so what? Dianne told us how she came here 20 years ago, and the Black Dog really was just a small tavern... Now it has retail outlets in every small town on the cape and the islands, where you can buy very expensive and very nice Black Dog merchandise and clothing. We did not take the bait.

Breakfast was great, coffee unlimited, and soon we were on our way.

We biked to Oak Bluffs and spent some time in the town, finding the cottages owned by Kathie's neighbors, and a lot of small cute shops. We spent a little too much time there, but oh well, we are on vacation after all. We rode up the hill to see the East Chop lighthouse, which was worth the trip.

We rode the bike path along Beach Road and it was beautiful! Unfortunately we did not stop to take photos. We took the ferry to Chappaquidick Island and rode the paved roads, then returned on the ferry for lunch in Edgartown. By then it was getting late so we headed back toward
Vineyard Haven on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road bike path.

The buildings and towns here are very old, and proud of it! Most of the homes and businesses are of weathered cedar shingles with white trim. This is true of Cape Cod as well.

We took a smaller earlier ferry back to Woods Hole, since it was too late to bike out to Gay Head anyway, and we'd already shopped enough. We showered and walked with Bill to the Italian Restaurant right next door to our hotel. It was another perfect cycling day! So far it has been sunny and in the 70s, unlike the cold rainy forecast we saw before we got here.

Sept. 25, 2011. Cape Cod. 35 miles.

2011-10-03T20:28:00.003-04:00

Bill and I drove from Michigan to Rhode Island, taking a day and a half to get there. Dianne flew in from Florida, and we all met at Kathie's house in Cranston, RI on Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning we packed up the bikes and Bill drove us to Cape Cod. Our first stop was at the Cape Cod Canal Trail Visitors Center, where we unloaded the bikes and began our adventure (after a stop at the Visitors Center to get maps for us and postcards for the grandkids).

We rode out on the Canal Trail, with Bill acting as our personal sag, or sherpa, as we took to calling him. He had to drive on the roads while we were on the rail trail, but he was able to catch us here and there to make sure we were all OK on our first day out.

We stopped along the trail to take photos of the Bourne Bridge that we had crossed to get to the cape, and the railroad lift bridge, which we encountered at the end of the rail trail.After that we were on the road for a while. But there was little traffic, and what traffic there was gave us a wide berth. We were impressed with the courtesy of the drivers. We stopped for lunch in Woods Hole, and enjoyed it while looking out at the harbor. Kathie walked next door and bought ferry tickets for our trip to Martha's Vineyard, planned for tomorrow.

We walked around Woods Hole a while, then got back on the bikes and rode a bike path almost all the way to the hotel. Or at least to the hotel that Dianne had booked for us sight unseen. Oops... it was terrible! There was a huge dumpster right in front of our rooms, and the rooms smelled musty. There were unsavory persons hanging around outside so we decided not to stay there. We booked rooms in an inn just down the street after the man at the 7-11 store told us our original choice was a crack house! Yikes!

We drove the mile to Falmouth Village for dinner and spent some time walking around the charming village. After dinner Dianne and I played a few games of Scrabble, and then we all called it a night.

September 15, 2011. McKittrick to St. Charles, MO. 65 miles.

2011-09-19T09:54:00.008-04:00

We started this day by lubing our chains--Bill, Fred and Tom had rinsed off all of our bikes last night after the muddy ride. It was a real pleasure starting out with a clean bike--thanks guys!We started riding where we stopped yesterday, at the McKittrick trail head. It was quite cool--46 degrees--when we started out, but the sun was shining, and the trail was in very good shape considering all the rain yesterday. After a short ride we were alongside the Missouri River again, following the Lewis and Clark historical plaques and river navigational markers. Again today there was no traffic on the river.

At Treloar we met Joe, who is riding home to New Jersey self supported. I did not think to ask him what he did during the pouring rain yesterday, but he was in very good spirits, happy to be on his bike, just like us.

Treloar looks pretty deserted, like many of the small towns along this former railroad.

Above is Bob, riding into our lunch stop at Augusta, where we ate at the local brewery. We appreciate Doris, Ruth and Bill for being there with our lunches out of the cooler the last three days, but today's lunch was a great way to celebrate the last day of our ride.

We drank iced tea with our lunch but several of us bought local wine to take with us.

I stopped to take a photo of the train bridge at Femme Osage Creek, looked up and there was Otis! As I was taking the photo, our trucks and trailer went by on the parallel road and beeped. It is a comfort knowing they're watching out for us.

By the time I was done taking the photo, Fred and Tom were there, so I backed up and Otis took our photo too.

We had a detour near the Weldon Springs nuclear waste site. We had such a long day that we did not go off trail to visit the site. Apparently you can walk out on an observation deck over the contained waste.

And then before we knew it we were at St. Charles and at the end of our trip! Bill, Ruth and Doris were waiting for us with cameras ready.

I went beyond the trail head looking for a rest room, and got a flat tire! What a way to end the trip! I did not change it, just walked back for the final group photo and loaded the bike in the trailer as it was. It was a bit of a culture shock for our drivers being in a big city after driving isolated roads all week. We got to our hotel and chose a restaurant for dinner based on what was in walking distance, not wanting to unhook the trailer and drive in rush hour traffic.

We had an uneventful drive back to Michigan on Friday, back to real life. Most of us will meet up again in 2 weeks to ride in Tennessee. What a great life!

September 14, 2011. Mokane to McKittrick, MO. 25 miles.

2011-09-14T20:49:00.005-04:00

Our plan today was to ride 47 miles from Mokane to Marthasville. It started raining last night, and was still raining this morning when we met up in the lobby at 7. It was slim pickings at the "continental breakfast" so we left in the pouring rain and drove to get a hot breakfast. It was still raining when we returned so we delayed our departure another hour. The Weather Channel said it would be clearing up mid day so we finally packed up around 10 AM and headed for the trail.

It was still raining when we got on the bikes (after Tom changed a flat tire) at 11:00. Bill, Ruth and Doris were waiting for us at the first trail head. We had snacks and headed out again. This is official notice to Toby: my rain gear is not really a lucky charm! After carrying it all over the country, it was still in its original packaging until this morning.

This is Bob, above, riding into the trail head, and in case you did not recognize me in my raingear, that's me in the first photo. We rode another 17 miles to the next trail head, which was our scheduled lunch stop. By then the wind had picked up and it was still raining hard and 54 degrees. We looked at tomorrow's weather forecast and took a vote. We decided we would rather ride 60 miles tomorrow in dry conditions than continue in the unrelenting rain today.

We were all cold and wet....Tom gave me a long sleeved shirt from his duffel bag, Bill gave me his fleece and finally Doris put her towel around my shoulders. I did not stop shivering until I got in the truck with the heater on--we were all dripping rain and mud. So we loaded the bikes and called it a day.

September 13, 2011. McBaine to Mokane, MO. 47 miles.

2011-09-13T17:54:00.005-04:00

We ate a substandard breakfast in the hotel and lined up out front around 8 AM. We rode in the trucks to the McBaine trail head of the Katy trail rather than riding out of town on the connecting trail that we used last night. As we were unloading the bikes Tom noticed that my rear tire was flat. I had been having problems with it all week--must have been a slow leak. So I changed my tire right off the bat. That's 3 for 3. Fred had a flat the first day and Otis had one yesterday. Life goes on.

Tom and I played the Lewis and Clark Trail game that I learned from CJ last year. That's always fun. I was the only one who really wanted to ride back to where we left the trail yesterday so I could say I rode the entire trail... and I crossed the bridge over Perche Creek and saw the creekbank reflected in the water below.

It's been very hot this week; yesterday it was 87 degrees when we finished the ride and the same was predicted for today, so we all wanted to finish the ride early in the day. I'm sure that's why no one else wanted to ride backward on the trail... but when I got back to McBaine minutes later Tom and Fred were waiting for me. They decided early in the week that I should never be last on the trail in case I meet up with a bee.

We passed "boat henge" along the trail, which was entertaining...

The Missouri River was beside the trail much of the day. It's still quite high after the flooding earlier this summer. Fred, Otis and Tom had a great time in the morning.

Fred and I rode through Hartsburg after our rest stop at the trail head. There was not much there but we enjoyed seeing this lovely building.

All along the trail we have seen creeping vines taking over the native trees and shrubs. It's not kudzu, but it's doing the same damage that kudzu does in the southern states.

We were hot and tired by the end of the day--it was 95 degrees when we finished, and there was little breeze. Here is Otis coming across the Middle River bridge about 3 miles before the end.

We loaded the bikes, drank some cold water (thanks to Bill, Doris and Ruth) and headed to the motel. The only real restaurant in town turned out to be super! We had things like steak and salmon, sweet potato fries and ice cream, dark beer and white wine.... the waitress (who is not a cage fighter) took our photo.

September 12, 2011. Pilot Grove to Columbia, MO. 44 miles

2011-09-13T16:53:00.007-04:00

Dolores, in the pink shirt below, is the owner of the Bed and Breakfast where we stayed last night, and she came in this morning and served us a wonderful breakfast! We had egg casserole, bacon, redskin potatoes, toast, homemade jam and homemade salsa, fruit, juice and coffee. What a treat that was after starting the day yesterday on white toast and sweet rolls at the hotel!Dolores took our group photo before we saddled up and hit the trail.Eleven miles down the trail, we stopped at Boonville. This is the restored Boonville train station where I bought postcards for the grandkids while Fred changed his tire again--he flatted on the trail and the tire was ruined, so he booted it and limped into Boonville where Bill, Doris and Ruth came bearing new tires and morning snacks.As we left Boonville we crossed the Missouri River in a bike lane on the highway bridge. We could see the old lift bridge, which is scheduled for demolition, in the distance.

We passed the old explosives bunker, used when they built the railroad, and remnants of the train turntable at Franklin. The clay brick grain elevator was at Pearsons, a town that no longer exists due to the absence of the trains.

Just before reaching Rocheport we passed through the only tunnel that was built on the MKT railroad. There are other tunnels, but they were built for the rail trail in places that the rock walls on each side of the rail bed were unstable.

We had lunch at Rocheport--sandwiches in the trailhead parking lot, since the restaurants are closed on Mondays. White limestone cliffs rose on one side and the Missouri River flowed on the other as we rode from Rocheport to Huntsdale. There were several plaques commemorating Lewis and Clark's expedition on the Missouri River, and some ancient Indian pictographs that were barely visible.

Just before McBaine we took the cutoff to Columbia. It was a great trail, and it used to be the spur from the MKT railroad into Columbia. Bill, Doris and Ruth were at the end of the trail so we would not have to ride our bikes on the busy streets of Columbia. We arrived at our hotel, showered, and walked to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Sometimes you want the known quantity... several people were sick today after eating at the place with the cage fighter for a waitress.

Sept. 11, 2011. Clinton to Pilot Grove, MO. 67 miles.

2011-09-12T21:27:00.007-04:00

We all met at our house dark and early Saturday morning Sept. 10. Fortunately our neighbors were up and about and came over to take our photo. Here we are in our Katy Trail t-shirts (thanks Fred). From left: Bob, Ruth, Bill, me, Otis, Tom, Doris and Fred. We are on our way to Missouri to ride the Katy Trail! We had a very long drive, about 15 hours. Ate, slept, and got up bright and early, went to Mass and started our adventure. The riders on this trip are Otis, Tom, Fred, me, and Bob, seen below at the western terminus of the Katy Trail at Clinton, MO.

The Katy Trail got its name from the old Missouri Kansas Texas Railway, abbreviated to MKT and nicknamed Katy back in the railroad days. All along the trail are reminders of the trains, including this caboose at Clinton.

Many of the old train bridges are in use for the trail, and it's always fun to ride across them.

Abandoned grain elevators line the route, reminding us of the days when trains ruled the transportation industry in this country.

Horses are only allowed on this trail between Calhoun and Sedalia, and we met a couple on the trail on Sunday morning. I stopped to take their photo and they thanked me for the courtesy. Equestrians have the right of way over cyclists on the trail, but most bikers don't stop, and sometimes it spooks the horses.

