Map Case Holder

Getting ready for my tour.
I thought of this while riding my bike.

A Week From Today

It's been a few months in planning and is now down to the wire. My epic cycling adventure around Florida. Like most of the country, I have been overwhelmed with Winter. I decided this year I would plan a trip to Florida. My initial thought was to go on BikeFlorida at the end of March. The problem being, it's only a week long tour around St Augustine and Daytona, two places I have been many times. I wanted something more. I investigated Adventurecycling routes and found the Florida/Connector Loop.  St Augustine-Ft Lauderdale- Ft Myers- St Augustine, 750 miles. Fortunately, my wife is very understanding and my job flexible.  I will drive down to St Augustine, park my car and ride from there.. I figure 50 miles/day and am allowing 4 weeks. I have been advised not to make permanent long term plans and to take each day as it comes. I have never done anything of this magnitude before so this seems like the right mindset. I decided on using my ICE T as I prepared on GOBA. The fairing and carrying capacity make it a great platform for self-contained touring.

Unfortunately, the constant snow storms have made training rides impossible. I have added 10 lbs of Winter Fur and fear my bent legs are mushy. It will probably take a week of rides to comfortably hammer away. I am also concerned how well my 8 year old trike will fair. It has many miles and will be carrying quite the load. Thankfully, the first 300 miles will be flat along the coast. It will get hilly inland. My plan is to camp and motel as needed, no cooking. Most of my equipment and supplies are ready. I still have to decide on clothes. It can be quite chilly in northern Florida, especially at night and early morning. It's supposed to warm up in a couple of days and I'm hoping I can get some practice packing on the bike. If not, I will have to figure it out. I am very excited and hopeful things will fall into place. It's not the ride but the journey.

Dare to Ride

With all the snow, ice and slush the only bike I feel comfortable riding is my Greenway. I am planning a major tour next month and will be taking my ICE T. I need to get some miles in so my legs won't be in culture shock. Today I dared take the T. Temps right around freezing, light winds and bright sunshine. Roads were narrow from plowed snow with little to no shoulder. Still many patches of ice, slush and water, not to mention humongous potholes. Salt along the sides only adds to bike destruction. I was surprised to see one other cyclist on his CF racer. I can't imagine riding anything but a trike or at least some form of fat tired bike on these treacherous roads. It was a slow 40 miles and the bike performed well. My biggest issue was cold feet in spite of the fairing. Any miles in this weather is good but I'm hoping for some more training miles on my T.

Slush and ice

Potholes anyone

1/31/14

I was grateful to get 45 miles in on this last day in January. It has been a brutal month. 375 miles in 10 days. WOW I thought until I looked at last years stat. 650 in 24. Oh well! There's always next month.

Circle Of Life

Not mine but can well appreciate.

Too Many Flats

I was hoping for a nice 36 mile ride on this balmy 38 degree day. Almost halfway in and I get a flat on the right curbside tire. This is the 3rd flat on this tire in a week. I have checked the tire and all flats are in different areas. So much for Continental Contact 2 "Safety System Breaker". Too bad, I like these tires and was going to put them on my other trike. Beefy 1.75, not too heavy, roll easy and have a soft supple ride. I also got a flat recently on my Stratus with a different Continental Sport Contact tire. I guess I will be going back to Schwalbe. I got as many flats in the last 2 weeks as I did in the last 2 years. It's not the tires fault, it's mine for telling Kit, "I am not flat prone".

California Dreamin

I guess there's no point in complaining. The whole country, except for the Deep South, is frozen. Forecasters promised temps in the 30's so I thought I might try for a few miles. I am obviously crazy as temps never reached 25. Snow was falling the last 6 miles. My 19 miles seemed like 39. I couldn't wait to get home and warm up. The best part of the ride was seeing a fox run across the road into a open field of snow. The worst was getting a flat and walking the last 4 blocks home.

My street.

Heading into town

Started snowing

Many layers of clothing