March 3, 2015. In Sunny Florida.

We made plans a couple of days ago to meet Otis and Tom for a bike ride today; yesterday I talked with Stan, and he and Barbara (from other bike trips) decided to join us. We were all supposed to meet at a particular place at 9 AM, and it almost worked out... soon enough we were all together at a place we could leave the cars.

It was Tom's idea to take a Downriver Cycling Club photo, so we pulled on the jerseys over our other biking clothes and got a shot to post to DCC's facebook site... nothing like being here when it's cold and rainy at home!

It was great to ride with Stan and Barbara again--I had forgotten her infectious laugh! We chose this place to meet because it was beyond the worst of the St. Petersburg traffic and in close proximity to Fort Desoto park, which I had never seen before. 

The park is on a spit of land approachable by road and bike path, with a toll for cars (but none for bikes). We stopped at the visitors center and decided to ride west first. We made the turnaround, stopping for a photo of the Sunshine Skyway bridge, then headed east and north.

We stopped at North beach, at the far end of the park and caught up on each others' lives while we enjoyed the vista.

We stopped again at Fort Desoto, which was built in 1898 to defend this area in the Spanish-American war. There are several cannons on site, in their original locations, and the fort itself is very well preserved.

 

We rode back to the cars, loaded the bikes, and walked to lunch at Billy's Bar. We were rather noisy for a table of old folks, but we sure had a good time. We made plans to ride again with Stan and Barbara this Sunday, and Otis and Tom on Monday. It'll be a real shock for me to return to winter--I need to make the most of this perfect weather.