Our support staff on this ride consists of Bill, Ruth and Doris, seen below at one of our stops. It is
a real comfort to us knowing they are out there. And they bring us lunch when there is nothing suitalble along the trail.

Bill took our photos as we rolled in--here are Tom, me and Fred coming in for a break.

In Sedalia the trail stopped and we had to go on the city streets for a mile or so. I wondered why until we got to the place that the trail picked up again. Here is Otis coming back on the trail from the street, and you can see behind him that the rails are still in place! Oops... the Rail Trail option ran out before the trail was completed in this area.

The terrain changed from open prairie to rocks partway through the day. We met Andrew at Clifton City. He is cycling solo self supported from his home in Ohio to the west coast. We all offered him advice (get pedals and shoes with cleats! Wear your helmet!) and Tom gave him an energy bar. We had some discussion about how to ride in the desert and what to eat on a long ride.

This was a very long day for the first day on the trail, and we were glad to arrive at Pilot Grove. Bill was waiting to tell us when to get off the trail and where the Bed and Breakfast was located. There is not much left in Pilot Grove; we had to drive to Boonville to get dinner, where our waitress was a cage fighter! No kidding! No one gave her a hard time, although Otis had to be dragged away; he was very interested in her stories.

This is the lovely B & B that we occupied for the night. There was some confusion when we got back from dinner and could not get in the house, but Bill remembered a third door when the first two were found locked with the keys inside. It helps to have someone whose brain still works at the end of the day.

July 31, 2011. Island Lake of Novi Triathlon

2011-07-31T20:53:00.003-04:00

Bill and I got up at 4:15 AM, picked up my cousin Kat at 6, and arrived at Island Lake in plenty of time to unload bikes and kayak, set up our transition area, and warm up for the swim before our wave start. It's always comforting to me to see Bill out in the water--of course he can't see me, since I started the swim with about 40 other women all wearing the same red swim caps... but I can see him, and that's what counts.

We swam 1/2 mile, biked 12 miles, and ran 3.2 miles. My running is getting a bit better, now that I am doing it more frequently. (duh). I finished first in our age group, with Kat 8 minutes behind me in second place. The third place woman in our age group was way behind Kat--more than 20 minutes!

Of course we only do this because we were pre-title 9, when women's sports did not count.

June 24, 2011. Bad Axe to Harbor Beach. 30 miles.

2011-07-05T10:38:00.004-04:00

This was the shortest day of the tour, and could have been even shorter! There was a brisk west wind, first tail wind all week, and our route was predominantly eastward. But first we went 3 miles south (crosswind) and then east, then 3 miles north. Many of the riders chose to go directly east and cut almost 7 miles off the route. But Toby said "I've ridden every mile so far and I want do do the whole ride". So we did. We passed the windmill farm along the way. We had seen it on the bus ride last week, but this time we were up close and personal!

There were tons of snails at one of the sag stops. Too strange when we were still miles away from the beach!

We had the wind at our backs when we entered Harbor Beach, the endpoint of this trip.

Toby dipped his wheel in Lake Huron at the end of the trip, enjoying it immensely.

He'll pay the price when he has to clean all the sand from his bike!

We all lined up for the parade, and led by police cars and fire engines we paraded through Harbor Beach to HB High School, where our truck was parked.

Bill had ridden directly to the school, retreived our bags and put them in the truck. We ate lunch and headed for home, right after taking a photo of the 3 Grosse Ile boys who rode this week. What a great trip! It does not matter that it rained every day... we are all thrilled to have spent this week on our bikes and in our (wet) tents. And all the kids (and most of the adults) are already talking about next year's ride.

June 23. Bay City to Bad Axe. 62 miles.

2011-07-05T10:18:00.004-04:00

We knew all along that this would be the longest day on the tour, and this is the day they asked for volunteers to drive the trucks. Bill is driving today, so it's just me and Toby (and 750 other people) riding this route. We had a short jaunt on a nice rail trail, but the rest of the day was on the road. We were forced to take cover again, while a storm passed through, and this time we were at a boat canvas shop, where they had this neat sculpture in the garden. We ate our morning snack and found out that there was a church youth group sponsoring a lunch in Owendale.

Toby saw a funny face in this building... can you see it?

We spent some time at Owendale, eating lunch, visiting with others, playing and eating ice cream. It was almost 50 miles into the ride, so we deserved a real break!

A couple of miles past Owendale we got onto M-53 a VERY busy highway. Our notes told us to ride single file, but we did not need the reminder! Toby did very well on this busy road. He is getting stronger every day--we averaged 12 MPH today, the best yet.

Bill had already retrieved our bags and set up the tent when Toby and I arrived at 3 PM. Tonight is the last night on this tour, so we went around telling folks farewell. There was a dance with a DJ but Bill and I read our books in the tent instead. It rained again.... several people have been staying in motels the last few nights, being tired of the constant rain. Some people set up their tents under the eaves of the school, not noticing that there were no eave troughs, so they got even wetter than the rest of us! Our tent has been raining inside for days now. We are DEFINITELY getting a new tent when we get home. Bill wanted to get one before this trip, but I convinced him that this one was still good. NOT!

June 22, 2011. Clare to Bay City. 53 miles.

2011-07-05T09:53:00.004-04:00

Today we got to ride on the Pere Marquette Rail Trail, a premium bike path! We got on the path right away in the morning and rode it for 30 miles. It even was equipped with comfort stations along the way!

Toby met a friend, Hannah, and they rode together most of the morning. Hannah is on this trip with her dad, and we met up with him for lunch in a small town along the way.

We passed through wetlands along the way, and I could not resist photographing this sign.

Toby and Hannah were doing monkeyshines on the trail, cycling with no hands while "holding up the ceiling", dancing the YMCA, riding "like an egyptian" and other silliness. It was all fun and games until Hannah tried a new trick, doing a monkeyshine while standing on the pedals... she had a spectacular fall after turning nearly a 360 right in front of me!

Between Bill and me and Avery's dad, we had enough first aid supplies to clean and dress her wounds. Avery, Toby, Hannah and Bill shown below. The kids did not do any more monkeyshines on the bike after that.... and Hannah bailed on the ride when we got to Midland and the sag wagons.

We had a nice break at Midland, crossed the tridge, and got back on the road, minus Hannah.

There was a homeland security drill at Dow Chemical today, so there were a lot of police and other emergency personnel on the road. The drill had just finished when we passed Dow Chemical. As we were riding along a rural road a policeman hollered out with a megaphone "there is a dangerous storm approaching. Take cover". Yikes!

It was raining by then, and we did eventually take cover under the porch of a building with a few other cyclists. When the worst of the storm was done we got back on the bikes and finished the ride. We are at John Glenn High School tonight, right next door to Christa McAuliffe elementary school. It touched me that they named a school after the first teacher in space, and saddened me that the younger folks had no idea who she was.

Our stuff did not get dry in the locker room last night, so I hitched a ride to the laundromat (yet again!) and dried our sleeping bags and pillows and washed the smelly stuff. This is getting old! Before this trip I had NEVER been to the laundromat on a one-week bike trip, and now I've been there twice! While I was at the laundromat another big storm came through, blowing away a few tents. Bill kept ours from blowing away, but got soaked doing it. What a week!

June 21, 2011. Big Rapids to Clare. 48 miles.

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It was pouring rain when we got up in the morning. We went to breakfast and watched the torrents of rain out the window while we drank a second cup of coffee. Fortunately it let up by about 8:30 and we were able to take our tent down in a light mist, which stayed with us throughout the morning.

Toby's new favorite snack while riding is beef sticks. I told him he needed to eat some protein, not just all sugary snacks and this is what he settled on. OK by me....

One of the sag stops was at a farm that had peacocks and turkeys. Toby and this tom had a long conversation--I told Toby that he must sound like a female turkey for this guy to have gotten so excited--every time Toby gobbled the tom gobbled back until I told him (Toby not the turkey) that we had to go.

He wanted to take a photo of this barn because his friend's initials were shingled into the roof.

We rode a bike path for a while today, and the "licorice lady" was at the end of the path with her usual goodies. She is always the last sag stop of the day and we all look forward to seeing her.

It had stopped raining when we got to the school, and we were able to dry everything out before setting up camp. Once we were set up another round of thunderstorms came through.

Toby and Bill were both snoozing when I noticed that we were floating.... I woke them up and said "we gotta get out of here!". We were in the middle of a small lake! It had rained 3 inches and our tent (among others) was in at least 6 inches of water! We evacuated, set Toby up in the gym, and emptied the tent, moved it to higher ground and moved back in. But our stuff was soaked! I broke the tent zipper during this operation and it took about 20 minutes to get it back on track.

I strung our clothesline up in the women's locker room and hung up the wet stuff. Toby's bag was fairly dry so he was able to sleep in it the rest of the night. Bill and I shared one mummy bag as the other one was very very wet.... fortunately it was warm enough that we did not need to be in the bag, just lightly covered with it. What an adventure!

June 20, 2011. Hesperia to Big Rapids. 46 miles.

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This was a day of rolling hills. We had a lot of fun seeing how far we could get on the coastdown--sometimes we were able to make it all the way up the next hill--how cool is that! Toby and I saw this dairy and I neglected to take a photo of its name--the Udder Side Dairy! Below is a photo of the road marks we are following across the state. The route is very well marked, with signs painted on the road every 5 miles and before and after every turn.

It rained the last 9 miles of this ride. We were soaked to the skin when we got to the school. I was rather mud covered as well, since I was riding behind Toby and he had to hit every puddle along the way. And there were a lot of puddles!

When we got to the school we found that they had unloaded the trucks into the school and an outdoor pavilion. It took us quite some time to find all of our bags. We had loaded them all together but they were NOT together in the school.... we wandered up and down several hallways before finding all 6 bags.

The showers were ice cold--in contrast to yesterday's boiling hot showers. Why don't they have any temperature control in these school showers????? As I was entering the shower room a woman custodian was chasing us out so a male plumber could come in and try to fix the temperature.... So I washed up in a restroom and went on my way, since we had plans for the evening.

Our local friend Roger came to pick us up with his friend Judy, and we all went out to dinner. It was a great time! I usually manage to see him once a year, but it's been at least 2 years this time. Way too long. It was great to catch up with a good friend.

When we got back to the school I took an ice cold shower (so much for the plumber fixing it) and caught a ride with some guys in a van to go to the laundromat. Our wet clothes and gloves were so smelly I could not stand to be in the tent with them! The guys in the van run a business called "Get a Ride", and they were a lot of fun, even singing a rap about getting a ride. When I got back to the school it was time for bed and Toby had gotten soaked again in a water fight. Sigh. At least the stinky gloves were clean and dry. The weather report is not good--looks like we'll be wet all week.

June 19, 2011. Ludington to Hesperia. 52 miles.

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There was a light rain when we took down the tent this morning. Fortunately it was done raining by the time we started riding. This was a pretty long day for the first day of the PALM. I was ready for it, but Bill and Toby struggled a bit... Toby was raring to go in the morning! I kept him well fed and well hydrated, even giving him some shot blocks when he was dragging before lunch.

We stopped when we saw a steam tractor.... it seems that every time I take Toby on a long ride we see a tractor beggging for a photo with a boy. This one was the best yet! How often do you see an old steam tractor along the roadside?

There was an optional loop on a bike path, which Toby and I chose to ride--it was a great path, like a tunnel of trees. When we stopped to take a photo, Toby said "Man, you look just like my mom!".

I had forgotten how much boys like to ride through the gravel and the puddles, things I usually avoid; I am riding my mountain bike on this ride, but more often ride on very skinny tires. We had a head wind all day. Our route took us east and south, and the brisk wind was from the southeast. Oh well. Such is life on a bike tour. You take what you get and run with it.

There were some interesting multiple person bikes on tour again this year. This family of 5 was on two bikes, with the trailer just in case the little guy got too tired.

