Exhibition Game #3

We set out Sunday morning going west through the outskirts of Lakeland We then headed north returning to the Green Swamp and the Van Fleet Trail on our way back to Clermont. We enjoyed ideal biking conditions- cool, overcast, no wind and almost all flat. We were going for a perfect game until we missed a turn off the trail and had to add 6 extra miles to the ride.

Above is a picture of Jim munching on a cookie in front of an orange grove while we took a brief rest stop. We finished the ride (65 miles), showered and jumped in our cars. Those of us returning to Atlanta were home by 8 pm. All and all great preparation for the upcoming season of biking the cross country ride.

Exhibition Game #2- Extra Innings

We left again in a fog with a planned ride in the shape of a three sided box. We headed due south through the village of Lake Wales and then due west through one orange grove after another. We still saw lots of fruit on the trees. We also observed two groups of sandhill cranes standing in a stately manor in pastures and watching us pedal by. They are grey brown with a red streak on their heads like their larger whooping crane cousins. We reached the mid-point in Bartow and admired while resting the Polk County Courthouse.

We set off again still going due west and encountered a surprisingly large number of hills, some quite steep. About three quarters into the ride we headed north towards our destination, Lakeland, seeing many yellow jacaranda trees and azaleas in bloom. We also came upon two big fields of strawberries that were already being harvested. Yum Yum!

The Chain Gang has a tradition that each member rides their age in the month of their birthday. Vern, pictured below on the left had turned 75. So when we reached our hotel and had only ridden 72 miles we had to go into extra innings. Vern and three others of us rode the required miles on a side street and in the parking lot to reach his age. Happy Birthday, Vern!

Exhibition Game # 1

This morning we rose early and set out in fog. That's the weather and a few of us who's stated up late cheering the Tar Heel basketballl team. The group consensus was not to attempt the long 70 miles option for the ride from Clermont to Lake Wales due to the need to use the very busy FL 33 highway. Instead we set out around one of hundreds of lakes and ponds in central Florida. We quickly encountered terrain, aka hills, in this area just to the north and west of Mouseland. Disney World and many of the other resorts around Orlando were not far from our route today. Clermont once may have been a sleepy agricultural community but it now serves as a bedroom for the staff working at the parks.

We did have to ride a short way on FL 33 and endure a great deal of truck traffic before we could return and finish the ride to the southern terminus of the Van Fleet Trail. We learned that Van Fleet was a US Army general who lived to 100 and served in every war of the 20th century ending a commander of NATO forces in Korea.

We were concerned about forecasted showers but none of it appeared as we all reached our hotel in Lake Wales by 1:30 pm. The total ride was about 60 miles, but some of us took the opportunity for some relief pitching by agreeing to drive the SAG vehicle. I "re-entered the game" after driving a leg and accumulated 53 miles. Yes, I know that you cannot return to a baseball game after leaving the lineup but, heh, this is the preseason and the rules are flexible. 

Tomorrow we are off to Lakeland with a planned 70 mile day.

Batting Practice

Eight riders converged from Georgia and South Carolina Thursday afternoon, Feb 20, in Clermont, FL. We checked into our hotel and quickly set off for a tune up ride on the Van Fleet Trail (http://www.floridastateparks.org/vanfleet/). We began at the northern terminus in the tiny community of Mabel and rode 15 miles south. The trail runs through the Green Swamp and a Wildlife Preserve. We saw very little in the way of wildlife on the way south but on the return the sun was setting. We began seeing large turtles, one of which appeared to have nested in the sandy soil next to the trail, white tail deer, white herons and at least one large black and white stork. We returned to the hotel and a hearty dinner at a local Italian restaurant.

The highlight of the day, however, has to be the comeback of the UNC men's basketball team to beat the hated Dookies. Go Heels.

Spring Training

Baseball players have already begun to gather in Arizona and Florida to prepare for the upcoming season. So, it seems appropriate for Vern and the Chain Gang to organize four days of riding later this week in Central Florida between Orlando and Tampa. A group of 10 riders will converge on little Clermont on Thursday where we will end the day with a 33 mile warmup loop. The next day we plan to ride 62 miles (or a 73 mile option) to Lake Wales with 10 of it on the Van  Fleet Trail. Saturday we will ride 73 miles to Lakeland and Sunday back 58 miles to Clermont. We will stay in hotels and support the ride by alternating drivers of one vehicle. Most of us will drive home to Atlanta on Sunday but a few riders will drive to Cape Canaveral for some additional riding on Monday. The three days from Clermont and back will be following the Orange Blossom tour developed by Bike Florida. A link to their route maps can be found at the following: http://bikeflorida.org/bf2013/RouteMaps.php

Acknowledgements

There will, no doubt, be many fellow riders, members of Bubba's support staff and others yet unknown to thank for their support along the upcoming rides. The regular email messages containing the many details of the ride from Bubba and other riders, aka Coasters, have fueled my desire to get going. In the meantime I would like to acknowledge a few of the many folks who have helped and encouraged me as I prepared for the ride.

In my last post I reported on the many tasks undertaken by Mike and Rita to overhaul and tune my bike. It is amazing how good it feels to ride a smooth running machine. Wow! And they have suggested one final tune up before I depart for California at the end of the month.

My biking buddies, Sam, David and Phill, have regularly commented that they think that I am ready and capable of doing this ride. It's OK if they are not being entirely honest, I appreciate the positive reinforcement. Bill and Charlie, the leaders of the King Biking Group, and Vern and his Chain Gang have consistently helped me with suggestions learned from their cross country rides. The other riders from these two groups have also been encouraging and have made many useful suggestions.

The medical support (primary care, surgeon, dermatology and orthopedic) has been outstanding in getting my body ready to be outdoors everyday for two months.

My family, daughters Catherine and Emily, sisters Anne, Alison and Kate, and most importantly wife Nan, have been telling me all along that I can do this. I would not have signed up for this ride without Nan's insistence that I undertake this once in a lifetime adventure.

And there is my distant cousin Shelley who has agreed to host a visit in Southern California prior to the departure from San Diego.

Many thanks! I could not have gotten this far without each of you.