PALM. prep day June 18, 2011

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June 17 we loaded up the truck and headed out to Harbor Beach, which is actually the end point of this year's Pedal Across Lower Michigan bike tour. I had reserved a room at one of the few lodging options in this small town. It was a bit musty, but I made it through the night (I am having a bad allergy season). Toby went out exploring and found what he thinks is a meteorite--it looks a lot like the one the proprietor had in his office, found on that beach. He told Toby he could not be sure of his without using a metal detector.... not sure if he was just letting him down easy. But Toby will take it home for his mother the geologist to examine and verify. Saturday morning we drove to Harbor Beach High School and got in line to load the bikes, then the luggage. We then boarded the buses for the ride to Ludington. We were on the bus for about 4 hours, not including the stop for lunch.
We arrived at Ludington High School, set up our tent and called my friend Christy. She and her husband Tim picked us up and took us out to dinner. It was great to see them--she just got back from a military deployment. We ate and visited and had a great time.... then Bill, Toby and I registered and went to the LONG meeting.

We went to bed early--even earlier than the official "quiet time" of 10 PM.

Las Vegas! May 23-27, 2011

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Bill and I celebrated our anniversary May 15, and decided to do something about it! So we took a trip to Las Vegas. I had never been there, and do not gamble so was understandably leary about the whole thing... but he wanted to see Cirque du Soleil in its home theatre, so away we went! We were bowled over by the show! I was nearly in tears at the end. It's hard to explain why it affected me that way... it was just incredible the things they did!

We walked up and down the strip several times, seeing all the sights. Of course we have tons more photos.... they will eventually be scrapbooked. Below is the canal at the Venetian.

We took a van tour to Hoover Dam, which was spectacular! What a feat it was to build this in the middle of the desert in the middle of the depression!

We spent several hours there, and were glad to have taken the bus--we did not rent a car, and found that we really did not need one.

We spent an evening watching the indoor jousting at Ex Calibur, eating cornish hens, broccoli and roasted potatoes with our hands.... and flew home on Thursday having spent not a penny on a slot machine or any other means of gambling. It was a great getaway to celebrate our anniversary and enjoy ourselves with no interruptions (no bikes, no grass to cut....).

Real Life

2011-05-17T15:21:00.003-04:00

It's been tough getting back to real life.... I am still not 100% recovered, and that's unusual after 2 weeks of recovery time. I got out of the pool after 2,000 yards last Monday, and got dressed and came home; I was that done. I have a duathlon this Saturday, so let's hope for the best. (Running and biking have been easier to do than swimming, so it should be ok).

Mother's Day was a great time! All the kids came, and you can see that we start them early on bikes around here! The 11-year old is going on a week long trip with me and Bill this summer. The little ones are not ready for that yet, but we're working on it.

Adam rode his bike with training wheels when we went for a walk--he's gotten a lot faster than the last time I walked with him! I had to jog to keep up, the whole 2 miles! It won't be long and he'll be doing the week long trip with the rest of us!

Delia and Sydney rode in the strollers; not quite ready for prime time! The cousins all got to see each other and get to know one another better.

And we finally got an updated photo of all the grandchildren. The big one on the left is Liza, Erika's exchange student from Russia. She is an honorary grandchild for this year, and we will all miss her when she leaves in June!

April 29-30, 2011. St. Augustine, FL

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St. Augustine is a beautiful old town (the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the US), very conducive to walking. Friday morning Dianne and Jan attended a tour of Flagler College to see the extensive collection of William Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows, and Bill and I just walked around town.We got in the truck about 11:00 AM and headed south, planning to watch the Space Shuttle Endeavor launch from someplace closer. We were not sure how close we could get, but gave it a try nonetheless. On the way there we passed this airplane being hauled down the highway. Just when you think you've seen everything...

As we were nearing Titusville (after 2 hours of driving), Dianne called to tell us the launch had been delayed at least 48 hours. I was pretty disappointed, but what can you do? We turned around and headed back, stopping for lunch at Daytona.

Saturday morning we went to the Alligator Farm with my sister Joan and her husband Bobby. I had been looking for alligators in every creek and pond along the bike route, seeing none. We certainly saw enough gators at the farm! There was a rookery as well, where we saw many varities of birds.

Among the alligators were a few rare white gators--they look like the concrete ones people put in their gardens until they start moving!

When we finished with the alligators we went downtown and took a trolley tour, including seeing the old jail. The gallows still stand, and the cell blocks are all in tact with their iron bars and wall mounted bunks. The guides all wore stripes and made jokes, but the jail was a pretty horrible place in the early 1900s.

In the evening we walked to town again, had dinner and looked around some more. The original city gates still stand, saved by a group of women who staged a sitin in the 1880s when the town officials wanted to tear them down. There are stories everywhere you look here. We did not go for a carriage ride, and looked at the fort (in the background of the carriage photo) but did not do the guided tour. There is so much to do and see here!

April 28, 2011. Palatka to St. Augustine, FL. 45 miles.

2011-04-29T07:29:00.015-04:00

The first part of this day's ride was rural. We passed through the countryside at a leisurely pace, knowing it was our last day, and knowing that we only had 40 miles to ride before convening at the fire station for our final ride into St. Augustine. I saw this ghost bike on CR 214 on the last leg of our ride. It's always sad to see them, and I think they remind the drivers on the road (in this case a lot of trucks) that we are out there.

In no time at all we were at the St. John's County fire station. A fireman took our photo as we waited for the leaders to get there to lead us in. I took a photo of Katherine and Marge at the sag car--they shared sag duties with Lisa during this whole trip.Linda and Carol rode in on their bikes with 2 police cars close behind. No, they were not being ticketed for speeding--the police cars were there to escort us to the beach.We rode the last 5 miles in close formation with police cars leading and trailing, lights and sirens engaged. That's quite a thrill! And it was a safety measure as well, in this busy town.We arrived at the beach to the rousing cheers of family and friends, in my case, my husband Bill and my sister Joan and her husband Bobby.
Dianne's sister Jan arrived about 5 minutes after the grand parade. Here she is with Dianne and Bill.

We all carried our bikes to the beach and did the ceremonial wheel dip. There were tears shed by some. The rest of the riders rode their bikes all the way from San Diego, a real feat. I was the wimp of the group, having ridden only 1550 miles (half of the trip).

After dipping our wheels many of us ran into the water and celebrated our arrival, led by lone wolf Victoria (on the far right). We played in the water for a while and then hauled our bikes back up to the parking lot and enjoyed the picnic lunch provided by Woman Tours.Joan and Bobby stayed for the lunch, and we are going to see them this weekend. It's nice to be back together--they moved to St. Augustine last September and this is our first visit. I would bet it won't be the last!

April 27, 2011. High Springs to Palatka, FL. 73.6 miles.

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Judie picked us up at our hotel last night and we 3 went out to dinner at The Great Outdoors, a restaurant in downtown High Springs. We had a wonderful time! We drank a bottle of wine, had salads and fish for dinner, shared a dessert, and she would not let us pay our share!
When we got back she looked over our cue sheets for today and told us that the roads would not be too bad. She was right, at least for the first half of the ride. We had country roads, a few rolling hills, and not much traffic. Then at mile 41 we turned on to State Road 100 and it all changed. We were warned by our leaders that SR 100 was under construction, and it sure was. There were several sections that were down to one lane. Our saving grace was that we cyclists were allowed to ride on the closed side of the road for much of the way, keeping us out of harm's way.

The shoulder of the road was scarified, in preparation for new pavement, making it nearly impossible to ride there. I had a real thrill when I saw the county line sign stating that Putnam County was bike friendly--and I could see that at the county line the shoulder was newly paved. Yes! But it was short lived and soon we were back to one lane traffic through the construction and rough shoulder pavement beyond.

It was a long 30 miles on that road! I pretty much kept my head down and cycled on throughout this day, riding alone, hoping to get in before it got up to 95 degrees. So I did not even notice that there was a bike path! Some of the riders saw it and others were told of it by locals, and I surely would rather have been on the bike path than in among all the trucks in the construction zone! This is the second day in a row that a bike path was available and not mentioned on our cue sheets.

Then when we were entering Palatka, we saw an overturned log truck! Every time they pass me I cringe, hoping that their loads are secure. I get out of their way so they won't have to brake hard to avoid me.... and there it was, on its side, logs everywhere. It was an awful sight!

I was one of the first riders to arrive, so I helped unload the luggage from the van. By the time I got to my room I was so hot that I had to take a cold shower. Dianne arrived soon after and we went to lunch with 6 others from the tour. When we got back from lunch Carol was working on Greta's broken bike--she reattached the broken derailleur with a hose clamp and some duct tape!

During dinner I started coughing and could not stop--there must be something in the air.... I returned to the air conditioned room, took a couple of puffs of inhaler and another shower (to wash off whatever was causing the attack). I guess I'll skip the pajama party and lie low to prepare for tomorrow, the last day of this tour.

April 26, 2011. Perry to High Springs, FL. 76.5 miles.

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We left the hotel on side roads, then rode on highway US 27 for 43 miles (with a head wind). The Mayo Correctional Institution, which we passed on the way, was huge--it looked like a small town and even had its own water tower. I did not take photos because there were two guards in my sight that had big dogs snarling on their leashes.... I thought it best to keep moving. The first sag was at about 19 miles, one fourth of the way through this ride. Marge (with the clipboard) was the sag driver this morning. Fiona is in the middle and Greta on the left. There were logging trucks and rock haulers all along this highway, but there was a shoulder for us to ride on, so we were all OK.

It was a rural setting, with cattle and horse farms, and wildflowers along the roadside. We passed several very large poultry farms, which did not smell very good. I think if I had to breathe that smell every day I would become a vegetarian.

At 45 miles into the ride we turned onto a bike path in the town of Branford. This was our only option for food, so Dianne and I stopped and got sub sandwiches to go, while everyone else just rode on. It was not 11:00 yet, so it was pretty early for lunch.

After we got off the bike path we were on country roads for 6 miles until we came to Ichetucknee Springs State Park. We entered the park and talked to Katherine, who was our sag driver by now (She and Marge split the sag duties with riding time). We ate our sandwiches and walked down to the springs where I cooled off my feet. I did not want to get my bike clothes wet since we still had almost 20 miles to ride. We saw the miniature horses on the way to the park--the mare is about 2 feet tall fully grown!

We left the shady park and then finished our ride in the hot sun. It's 88 out there now. When Dianne checked in she said the clerk asked her how she was (hot) and then asked her "how are the mice?" She made him repeat the question 3 times before she understood that he was asking her how many miles she rode today (76). Then he told her it was going to be 95 tomorrow. She said no, only 73. He said no, it is going to be 95. Of course he was talking about the weather and she was still talking about miles. Or mice if you prefer.... guess you had to be there.

Our friend Judie, whom we met on the northern tier last year, is coming to take us out for dinner this evening. What a shame that we won't be out in the steamy parking lot for dinner slapping off the no-see-ums.

April 25, 2011.Crawfordville to Perry, FL. 54 miles.

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I have a few more photos from Easter on the home front... Here is Adam, who misses his grandma and made his mom feed the wire-man grandma yesterday. I miss him too! It is time to go home to my real life! Wire-man grandma also spent some time playing Scrabble on the computer yesterday. That's how the real grandma learns new words.

I was one of the last riders to leave the hotel this morning at about 7:40. We did not have a long day, but we like to get our ride in before it gets too hot. About 8 miles into the ride we crossed the Wakulla River, where I stopped to look for alligators... none to be seen, but I looked down and saw 2 manatees swimming down the river! What a thrill!

The next river I stopped at was St. Mark's, where I still did not see any alligators, but got a reflective shot of the river with a sailboat tied at a dock. I don't really want to get close to an alligaotor; I just want to see one and take its photo (with the zoom lens of course).

Lisa was our sag driver today, and she was right where she was supposed to be, wearing an Easter bonnet! It seems like just when I am really ready for a break she is there. And I was plenty ready today.... I had a slow day. I think it's due to the fact that I did not eat right yesterday.

Dianne and I rode into Perry at around noon and stopped at Pouncy's for lunch. I asked for iced tea and they brought me a quart jar full! I drank every bit of it, and had a delicious marinated chicken sandwich and french fries. I was revived enough to go the remaining 3 miles to the hotel.

Dianne and I played a few games of Scrabble this afternoon, and are walking out for supper soon. Many of the riders are ordering pizza to be delivered, but I prefer other food so will go out on my own. We are at a Hampton Inn, so there is complimentary beer, wine and soft drinks starting right about now. Guess I'll have a glass of wine and THEN walk out for supper.... life is good.

April 24, 2011. Rest day at Crawfordville, FL.

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This was a crazy kind of Easter Sunday. I hitched a ride to church with the Methodists... They invited me to go with them and I asked if they would drop me off at the Catholic church instead, and they did. Then I went back with them to the Methodist church for their fellowship brunch. Came back to the hotel, cleaned the bike, and played Scrabble with Dianne.My family sent me photos of the wire man dressed up as the missing me. Delia recognized my photo but it looks like she found the wire-man grandma's lap less comfortable than mine!

Toby sent me a big hug.

We had dinner in the parking lot and Tex and Fiona wore their Easter bonnets while Nancy wore her fuzzy bunny ears. I did not stick around long after dinner--it was still pretty hot and steamy out there and I like to spend my rest days in air conditioned comfort whenever possible.

April 23, 2011. Quincy to Crawfordville, FL. 48.5 miles.

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We started out on a misty morning, riding on lovely country roads with gently rolling hills. It was perfect! There was a shoulder on the road, and not much traffic. I took the above photo of the Ochlockonee River at about 9 AM. The mist was still heavy enough that I had to wipe it off my sunglasses frequently. (I tried taking them off but then I could not read the cue sheet--never a good thing). We entered the Apalachicola National Forest at about mile 18 into the ride, and rode through it for 15 miles or so. It was a lovely ride! Dianne had warned us that when she rode through here one summer that the horse flies were all over the cyclists, but we did not have that problem today. Must be a seasonal thing... I found it interesting that the tall pine trees, ferns and tropical palm grasses all grew together in this forest.

There was an option to go to Wakulla Springs State Park, but Dianne and I did not go. Those who took the option were very impressed with the park. Oh well.... We rode on and stopped for lunch in Crawfordville at Myra Jean's restaurant. The waitresses were wearing bunny ears and the food was great! We did not have the behemoth burger, but were impressed enough to take a photo of it on the menu. Wow! Who could eat all that!!!???

We stopped at an ATM (I was out of cash) and an office store (to get copies of our Scrabble score sheets) and pedaled on. We are staying at the Inn at Wildwood, a golf resort outside Crawfordville. Some of our group are going kayaking tomorrow, some are golfing, but Dianne and I are resting (that's what rest days are for) and playing Scrabble. OK, I guess we are also doing laundry and cleaning the bikes. But that's all. Gotta rest for the final 4-day push into St. Augustine.

April 22, 2011. Marianna to Quincy, FL. 54 miles.

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When we rolled out this morning we left the way we came in: US 90 and SR 71. The traffic this morning was very much lighter than it was coming in yesterday afternoon. Once we were out of town (about 5 miles riding) we were on lovely country roads like you see below. It was very rural, and there were some hills. At about halfway through the ride we entered the eastern time zone when we crossed Apalachicola River and climbed the big hill into Chattahoochee. It got more hilly after that, but the roads were great--we spent about 8 miles on a newly paved CR 268 with a nice wide shoulder before it narrowed down again before we got to Gretna. It was in this stretch of the old pavement that I got seriously chased by a big snarling white bulldog. I outran it by pouring on the energy (or adrenaline) and ramping up to about 25 MPH. Afterward I thought I had a flat tire. I stopped to check and found that it was just me shaking, not the bike! We had a note on our cue sheet that there was a town square with restaurants upon entering Quincy, but I did not see it and I DID see Kathie and Victoria ahead of me, so I rode into the hotel with them. When we got here we found that there was no food to be had in the area! We really lucked out when Tex called Kathie... She, Dianne, and some of the other riders were at a restaurant and were willing to bring us food. Yay! There was no way we were getting back on the bikes to ride the couple of miles back to town in 88 degree weather.

Katherine is a nationally known wound care specialist riding across the country to raise money (about $200,000!) for the WOCN foundation. If you would like to know more, go to www.wocnfoundation.org. You can also donate to this worthy cause. All along the route people have stopped to congratulate her and support us all.

April 21, 2011. Crestview to Marianna, FL. 92 miles.

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This was the day of 90s. We rode 90 miles on highway 90 and the temperature was over 90 degrees.... my bike computer read 100, Fiona's read 99. Translation: it was very hot!

There were a couple of places under construction on highway 90, including one where state prisoners were doing the work--there was a guy with a gun supervising them. I did not think it would be polite to take their photos.

There really was nothing to photograph on this long ride. It was quite hilly, although Carol described it as "undulating terrain". Near the end of the ride we merged with highway 71. Most of the day we rode on the shoulder of 90, but the last 10 miles (through Marianna) there was no shoulder. There are some who were as cool as cucumbers riding on the busy 5-lane highway right in the lane.... Of course I rode it, but I was afraid.

When we arrived there was a table set up out front welcoming us with cold drinks and fruit. That Katherine--people all along the way have come out to meet her. Sometimes they bring fruit or dessert. She is quite a celebrity.

When I got to the room I took a shower and chilled out until Dianne arrived. Then I collected all our dirty laundry and took it to the laundry room (my turn). The stuff that needed to airdry was still out on the line when it started thundering in earnest. We hurriedly tossed them into our room and went to dinner, which was moved to the hotel breakfast room when the lightning started flashing. It is all supposed to pass by morning, leading to another very hot day. We are in Florida after all.

April 20, 2011. Pensacola to Crestview, FL. 67 miles.

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This fountain is in the courtyard of the Sole Inn, where we stayed last night. Dianne and I played Scrabble on the tables and chairs in the background. It was quite overcast this morning with the threat of thunderstorms but they never materialized. As we pedaled out of Pensacola we crossed a tall bridge and looked down on this view of the Gulf of Mexico, our last water view for a long time to come. Most of the roads we rode today had either a bike lane or a shoulder, which is a comfort--it is scary riding with traffic in the same lane. We had quite a number of hills today, which surprised me. I did not think there were hills in Florida!

At mile 27.5 into the ride we got on the Blackwater Heritage Trail, a lovely rail trail. We were only on it for 6.5 miles, but we enjoyed every minute of it. The sag car was supposed to be at the point at which we were to leave the trail and get back on the road, so we would not get lost, but the sag car got lost! Victoria was kind enough to stay on the corner and wait for the sag while the rest of us went on.

After the rail trail we rode quiet country roads for about 15 miles and then got on US 90, a busy highway. It was still hilly (the only part of the route that was not hilly was the rail trail). By the time we got to downtown Crestwood we were famished! So at the 62 mile point Dianne, Kathie, Greta and I stopped at a little cafe and had sandwiches and drinks. The last few miles to the hotel were crazy busy with traffic, but we all made it in safely. It was 87 degrees when we arrived. More of the same expected for tomorrow.

This pond and waterfall is in the front of today's hotel--why doesn't my pond look like this? Minus the palm trees, of course..... Palm trees don't grow in Michigan.

April 19, 2011. Dauphin Island, AL to Pensacola, FL. 59 miles

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We had a very short ride (2.5 miles) to get to the ferry this morning. We all lined up for the 8:00 AM sailing from Dauphin Island to Fort Morgan. Once on board we had a 45 minute ride. There were a few among us who are prone to seasickness (not me), but it seems like they did OK.

The wind was from the SSE, not a good thing when we are traveling east and south... you can see the wind strength in the flying of the US and Alabama flags.

In the photo below you can see Dianne, Kathie, Nancy, and me during our voyage.

The rigs that dotted the horizon at the gulf beach and in Mobile Bay are natural gas (not oil) rigs. That's a good thing considering how long it will take for the gulf to recover from last year's massive oil spill.

As we neared shore at Fort Morgan we saw dolphins cavorting in the water alongside our ferry. Pelicans and other water birds were diving for fish... while some just rested and looked pretty.

We exited the ferry and got right on hwy 180, which runs along the beach for miles.... there was a nice wide shoulder. A little bit of sand and trash and a dead fish (this was about a half mile from the beach!) kept us alert as we pedaled head down directly into the wind.

After about 25 miles we were in Gulf Shores, where we turned on to SR 59 for a mile--it was a busy 5-lane highway with lots of spring break traffic. There was a zoo and an amusement park and several souvenir shops.... this was all within a mile! Then we turned onto SR 182 and directly into the wind again. But there was a bike lane on this road. We were right on the beach, so there was a little sand, but it was a beautiful ride.

At around 34 miles we crossed a high bridge (where I took the photo above) and then we were in Florida! The road turned into SR292 when we crossed the state line, but we still had a nice wide shoulder and were still heading into the wind. We were starting to get tired by then.

As we got close to Pensacola the traffic picked up. The wind continued, but we all made it in fine. Dianne and I walked to lunch at a nearby cafe, then showered and played Scrabble until it was Margarita time. This was our last state line crossing so I guess it's our last Margarita party. It was especially poignant for those who rode all the way from San Diego.

April 18, 2011. Rest day at Dauphin Island, AL.

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This was a rest day, and we had every intention of resting.... it did not exactly work out that way. I went for a swim first thing, since it was so full of kids yesterday. It felt great to be back in the water. I did not swim in the ocean after seeing the sheet of instructions for jelly fish sting recovery. After last year's debacle with the hives (from jelly fish larva stings) I did not want to take a chance. After my swim, the 4 of us in this condo went for a walk to find breakfast. It was a longer walk than we expected.... along the way we saw many little stop signs... look how short they are! In the photo are Lise and Dianne flanking the sign, and Nancy down front.

We walked several miles, including going into town to get food for supper. After all the walking we hailed the $1 shuttle and got a tour of the west end of the island as well as a ride back to our condo. These houses have been rebuilt and blown away by hurricanes several times. You can see in the photo that the land is at sea level. It is beautiful here, but I don't think I could live with the threat of hurricanes hanging over my head and my home.

I went for a walk on the beach, which is beautiful--the sand is as white as sugar... there were people on the beach but no one was in the water today.

Below is a view of our condos from the beach.

Dianne and I played some Scrabble out in the balmy open air. I cooked supper for us, cleaned my bike, and we sat around as a group for a while after eating our sausage-stuffed cajun chicken, beans and rice, cucumbers, and ice cream and drinking our chilled bottle of Reisling.

Tomorrow morning we cross Mobile Bay on a ferry and ride 60 miles to finish our day in Pensacola, FL.

April 17, 2011. Wiggins, MS to Dauphin Island, AL. 41 miles.

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We planned a late start this morning because the alligator farm did not open until 9 AM and it was supposed to be only 9 miles away. Before we got started, Carol gave Tex a lesson in changing a tire. Can you imagine that she has never changed a tire on the road?????The alligator farm was supposed to be 9 miles away, but at 9 miles into the route we found the state line, and all of a sudden we were in Alabama. We missed the alligator farm altogether. Photo below shows Dianne, me and Kathie at the state line.

Of course there were fireworks stores at the state line... aren't there always?

We had a headwind for the first 20 miles of today's ride. Once we crossed the state line the wind and the traffic both increased, and the people became very rude. Alabamans apparently do not like to share the road with cyclists! People honked the horn long and hard as they were passing us, and some of them yelled nasty things at us and used finger signs.

We crossed a few bridges along the way, and there were signs indicating that you needed a salt water fishing license to fish there. There was a drawbridge in Bayou La Batre.Then we saw it ahead of us--the bridge to Dauphin Island! It looked quite impressive even from a couple of miles away. The bridge and its approaches added up to 3.5 miles on the route. There was a nice wide shoulder on both the approach and the bridge, but there was a lot of trash and glass on the shoulder.

After the bridge we stopped at Barnacle Bill's and had luscious grouper sandwiches and sweet potato fries. It was a great lunch! Dianne, Kathie, and I sat with Ruth; there was another table of our riders there at the same time. On Dauphin Island we saw these cute little condos. Condominimums indeed!

We are staying in condos for the next two nights (not condominimums), since tomorrow is a rest day. Dianne and I are sharing with Lise (pictured below with Dianne) and Nancy. I have my own bedroom and bathroom, as does Dianne. Lise and Nancy are sharing their room (twin beds and a private bathroom). There is a full kitchen. living and dining area; and two swimming pools and the beach all right here!

Since we crossed a state line today we had a margarita party, and we also celebrated Carol's birthday. We all signed a card and Carol's brother sent a cake, which was absolutely delicious.

We are all looking forward to the rest day tomorrow--what a great place to spend the day!

April 16, 2011. Wiggins to Pascagoula, MS. 69.3 miles.

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There were many tornadoes in Alabama and Mississippi yesterday, and we were under a tornado watch until 10 PM. So we had to have our "state line" margaritas in the breakfast room at the hotel before we walked next door for dinner at the local mexican restaurant. A good time was had by all....Today's ride was magnificent! We started out with 7 miles on highway 49, a 4-lane limited access highway, not such a great start... there was a shoulder for the first several miles, then no shoulder for a couple of miles, and then we had a wide shoulder again. One of our riders took a fall just after the shoulder came back--her seat came off! She could not find the bolt that holds the seat to the seatpost, so she was stuck waiting for Carol to come and get her back on the road, which she did. It was very fortunate that the fall was on the shoulder and not on the shoulder-less highway just a mile previous.... she was not hurt. Once we turned off higway 49 we had a beautiful ride on gently rolling hills through the DeSoto National Forest. We were in the forest for about 30 miles. There was little traffic, a mild tailwind, bright sunshine, and low humidity. What could be better than that!? We passed by this sign after the first sag. There was a POW camp here during World War 2, and the site is accessible from a hiking trail. No time to go hiking on a 69 mile day, but it would be interesting to see.

We did not go in the store to see if the cashier was pretty, but we thought the sign was pretty funny! During this day's ride we passed many horse farms and large estates--big fancy homes with electric gates. I am not sure where the money comes from around here; the area seems generally depressed, but there must be something going on!

Near the end of the ride we had to get on highway US 90, a freeway. It was the only way to get across the bridges to our motel. Below you can see the second bridge. There was a wide shoulder on the bridges and on most of the highway that we traveled for the last 6 miles, but there were a few spots where the shoulder mysteriously disappeared. Fortunately for us there was little traffic on this Saturday afternoon.

When we arrived I was way past hungry. A bunch of us walked to a little place next to the motel and had sandwiches and cold drinks. After that I showered and went walking to find postcards. I walked a mile, stopping in every store, and came up empty handed. Catherine was coming in with the sag car and gave me a ride back. That's the trouble with only spending 2 nights in a state--now what am I going to do? I always send the grandkids postcards from every state that I ride my bike through.

April 15, 2011. Bogalusa, LA to Wiggins, MS. 60 miles.

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We started our day early today due to the weather prediction: strong gusty winds, severe thunderstorms, and tornado watch. Yikes! But it was all supposed to happen after noon, so we figured we could ride 60 miles before noon if we left before 8 AM. Piece of cake. About 5 miles into the ride, after crossing a river, I saw this sign (above). We were in Mississippi! But Dianne and Kathie were ahead of me and did not hear me yell or see me stop. So here is my bike at the border of LA and MS.

I remember an old Dave Barry essay about fireworks stores and state lines.... he said there are always fireworks stores at the state line, and people from one side of the line cross to the next state to get fireworks that they can't get at home, and vice verse... they all think they are getting away with something. And there it was, right at the state line!

A couple of miles later we stopped at the official Welcome to Mississippi sign to take photos. Dianne and Kathie and I took each other's photos. Here is Kathie with me (above). I lost count of the number of state line photos I have taken with Dianne!

At 10 miles into the ride we saw this detour sign, but the road LOOKED open, so we went on ahead. We were supposed to ride just a mile and a half on the road, and there were no other cyclists coming back at us. We made the right choice--the bridge was completed and we could cross it, although the approaches were not yet paved and we had to walk our bikes a short distance.

There were a lot of horse and cattle farms (they're not called ranches in MS; that's a TX thing). We enjoyed rolling hills and farmland for most of today's ride. I noticed when we entered LA that the roads were named after people, first and last names. And that curious custom continued into MS. Sometimes there are many roads with the same last name.... there has to be a system or a reason, but I sure don't know what it is.

Then we came upon this detour sign... this time the road was truly closed. Lisa was there with the sag car, and all the riders who were ahead of us were held up. We waited around for what seemed like a very long time for the leaders to find us a suitable detour. I suppose it was less than an hour, but we all wanted to be on the road to dodge the thunderstorms (or worse). Tex, Victoria, and Nancy did the hokey pokey, while Lise (not in the photo) did yoga. We started the Granny Small game, which could last to the end of the ride, depending on how clever everyone is. Finally Lisa got the phone call with the detour instructions and we all took careful notes on our new route. However, one of the cues was to turn on West North road, and that there would be a Baptist church on the corner. Well, there was a Baptist church on 3 of the 4 corners we passed while riding on the very busy Hwy 26. There are a lot of churches around here, mostly Baptist! I think only one rider missed the turn.

The flag photo was taken in Poplarville, where we rode with a crosswind. I wore my bandito bandana when it was cross or head wind--there was a lot of stuff being blown around and it really does help to filter what I breathe.

Shortly before the second sag stop we saw a logging operation--we have been sharing the road with log trucks since Texas (maybe before then, but I joined the tour in Texas). Note the lovely clouds in the background... By the time we got to the sag stop it had started raining, and we had a brief violent downpour. We just got in the car for the 10 minutes until it passed.

Then we were back on the bikes--I did not even have to break out the raingear! I absolutely HATE wearing raingear.... dodged the bullet again. The winds were very squirrely the rest of the ride. They were very strong and gusty and changed directions many times. I kept my eye on the sky for funnels but did not see any. We were lucky enough to have a tail wind for most of the very hilly 12 miles on old highway 26. After 3 miles of hills on the new highway 26, with the traffic all around us, we were here! There is still a tornado warning, but it's not such an issue now--we all arrived safely to ride another day.

April 14, 2011. Hammond to Bogalusa, LA. 56 miles

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We were still dragging this morning from yesterday's long day--it took 30 miles to warm up my legs! When I talked to other riders they said the same thing. This day was tougher than it should have been. We started by leaving the way we came in, that is, many turns and a couple of busy roads. I saw this sign for the Cowboy Church early in the day. I have not seen a Cowboy Church sign since leaving Texas. We encountered lush green rolling hills today. When we crossed the Mississippi River the terrain changed from flatlands and bayous to verdant farmland. There were a lot of trucks on some of our roads today, but we had our share of quiet country two lane roads as well.

I don't know how the Uneedas Superdome got its name, but it brought a smile to my face.

Near the end of the ride we had a long bridge with no shoulder, but there was no traffic, so it was not a safety issue. You can see that there really is NO shoulder on these bridges. There were a number of close encounters with dogs today. I don't get why people think it's OK to let their dogs run out into the road and terrorize passing cyclists.

We got to our hotel early, about 12:30. The only nearby place to eat lunch was at the gas station across the highway from where we are staying. My family will never believe that I ate lunch at a gas station, but there it is. I ordered the fried shrimp because the boiled shrimp and crawfish had heads and legs and all, and I did not want to deal with that. Carol cooked dinner tonight, and the spaghetti, salad, and pesto bread were superb. Eat to ride and ride to eat!

April 13, 2011. St. Francisville to Hammond, LA. 95 miles.

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This was supposed to be an 87 mile day, long enough for sure. We left our Inn at 7:15 and did not have a problem getting through the construction. There was traffic, but it was light enough that those who needed to pass could do so. The snack table was set up at the 16 mile point, since 4 of our riders had spent the rest day and night in a separate inn. Lisa was right where she was supposed to be with the sag car at 36 miles. We had a lovely ride this morning, rolling hills and country roads. There was a lot of traffic, but they were not shy about passing us.... Double yellow line? no problem, they passed us. Oncoming traffic with the double yellow line? no problem, they passed us... Double yellow on a curve or a bridge? well, you get it.... We were rather surprised to see Lisa at the 42 mile mark, not expecting another sag for miles.... She was there to take us off the route. There was a bridge out, with a posted detour. We all waited with her while Carol and Linda rode in the van to check out the detour. I called my doctor while we were waiting, to see if I could get something for my cough, since the allergy medicine I am taking is NOT WORKING. After about an hour Carol and Linda called and gave Lisa our new instructions.

The detour added about 8 miles to our already long day, but you do what you gotta do--we rode it. There were a lot of trucks on the road today, and we had one very scary narrow bridge on a highway right after we got back on the route. I was fortunate enough that a red pickup truck guarded me at a safe distance across the half mile bridge. There is road construction and logging going on in the area, and many trucks on the road.

Dianne, Kathie, Greta and I ate lunch at the 58 mile mark, and fought the traffic for a while longer until we finally got onto some smaller roads. There was a lot of shade on today's route, which made the 95 miles more doable. We saw this wagon with its mules in a yard on one of the country roads.

Right before we got to the hotel traffic picked up again and there were a lot of quick turns, but we all made it here safely--that's what's important after all. I had a voice mail message from the doctor I had called earlier--the receptionist said that Dr. P said "stop cycling and go to urgent care". I guess I don't need to mention that he is a new doctor and does not know me very well. As if I would stop in the middle of a bike tour and go to urgent care for a cough???!!! NOT.

April 12, 2011. Rest day at St. Francisville, LA.

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The Butler Greenwood Plantation was a great place for a rest day. The peaceful grounds were conducive to resting as few places have been. Dianne and I stayed in the 3-story "Dovecote" house, where I had the ground floor bedroom, the kitchen and bath were on the second floor, and Dianne's bedroom was on the third floor. Very cool setup. My bed was HUGE, as you can see below.A peacock called Humphrey has the run of the place. Here he looks very intent on getting to the pond, but sometimes he sneaks up behind guests and squawks loudly just to see what they'll do.We met up on the front porch of the plantation house at 10 AM for a tour. This home has been in the same family since it was built in the 1790s, a rare thing in these parts. Since it has never been sold, many of the original furnishings and artwork are still in the house, even some clothing that belonged to previous generations. The proprietor, Ann Butler is a direct descendant of the family and was a font of information as she showed us her home.Some of our riders got to stay in the old kitchen, a building directly behind the main house. It was used for its original purpose until the mid 1960s when a kitchen was installed in the main house. It still contains a 150 foot deep well, visible through plexiglass in the bathroom. The smell of smoke permeates the building, so I was glad not to be assigned to that house. Many riders rode their bikes into town, but Dianne and I decided to rest on our rest day, so we played Scrabble, cleaned the bikes, and did not do much else until dinnertime. Below you can see Greta, Tex, Nancy and Fiona in the back row; and me, Alice, and Dianne in front while waiting to go to dinner. We met up with much of the group and the leaders gave us a van ride to a restaurant for dinner. The Inn does not provide meals beyond a continental breakfast, and it really was quite a trek to town with all the construction in the way. We had a great dinner, and Greta surprised us all by buying our drinks to celebrate her birthday!

After dinner we played a few games of Scrabble and called it a night, knowing we had a long day ahead of us.

April 11, 2011. Lafayette to St. Francisville, LA. 86 miles

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We started this day with breakfast at 6, and most of us were on the road well before 7 AM. We knew it would be a long day... the traffic was brutal until we got out of town. That's the problem with stopping in larger cities. There were many turns in the ride, 14 in the first 31 miles! We were told at a small store that the ferry we planned to take near the end of the day was no longer in operation. Uh oh. At mile 43.3 there was a high bridge over the Atchafalaya River, which was quite fun, but right after that was the Morganza Spillway Bridge, a 3.5 mile span on a busy highway with no shoulder. So we lined up in twos and the sag car escorted us across the bridge. We were ever so glad to have that support--it would have been far too dangerous to cross on our bikes without the car behind us.There were not a lot of places to eat along this route, and we surely had to have lunch on a ride this long. Dianne, Kathie and I stopped at Not Your Mama's Cafe at about mile 68. Lise and Nancy were just finishing their lunch, and Greta, Eva, and Ruth came in by the time we ordered. The food was great (if a little slow coming out of the kitchen) and we left much refreshed.

At about mile 81 we loaded our bikes on the ferry and crossed the Mississippi River. The ferry is going to shut down in a couple of months when the new bridge opens, so the man at the store had his facts a little skewed.

After we got off the ferry in St. Francisville we stopped at the visitors' center and bought post cards and other things, and then proceeded to the Butler Greenwood B & B. But first we had to get by some serious construction on a busy road. Fortunately we could ride most of the way on the

paved side of the road that was closed to traffic. At one point it was unpaved, and that was not fun, but we all arrived safely.

We signed in at the plantation house and were given our room assignments, but they were not exactly rooms... we were in little houses and the former summer kitchen. A very cool place for a rest day, even though there was no internet service.

April 10, 2011. Lake Charles to Lafayette, LA. 84 miles.

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Here is the bulletin we saw when we signed in at the end of the ride yesterday.Carol made the margaritas and Linda cooked a superb supper of salmon, couscous, and salad, with cheesecake for dessert. What could be better than that? After dinner Dianne and I retired to our room to play a couple of games of Scrabble, then it was lights out.Breakfast at the hotel started at 7 this morning, and the snack table was set up at about the same time, so we were all on the road by 7:30. We knew it was going to be a long hot windy day. Dianne, Kathie and I rode together most of the day,which was fun. The terrain is very flat, but there were 2 full pages of cues today, so we had to be on our toes.

We saw this white mare in her corral; she looked at us and then went back into the barn and trotted out her foal to show us. It was a pleasure to watch.

Then, a mile or so down the road we saw this turkey strutting his stuff for all the chickens in the neighborhood. There is no drought here, like we saw in Texas. We saw flooded fields that were planted in rice, and others with cages in them (like above) that are used for harvesting crawfish. The rivers are high and muddy, unlike the dried riverbeds in Texas. We commented on the difference in terrain, weather, and land use as soon as we crossed the state line yesterday.

The 42 mile sag stop was at Guidry's Grocery, in Mermentau. Charlie Guidry, whose family has owned this store for over 50 years, came out to greet us, gave us directions, and donated several gallons of drinking water to the sag car.

We had planned all day to eat lunch in Crowley, but the first several restaurants we tried were closed.... while we were looking for a place to eat, my seat bag fell off.... a young man in a pickup truck stopped and asked us where we were going, and was kind enough to tell us what places were open, and dug around in the back of the truck and found a piece of cord for me to tie my seat bag onto the handlebar bag until the end of the day. Life is good!

There were several lots containing little prebuilt houses that are used for people displaced by hurricanes. (yes we are in the hurricane zone now). Everything is different here.We arrived at Lafayette after 4 PM. 84 miles is a long day in the best of conditions; it seems even longer when fighting the wind and frying in the intense sun. As soon as I arrived at the hotel I texted Bill that I was here, took a shower, and fixed my seat bag. Life is good. One more very long day of riding and then we have a rest day in St. Francisville.

April 9, 2011. Silsbee, TX to Lake Charles, LA. 77.1 miles

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We had a good time yesterday evening in the parking lot of the Pinewood Inn. Katherine, who was born and raised in Texas celebrated our last night in this great state by wearing her special shirt.While we were eating pork roast with apples and onions, scalloped potatoes, and salad in the parking lot, the owners of the inn came bearing gifts--2 bottles of wine! The woman showing off the wine is 88 years young and a real force to reckon with!

At the map meeting Carol warned us about the bridges and traffic on today's route and ended the meeting with this statement: Fairly flat, awfully humid, have a nice day. But my day did not start out so nice.... I was on my knees worshipping the white buddha at 6:30 AM. Never a good thing, but especially on a long bike ride. I decided it must have been the combination of the over the counter sleep aid and cough medicine that I took last night. So I got on the bike at 7:30 and went on my way.We started out from the hotel with 6 turns in the first 6 miles--had to be on our toes this morning! There was a lot of traffic. Log trucks, oil trucks, pickup trucks with dogs in the back, trucks pulling livestock trailers... We had a cross wind for about 10 miles, and then turned into the wind, and something made me cough. And cough. And cough... I coughed for 5 miles until we got to the first sag, where I borrowed Dianne's bandana and tied it on like a bandito. Presto! No more coughing!

We crossed into Louisiana at about mile 35, and Dianne and I took each other's photos. Then Ruth came along and took one of us together. Of course we took "welcome to Texas" photos too, since there was no sign when Dianne rode in three weeks ago, and I flew in. I have quite a collection of bike and state line photos, all started with Alison on the MOOSA ride. Dianne thinks I should put them all into a collage and hang it on the wall, but I think maybe not.We were told there would be restaurants along the way, but there were not. By the time we found a place to eat lunch we had ridden 72.5 miles. Fortunately we had stopped at the 20, 40, and 60 mile sags for snacks and drink refills. When it is this hot, you have to keep drinking.

As we neared Lake Charles we had to cross a couple of bridges over the rivers and bayous. The one above is 1.2 miles long, with not enough shoulder for a bike, so we had to take our lane. It was a scary ride, but we arrived safely, then jumped in the pool to refresh ourselves. Now we get to have a margarita party to celebrate crossing the state line. That's a pretty sweet tradition on Woman Tours.

April 8, 2011. Cleveland to Silsbee, TX. 63.5 miles.

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We had a grand time at dinner last night! This is the first time we have had our parking lot feast so close to a WalMart parking lot.... a lot of people were very interested in what we were doing. What were we doing? Eating chicken piccata, pasta salad, caesar salad and strawberry shortcake! A real feast. Nancy and Lise brought a goody bag with something for each of us--Carol (ride leader), Fiona (in the middle), and Dianne all received bandanas and modeled various options for stylish bandana tying. Their gift to me was sparkly blue nail polish, which I will use on my toes at the end of this tour.

Carol starts a lot of map meetings by saying "I would not use the F word (flat) to describe tomorrow's ride..." The first time I heard her say that took me aback... I wonder if she will change her statement (and use the F word) now that there are less hills each day?

We were warned that there would be a lot of log trucks on today's route, and there were. We passed right by the Cleveland yard of GP and a couple of open log yards. Most of the log truck drivers were considerate of us, moving to the other side of the road whenever possible.

The first 32 miles of the ride we had a strong gusty crosswind. We passed by the Trinity River, below, our first sighting of white sand. We are getting quite close to the gulf now, and the humidity is up.

At 32 miles we turned into the wind, and struggled with a headwind for the next 20 miles. I was getting pretty tired, since I did not sleep a wink last night.... you only can go so far on no sleep.... so I stopped for lunch at about mile 55. I met a young woman at the Dairy Queen who is just starting to ride a bike, and told her how much fun we were all having... You go Jasmine!

With 7 miles left to ride, we turned again and finished the ride with a crosswind. It was very hot, and I have to get used to it--it will only get hotter as we travel east to Florida. This is our last night in Texas. I've only been here a week, but the others on the tour have been riding in Texas for 3 weeks now, and are quite excited to move on to Louisiana. Texas is indeed a very big state!

April 7, 2011. Navasota to Cleveland, TX. 74 miles.

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We started this morning with breakfast in the hotel--Texas shaped waffles! Very cool indeed. There was also a variety of cereal, toast, and biscuits and gravy. Something for everyone.

I was among the last to leave this morning. No reason really, just moving slowly. I caught up to Dianne about 4 miles out--she was on the side of the road with a flat tire. I did not stick around because the sag car was already there, and how many people does it take to change a flat tire anyway? We had a lovely ride today. It was windy and hot, about 90 by mid afternoon.

We rode for about 30 miles through the Sam Houston National Forest, which was a real treat. Paved roads, big trees, and little traffic. My favorite way to ride. After the 40 mile sag I saw the Christ of East Texas and some angels along the roadside.

This sad eyed donkey came trotting out to see me when I stopped at the side of the road for a comfort break. We saw lots of small farms--apparently there is a substantial tax break for owning livestock. The "agricultural" designation is highly sought after and prized in this area. Many businesspeople have small herds of cattle and horses for that reason. I arrived at the hotel at 1:39. I was glad to be done--we had a quartering headwind for the last 22 miles as it got hotter and hotter. Dianne was very late coming in.... the hooked nail you see above was the cause of her original flat tire--it went in on the tread and imbedded itself, sticking out through the sidewall. The first tube she put in had a hole in it.... the second one got pinched and blew out. The third one was the charm until she noticed part of the tube sticking out through the hole in the sidewall, and had to stop and change it again to put a boot in the tire. Not a good day for Dianne, but she took it all in stride. She said "everything is bigger in Texas". Amen.

April 6, 2011.Rest day at Navasota, TX

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It was hot, sunny, and windy today. We ate breakfast, did laundry, played Scrabble. Ate lunch, cleaned the bikes, played Scrabble... and we rested. Dianne bought my lunch to pay me her Florida Scrabble debt. It was a very satisfying lunch! We have 5 days of riding before the next rest day. I am icing my inflamed left knee--never a good thing... it all started when I went for a long walk in Kerrville the day I arrived. I KNEW I didn't like walking! I keep using sore muscle rub, ibuprofen, and ice and hoping for the best. So far so good, one day at a time, keep putting one foot in front of the other, and any other cliches that might work in this case.

April 5, 2011. LaGrange to Navasota, TX. 69.4 miles

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This was the perfect day for cycling--even for cycling almost 70 miles! It started out a bit chilly at 45 degrees when we rolled out in the morning, but it warmed up to the 80s by mid day. We spent most of the day on farm roads, smoothly paved with little traffic. Rolling hills and green fields were in our view all day, with small herds of cattle and horses dotting the landscape. We passed through small towns along the way, including Round Top where the photo above was taken at the first sag stop. Katherine from SC is on the left, and Lise from WV, celebrating her birthday today, is in the middle.

At the second sag stop we took a group photo in a field of blue bonnets. They are blooming everywhere right now, and it is a pleasure to ride past them in the bright sunshine.

There was a warning of a low overpass, and they surely meant it!

We had planned to stop in Independence for lunch, but there was not much there, so we pushed on.

Near the end of the ride we got on State Route 105, which was very busy, but had a wide shoulder most of the time. However, there were three long bridges that were so narrow that there was NO shoulder--the lane line was at the bridge rail. That was pretty scary--the speed limit on the road was 70 MPH.... we made sure it was clear behind us, then pedaled like crazy to get across each bridge. Usually traffic had come up behind us by the time we were midway across the bridge, but it all worked out. Dianne and I found a restaurant in Navasota, only a mile from the end of the ride, and had sandwiches and iced tea. Finally!

You can see chef Linda above, cooking our dinner in the trailer. It is truly amazing that she creates such wonderful food in this little kitchen. Tomorrow is a rest day, so she will not be cooking. I am going to thoroughly enjoy the dinner Dianne owes me for Scrabble debt from the Florida trip! We are already working on the next one--one of us will be buying the other dinner at the end of this trip....it remains to be seen who will treat whom.

April 4, 2011. Bastrop to LaGrange, TX. 41.5 miles.

2011-04-04T18:07:00.014-04:00

Because this was such a short day we started out all together, and a bit later than usual. Here is our chef Linda mugging for the camera on the left side of the photo below. We rode about 3 miles and then entered Bastrop State Park. There was very little traffic, and the road through the forest was paved and smooth. We were warned ahead of time that there were some steep hills in the park, and it was true--up to 17 degree grade! That is indeed steep. We were also warned of the high winds that were predicted for today. 20 to 30 MPH with gusts up to 40 MPH. Unfortunately that prediction also proved true. The wind was howling as we rode out of Bastrop State Park right into Buescher State Park. At one point a wind gust blew a tree down not very far from the road on which we were cycling. It came crashing down with a frightful noise. One of our riders took shelter in a large (empty) garbage can... it was that bad.

We left the park system at about 16 miles into the ride, and Lisa was there with the SAG car. There was a convenient stone wall behind which we could do our private thing.... not so convenient was the poison ivy growing on the wall.

After the sag we had a 3 mile stretch on Farm Road 153 with a cross wind--that was the most dangerous part of the day. I hunched down over my handlebars and pedaled like a mad woman. I'm sure I looked a lot like Miss Gulch in the Wizard of Oz. But I managed to keep both wheels on the ground and we soon changed direction, making it a quartering wind instead.

We saw some Brahma bulls and cows along the farm road, and a roadside shrine, Texas style. There were a few isolated oil pumps, like yesterday, and small farms and ranches. Seven miles before the end of the ride we turned on to Highway 77, and there was a lot of traffic but a very wide smooth shoulder. This put that gusting wind at our backs and we fairly flew into LaGrange, where we saw this interesting warning sign.

We planned to ride into town for lunch, but town was at the bottom of a l-o-n-g hill, which we would have had to climb with a head wind to get back after lunch, so we opted out of that and ate at a little taqueria that was very busy with local traffic. We had our fill of fajitas and tacos, then headed straight into the wind for the short ride to the hotel.

It was still so windy when we got here that Chef Linda decided not to cook (it's all done outdoors in a little trailer). So we had pizza and salad in the hotel breakfast area. Every day is a new adventure!

April 3, 2011. Blanco to Bastrup, TX. 92.7 miles.

2011-04-03T17:43:00.008-04:00

We started out just before 8 AM on a windy morning. The cloud cover stayed with us throughout most of the day, which kept the temperature down a little. (I think we ended up at 86 degrees).

We were still in Hill Country for the first half of the day, passing many ranches along the way, much like yesterday. Later in the day we even passed a chihuahua ranch, puppies available! There were no bakery stops today, due to the long mileage. I rode with Dianne out of Blanco, then spent some time riding with Liz from Colorado and Kathie from Rhode Island. I am still getting to know all of these interesting women. After the 40 mile sag stop I rode solo the rest of the day, just because no one else was riding my particular pace and I did not want to slow down and didn't have the energy to speed up! It was VERY windy, and with our zigzag route we had crosswinds, headwinds, and tailwinds. The worst of it was between the 40 mile sag and the lunch stop at 62 miles. Vicious headwinds most of that 20 some mile stretch; I could only go about 10 MPH on the flat. Fortunately, we turned after that and had quartering tailwinds the last 30 miles and I hightailed it in to the end of the ride.

I have not stopped eating since I got here at 3:45 PM. Of course it is nearly impossible to eat enough riding over 90 miles in the heat and the wind. This is what I have eaten so far today: Breakfast--scrambled eggs, blueberry muffin, and banana. 20 mile sag: cheese and crackers and an apple. Along the roadside: clif shots and a granola bar. 40 mile sag: 2 cookies, a soy bar, and a peanut butter and jam sandwich. Lunch: grilled chicken sandwich, fries and ice tea. 80 mile sag: 2 cookies and some nut clusters. Post ride: peanut butter and jam sandwich, m & ms and almonds, 2 pieces of chocolate. Dinner is in about an hour an a half. Not sure what it will be, but I guarantee I will eat it!

April 2, 2011. Kerrville to Blanco, TX. 64.8 miles.

2011-04-02T20:40:00.006-04:00

This was my first day riding with the group, and it was a long one! I had forgotten how precise Woman Tours is with their cue sheets. It is a pleasure riding with them, not only the people riding, but the people who take care of the riders. We are made aware of every unsigned road on our route and every bakery and dairy queen along the way. It was a beautiful calm morning and I took a reflective picture as we crossed the Guadalupe River. I saw my first longhorn cattle pretty early on.

The SAG car was waiting for us at the 20 mile point, and shortly after that we entered the little town of Comfort, where many of us stopped at the bakery. I bought a cup of coffee and a bacon and chive scone, most of which I carried with me on my bike when I left (could not eat it all).

Most of our ride was on county roads, with only a short stint on the highway just outside Comfort.

Texas Hill Country is, well, hilly! We had rollers all day, which was great fun on the smooth road, but not so much fun on the chip seal roads. We passed many large ranches, each with their own remote controlled gate. Some had fanciful decorative gates, and some had stone walls with iron grating for a gate.

As we went up and down the hills, we saw flood gauges at every low spot in the road. The bridges were designed to let the water flow over, under, and around them. Some roads had permanently installed floodgates, open now, but capable of shutting off access to the roads during high water times. That must be something to see! At about 2 PM I started flagging, and realized that I had not eaten lunch--never a good thing for me! So I stopped and ate the rest of my scone, drank some recovery drink, and made it to the end in good form.

Dianne and I finished the ride among the last 5 riders, showered, played a few games of Scrabble and went to dinner on the front lawn. Below are Alice, Nancy, me, and Dianne.

We are staying at the Blanco County Inn, which includes guesthouses, motel rooms, and a cottage. We were fortunate and got assigned to the cottage--there are 4 of us in here, each in our own bedroom. There are 2 bathrooms, full kitchen and laundry facilities. Oh, and a table and chairs for playing Scrabble. What could be better than that?

April 1, 2011. Kerrville, TX. Rest day

2011-04-01T20:51:00.002-04:00

Dianne and I met Alice in the lobby at 9 AM as planned and walked to "Save Inn", the place that was voted "Best Breakfast in Kerrville". And it was great! We had oatmeal pancakes, among other things....

Then we crossed the street to Billy's Western Wear, where we spent the next hour or so shopping for fun western things for people at home.

The Western Store agreed to send my purchases home, which suited me fine! You can't carry much on a bike trip, after all... We walked back to the hotel, where Dianne and Alice packed up their winter bike clothes. We shared a shuttle ride into town, stopping first at the post office so they could mail home their winter wear.

The photo above is the town museum, which was once the home of Colonel (or was it Captain?) Schreiner, a bigger than life local nabob. He came here as a young man, spent time in the Texas Rangers and fought in the Civil War. At one point in the early 1900s he just about owned the whole town.

Now we are getting ready for tomorrow. We will be back on the road early heading for Blanco, TX, 65 miles from here.

Kerrville, TX. 30 miles.

2011-03-31T21:53:00.006-04:00

I planned to ride out and meet the tour this morning. So I ate breakfast and got on my bike and headed toward the bike shop. I had filled my tires when I put the bike together, but wanted to top them off at a higher pressure. As I was wondering what I could possibly need to buy at the bike shop, I noticed that my bike computer was not registering my MPH or distance. So I pulled off the road and reached down to adjust the sensor on the front fork and it (the sensor not the fork) fell off in my hand. Hill Country Bicycle Works is a really nice bike shop, and Adam (shown above) took good care of me and my bike. In short order I was back on the road with a new sensor and some energy bars. What good fortune that I did not have to buy a new bike computer!

I headed out to meet the tour, following the Adventure Cycling maps that Woman Tours sent me in the mail. About 15 miles out of Kerrville, a woman passed me and then pulled over in her car--you can see her in the foreground below. Kathy had come to meet her partner at the halfway point in the ride, and noticed my Woman Tour jersey. She asked me where I was going and then told me that I surely would not meet the tour on this road--they changed the route for today! We loaded my bike in the back of her rental car and she drove me to the right road on the other side of Kerrville. How nice is that!? When we saw the front runners coming toward town I got on my bike and started riding in the outbound direction, thinking that eventually I would meet up with Dianne, but it did not quite happen as planned... At around noon, in the middle of nowhere, I stopped to eat an energy bar and decided that I should turn around or I would miss lunch totally--never a good thing in my world. Especially on the first day of riding in 85 degree weather...

So I rode back to the hotel, showered and set out walking to the deli about a mile away (on my last bit of energy). On the way to the deli I finally saw Dianne and we talked a moment then continued in opposite directions. I ordered my sandwich and drink and opened my pack to find NO WALLET. It was on my bike, in the hotel room a mile away. I called Dianne and she hopped back on her bike and brought me my wallet in record time. I was moments away from meltdown by then...

Back at the room we played Scrabble until dinnertime, when I met the rest of the women on this tour--a very nice bunch! Dianne introduced them all to me with a little story about each one. I think we are going to have a great time between here and St. Augustine! Tomorrow is a rest day and Dianne and Alice and I are walking to the Western Store for some shopping, and I am going to play Scrabble with Lisa while Dianne cleans her bike.

DTW to SAT

2011-03-30T20:24:00.004-04:00

The alarm rudely awakened me at 4:45 for my flight out of Detroit this morning. Bill drove me to the airport and then hurried back to meet the Wednesday morning grandkids at 6:30 and then meet the boys at the bakery... retirement is not for sissies! The flight out was delayed due to bad weather in Atlanta, and I was sure I was going to miss my connecting flight. However, that flight was also delayed due to the same bad weather so it all worked out. I landed in San Antonio and took a one hour taxi ride out here to Kerrville where I am going to meet up with the bike tour tomorrow. I put the bike together in record time--it is indeed getting easier to do and I am much better at packing it and tying everything down. I celebrated by taking a photo of my toes and fingers that I had painted to match my bike. I know you're all laughing because I just DON'T DO manicures, but my hands were really messed up from some home improvement work and needed a little TLC. Thanks Margaret for talking me into the blue nail polish! It's perfect!

The local taxi company is called Hill Country Taxis; this area, known as Hill Country, is indeed hilly. It ought to be a fun ride. I walked out to dinner, took a few photos and then an evening walk. I'll take a spin on the bike tomorrow to warm up my legs a bit... these first few days are going to be tough--the others on the tour have already been riding a month. It is sunny and warm here, unlike Detroit!

What was I thinking?????

2011-03-21T15:21:00.005-04:00

While getting ready for a long bike ride (1500 miles from San Antonio,TX to St. Augustine, FL next month) I decided to run a half marathon.... Well, the route went RIGHT past my house, first time event, a fund raiser for Cystic Fibrosis. I did not want to sit here and wave at all the runners as they went by, so I signed up for it and did some training in the past 2 months, but not nearly enough...The race was yesterday. I did the half marathon (13.1 miles) and my daughter-in-law Vicki did the 5 K (3.1 miles) her very first race! We were all geeked up when Bill dropped us off at Grosse Ile High School at 7 AM. My race started at 7:30 and I asked Bill to pick me up around 10:15, figuring it would take me until 10:00 to run it. Actually I did not run it, it was more like a slow jog... I started with a 10-minute mile; the next 8 miles were around 11 minutes each, and then I slowed down a bit more after mile 10, which coincidentally was the distance of my longest training run. Bill put a sign on the mailbox to encourage me in my latest endeavor, and I had staged some sports drink in the mailbox. Bill, son Lucas, and granddaughter Sydney were all out by the road to cheer me on and take photos when I stopped for my drink. The home stop was about 7.5 miles into the race. If I look kind of beat, I guess I deserve to look that way... I finished at 10:00, as I expected, and Bill picked me up (Luke had already picked Vicki up after her race was done). I rested the rest of the day, soaked in the tub and read the Sunday paper (not at the same time).I just finished packing up my bike for shipment to Texas. I skipped swimming this morning (could not get out of bed). I am flying to Texas next Wednesday (March 30) and will meet up with the rest of the bike tour on March 31. They have been riding since the beginning of March, when they started in San Diego. It will be fun to be out on the road on my bike again, in 70 and 80 degree weather (unlike here). I already packed the Scrabble game and Dianne is bringing the timer and dictionary. Life is good!

Florida 2011. February 15. Going home.

2011-02-15T05:55:00.004-05:00

FINALLY (7-letter word) it happened.... our eyes really did turn into little white SQUARES. We played 95 games of Scrabble not COUNT_NG the ones played AGAINST others at the club or here at home). We have truly had enough. I woke up this MORNIN_ DREAMI_G of Scrabble. I had BOOGIES on my rack but could only play LOGOS...

Dianne is DRIVING me to the AIRPORT this morning, and I will be home in the winter WEATHER of Michigan by lunchtime. Incidentally, after I TALLIED our scores, she owes me $15.01. I will make sure she repays all those DOLLARS. It was her idea, after all, to play for a penny a point!

Florida 2011. February 12-13.

2011-02-14T05:45:00.004-05:00

Saturday morning Dianne and I met up with Sun Coast Cycling for a ride.... this ride was called the Pinellas Hills ride, and there were indeed some hills. And the group did not slow down at all on the minor climbs, which made them seem bigger. I could not keep up, of course. (people here ride all year). Dianne backed off to stay with me, and we caught up at the rest stop, We stayed with the group on the way back to Palm Harbor then broke off at 34 miles to head home. Dianne went to the gym while I went for a run. That did it for me--I was toast for the rest of the day! All I could manage was to cook and eat, play Scrabble, rest, repeat.

Sunday morning we went back for more... this ride was called the Three Bridges ride. We rode down to Clearwater and rode the causeway bridges. I kept up OK at 15, then 17, then 18 MPH. But when they ramped it up to 21 MPH I lagged behind. Not too far behind, until I stopped to take off my jacket. After that I did not catch up until the rest stop. At the rest stop (where everyone else had been resting for a while) I ate a protein bar and was not ready to go when everyone saddled up. I fell behind shortly after we turned and headed into the wind (still at greater than 20 MPH) but a nice man named Dusty saw that I was struggling and backed off from the group to allow me to draft behind him all the way to Dunedin. I was grateful for that--I was resigned to being dropped and straggling home alone, although I knew that sooner or later Dianne would have come back for me. After we got home Dianne told me he is Michael Rhodes, former Olympic team cyclist, elite bike racer, and one of the strongest riders in the club. Again, how nice of him to notice I was having trouble and compromise his own ride to help me along. The day's mileage: 35.

Dianne and I took showers, ate, got in one quick game of Scrabble and then headed out (in the car this time) to pick up Jan and go to Tarpon Springs Art Center to see "The Gondoliers" a very silly Gilbert and Sullivan operetta put on by the community theatre. This forced me to sit still for 2 1/2 hours, which at this point was a good thing. We had dinner with Dianne's biking buddy Ruth, then called it a (very long) day.

This morning when I packed up my bike to ship it home I found the rear tire totally flat. There was a small wire imbedded in it.... a slow leak could account for some of my slow progress yesterday--I remember thinking that I was so tired that it felt like I was riding on flat tires! (of course nobody could notice it because nobody was behind me!).

Florida 2011. Friday February 11.

2011-02-11T19:00:00.003-05:00

Thursday morning I swam with Jan while Dianne went to her gym. I swam 2500 yards, and at the end I had what coach Suzanne would call a breakthrough--I was cooling down, and decided to see if I could keep up with the young woman in the lane next to me. And suddenly I was rushing through the water so fast it felt like I was leaving a wake behind me! Maybe the Sheila Taormina swim clinic I attended last week is already making a difference!

After our morning exercise we played Scrabble, and at the beginning of one game I picked up TROIKAS. This is not a setup--it was real. Very cool, lots of points too (82). Dianne had a meeting in the evening so Jan came over to (imagine this) play Scrabble with me while D was gone.

Today I decided not to run, swim or bike. I did not even go for a walk... sometimes you just need a day off. I made us omelets and asparagus for lunch and we went to Dianne's Scrabble club.
Later we drove to Dunedin to eat at Eli's Barbecue. This place as small as it looks--they take your orders at the window and do the cooking in a screen house in the back. And the food was excellent! When I saw my barbecued half chicken I thought I would be eating it for days, but I ate every crumb and looked around for more. Superb!
Dianne and I decided NOT to play Scrabble tonight. believe it or not we have had enough (for today).

Florida 2011. Wednesday February 9.

2011-02-09T21:39:00.004-05:00

This was the perfect day for cycling! It started out a bit chilly, in the mid 50s so I wore a light jacket, but I took it off by the time we got to Dunedin, about 10 miles up the road. I am sort of lost in the shade of the box car in the photo above, but if you look to the left you can see the Pinellas Trail. It is a beautiful paved rail trail that goes from Tarpon Springs to St. Petersburg, about 35 miles. We rode it today from Dunedin to Clearwater. It is evident that it was a railroad track in earlier days--many small factories and businesses along the trail are still operating.
We rode through Clearwater down to the beach for lunch at Frenchie's, a grouper sandwich and iced tea, of course... We had to walk our bikes around to the back of the restaurant, where we sat outside overlooking the beach. There was a sign that said "do not climb over the railing" but I did anyway, since my bike was right there... but I got busted! The manager came rushing over to scold me after I climbed over. C'est la vie. (Dianne did the same thing but did not get caught).

We rode the causeway bridges before heading for home, and the view above is from the top of one of the bridges. The local cyclists (including Dianne) ride the bridges to train for hills and mountains. That's all they get around here--bridges and freeway overpasses--this is really a FLAT state.
On the way home we stopped at Strachan's ice cream in Dunedin. The homemade ice cream was super, and we bought hats just because it seemed like a fun thing to do. We rode 40 miles today, and enjoyed every minute of it! We even managed to get in 7 games of Scrabble afterward, before we both spelled out UNCLE.

Florida 2011. Tuesday February 8.

2011-02-08T18:32:00.002-05:00

This was a chilly day, by Florida standards. (Yes, I know it was 12 degrees in Detroit this afternoon). It was in the mid 50s and very windy when we went out for a bike ride. We had planned on riding to Clearwater Beach today, but since it was cool and windy we just rode to Tarpon Springs on the Pinellas Trail bike path, came back through Dunedin and home, a total of 28 miles. While in Tarpon Springs we rode past the bayou to see if the manatees were in, but they were not. They usually come in on the cooler days if the water in the gulf is too cold for them. No manatees, but we saw a couple of dolphins on the way out of town. Very cool.

So it was just the bike ride and many games of Scrabble for us today. That's what I came here for, isn't it?

Yesterday Dianne went to the gym and I went swimming with her sister Jan. It felt great to be back in the pool. We may do the same tomorrow, and then ride to Clearwater. It is supposed to be sunny and in the low 70s. That is perfect biking weather as far as I'm concerned. The nice thing is that we don't have to plan--we can just take off on the bikes whenever we feel like it. This is what retirement is supposed to be like after all. I think I plan too much when I am home.... I'll have to work on that.

Florida 2011. Sunday February 6.

2011-02-06T21:01:00.003-05:00

Dianne and I had planned to ride with her bike club again, but it was drizzling and we did not want to get the bikes wet... so we walked with Jan, played a couple of games of Scrabble, and then decided that the sky looked clear enough to go for a ride.

We rode over to Tarpon Springs, and rode through Fred Howard Park, where the photos above were taken. It always amazes me that these parks are so underused. Miles of beautiful shoreline and half a dozen cars there on a Sunday! There were a few fisherman out, and some birds drying their wings in the sun (what little sun there was today).

We planned to ride to Dunedin and have lunch, but it started sprinkling when we were almost there. So we skipped the lunch in the interest of getting home before the rain hit. We made it, with just a few bouts of light drizzle catching us on the ride home. We rode 30 miles today, just what we wanted. I have not been training this winter so we are increasing the mileage slowly while I am here. Depending on the weather in Michigan next month this might be all the training I get before the big ride in April.

After showers and omelets we played Scrabble until our eyes were square and we were getting grouchy--time to quit. Thirteen games today, that is quite enough!

Florida 2011. Saturday Feb. 5.

2011-02-06T13:59:00.005-05:00

We had planned on riding with Dianne's bike club this morning, but it looked like rain, so we waited around a while.... Dianne's sister Jan came by on her morning walk and took our photos, and finally we went out for a ride, planning on doing about 25 miles. We could see the mountains in the distance, oh wait. Florida does not have mountains...

That was the weather front coming in! We cut our ride short when the mountain of clouds was upon us and hightailed it for home. We made it--we did not get wet. Our ride was only 14 miles, but the bright side is that not only did we not get wet, but we did not have to clean our bikes!

In the afternoon we went to Tarpon Springs by car--that's a first for me! We had lunch at Rusty Bellies, grouper sandwich of course, my favorite Florida lunch.

We walked around the town a little, then headed for home. Supper was in the crock pot, so we played Scrabble until it was ready. What else?

Florida 2011. Day 1.

2011-02-04T10:46:00.006-05:00

It was 3 degrees outside when my friend Chris picked me up to take me to the airport. Now that is wicked cold.... she dropped me at the door, and with just a carryon bag and pre-printed boarding pass I bypassed the checkin line and made it through security in minutes.

I had come early because many flights were cancelled the day before due to heavy snow, and I was afraid that my flight would be overbooked.

We took off on time, had an uneventful flight, and Dianne picked me up right on time. It was 73 degrees out, and I could not peel off my fleece shirt fast enough! We had lunch, stopped at the drug store and played scrabble, what else? Pictured above is Dianne with the giant bottles of wine we got on sale at the drug store--a holiday offering that did not go over so well I guess... it is very good wine too! You can see the scrabble game, timer, chocolate bars and nuts on the table too.... we have what we need...

The real reason we went to the drug store was to get cough medicine because I am struggling with cough and congestion. For that reason I stayed home and put my bike together while Dianne played tennis and went to the gym this morning. Usually I swim while she plays tennis and run while she goes to the gym... oh well. We plan to ride bikes tomorrow; that's soon enough to start enjoying this superb weather!

What I do when I'm not biking, part 2

2010-12-12T14:59:00.005-05:00

I generally do not like a lot of clutter in my house, but I make an exception this time of year. It is known around here (with dread) as THE VILLAGE. The madness starts around Thanksgiving, sometimes even before T-day. This year it was right after.

Bill and I brought down many shelves and boxes from the attic--it took 2 hours of constant effort from both of us to get it all down. Then we carried the shelves down another flight of stairs to the living room, where we had already moved the furniture and lamps.

My friend Lisa still comes every year to help me set it up. This is especially important since my children have long since refused to get involved with it... She came on December 1 this year, and we had the added benefit of my daughter-in-law Vicki who also came to help. (She is relatively new to the family and has not yet developed an aversion to this operation).

We spent all day setting it up, finishing in time for dinner.

But wait, not good enough.... the street lights were all crooked, as usual. So Bill and I put our heads together, and after a couple of trips to the hardware and lumber store, we came up with the idea of tacking them on to white lattice boards, then screwing the boards to the shelves. And it worked! Thanks to Bill, we now have 80 street lights standing up ever so nice and tall, first time ever! And I've had these lights for at least 15 years! So one string at a time we redid the lights, which required moving everything, peeling back the white felt, and replacing it all, one shelf at a time. Then it took me another day to straighten out all the cords and people. So what started with a small display on the mantle in 1989 has grown into what you see below.... and look at how straight all the street lights are! Bill has been a really good sport about building shelves as the collection grew. I stopped buying them about 5 years ago, and all in the family breathed a sigh of relief!

Above: some of the original pieces still end up on the mantle. The third one from the left was made by daughter Erika when she was in college.

Above: my friend Christy bought the planetarium that holds a place of honor in the fireplace. The moon, which lights up, was a gift from my friend Heather, and Lisa (who helps set up) presented me with the train station (front and center) two years ago.

The water scene (to the right of the fireplace) started when my sister Rana bought me the boat. Grandson Toby and I made the lake out of plaster of paris a couple of years ago, and suddenly a whole marine village sprung up! (Thanks Lisa) There are restaurants and boat houses, a light house, a canoe livery, bait shop, boat repair shop..... I think we need a bigger lake!

The display to the left of the fireplace includes the only animated feature, the musical skating pond. This has been part of the village for about 15 years. The kids all love this one!

There is a barn and farmhouse, complete with small pond and farm animals.

Next to that are the mansions on the hill. Last year Lisa and I made the mountains behind the hill. Like everything else in the VILLAGE it has grown... now there are moose, snowboarders and skiiers, trees (thanks Erika) and of course the Santa and his sleigh that Toby placed strategically on the roof. There is a Santa in every section of the display.

The shelves in front of the picture window were made in stages as the village grew. On them are the municipal buildings (Fire Station, Police Station, Library, etc.) and an old time village that includes a Miller, Pottery Shop, Blacksmith, and all the characters that would work in those places, including woodcarvers and a blacksmith making shoes for a reluctant donkey. There is a bike shop (OK I admit it, I bought that one last year) and churches, hotels and houses.As you can see it takes over the living room. It was not possible to get it all into one photo! Now that I have recovered from this endeavor, it may be time to put up a Christmas tree! HO HO HO.