A Little Bit of that Ole Chomp Chomp

All he was doing was trying to get across the shady paved road, somewhere outside of Monticello Fl. He was minding his own business when along comes this group of Lycra clad devils on machines. "Gator!" someone hollers as they zip by.  "Damn" he must have thought, "This just ain't gonna be my day."

They all stop and gather around him.  They are not afraid, after all he can't be more than 3 feet long, what harm could he do?  "We should move him off the road" one of them says.  After all, they are all basically nice people.  All with good intentions.  Still, not many cars pass this way.  One of them approaches.

Out come the cameras as the bravest (or dumbest) one circles him, trying to grab his tail so he can fling him to safety.

His face is not shown to protect his children from embarrassment

Please notice how he is reaching across, exposing his arm to the little mouth full of very sharp teeth. Moments after this was taken he grabbed the tail, the little fellow grabbed his arm, he yelled, flinging the gator, not towards the road side but towards the circle of people gathered to watch.  Much screaming and jumping around ensued.  The group rolled away, leaving little gator to continue his march across the road, and with a new found taste for human flesh.

Tupelos

On our little crew road ride last Saturday we stopped in Monticello at a little pastry shop called Tupelos.  All of the items are homemade except the drinks.  I had a huge piece of lemon bar cake and a root beer.  We all sat outside and got a sugar buzz while watching Silk howl at his video of the incident described above.

The Kid and I sprinted for yellow signs, county line signs, and city limit signs.  I kept having to change the rules to keep up with him.  I just don't have that extra kick that his 19 year old legs have. Imagine that.

New Tire

I put a new tire on the front of my MTB.  New rubber is awesome.  I was feeling froggy last Sunday, rolling down the multi use at Tom Brown.  As I leaned into a corner I found the limit of my new tires traction.  Sand over clay is a hard surface to lean into.  No major damage except for a new lack of confidence in my brand new tire.

Hey Colorado

We leave this weekend.  Highs in the low 70's, lows in the 40's at night, 0% humidity.  It's gonna be tough to stand that type of weather.  I'm taking a jar of gnats, I'll stick it over my ear, just to make it feel more like home.

I have the whole week planned out, it's a weakness of mine.  Monday we have hired a guide and rented MTBs.  Last time out there we spent most of the morning trying to find the trails, then when we did, it started to rain so I hope this goes better.  I've never done any type of a guided trip before.

Tuesday is the day we try to summit a 14'r.  I have no misconceptions about how hard this will be. The Lovely Wife has been training for months but it's hard to train for lack of oxygen.  If she falters we'll just give her a can of bear spray and a whistle and pick her up on the way back.  Heck, I'm not sure I can make it.

Wednesday is a recovery day, The Kid wants to do some rafting but we'll see how we feel.  I have a couple of easy hikes mapped out just in case.  Most likely it will be a tourist day, eating and shopping.

Thursday I have planned another cycling day, this one self guided and much easier than Monday.

Friday we fly home.  I know, I would have liked to stay longer but all the flights headed east were red eye.  I hate flying.

PS: There are two song lyrics in this post.  The first is the title which is from a Molly Hatchet song, Gator Country.  The second is the subtitle of this paragraph.  It's from a Gram Parsons song.  I bet only Wrecking Ball knows who he was.

Anyhoo, I'll see ya'll on the next page.

Gator Cycling at the TDF

Holy Water

As cyclists, water is our life line.  In the middle of a Florida July it means the difference between enjoying the ride and just barely making it home.  This is the story of two such rides, the names have been changed to protect the weak.

Ride #1- Santos Saturday

The Santos MTB trail system near Ocala Fl. was our destination when we left the HG parking lot at 6 am.  In my mind a 6 hour round trip to ride different trails, and trails that I enjoy, is a small price to pay.  We were already sweating after loading Fred's (not his real name) bike in my truck.

We parked at the Land Bridge Trail Head, unloaded, and headed west on single track.  Fred started out behind me as he had never ridden the trail and I had a couple of trips under my belt.  I kept the pace easy, knowing we had planned to ride for 4 hours.  This arrangement lasted until Fred slipped around me when I missed a turn, I noticed the pace picked up slightly.

We got to the Ern and Burn section after about an hour.  This little piece of work has lime rock hills with short but punchy climbs.  It's tight and with no air moving around me I could feel the heat building.  I backed off hoping Fred would notice.  He just kept it pinned.  "Ok" I said to myself "It's going to be a long day if we keep this up."

Now please don't think that I was worried about my ability to finish the ride, and I wasn't mad a him for going a little faster.   I just knew Fred had had trouble measuring out his efforts in the past and didn't want him to not enjoy the rest of the ride. That's just the kind of person I am, always thinking of others.

The Santos trails are custom made for MTB and are so much fun to ride.  Plus, even though I-10 cuts right through it, it still seems like you're in the middle of a forest.  My kind of place.

Land Bridge Trail over I-10

We made it back to the truck just as our water ran out.  We had almost 3 hours in by that time but hadn't touched the trail system to the east.  I at least wanted to do Spider Kingdom before we headed home but Fred was having trouble getting up the energy to get back on the bike.  I downed a cold Coke and a bag of peanuts, and after laying around on a picnic table in the shade, I was ready to roll again.  Fred said he thought he could do a little more, so we rode east and managed to put in almost another hour.  By that time it was well into the upper 90's and afternoon thunderheads were building so we called it a ride and headed home.

When we stopped at a store to gas up Fred came back out carrying a grocery bag full of food and drinks.  He consumed two bags of chips and what must have been 4 bottles of Poweraide ("It was on sale, 2 for 1.") before we passed Live Oak.  As we unloaded I asked if he wanted to ride Sunday, he just gave me a funny look and said to let him know what I was doing.  I didn't call because he looked like he'd had enough for the weekend.  Besides, he doesn't do clay.

Ride #2- Sunday Clay

I really felt bad about dodging church, but it was going to get soooo hot in the afternoon I decided to ride in the morning.  Sam (not his real name), Silk, and The Kid were the only brave souls to show up for our little clay adventure.  We were doing the Flag Loop, Silk was going to go hard, the rest of us were not.

Dirty Proctor (a road) had just been graded, plus it was dry, so all the rocks were on top.  It made for a rough start.  Silk hit the gas and that was the last we saw of him.  The three of us kept the pace steady until we turned onto No Hope Church road where The Kid and I played king of the mountain (he always won) until I couldn't breath.  Sam got a horse fly in his helmet so he didn't play.

Did I mention it was hot?  But I still love riding those clay roads.

With water running low we stopped at a little white church nestled into the pines on one of the big plantations.  There didn't appear to be any services that day so we went around back to the well. That was the best water I have ever tasted.  And it was cold!  So cold that when Sam stuck his head under the hose he started shaking.  I could have sat down in the grass and let that water run all over me.  I settled for just sticking my head under the flow.  After that we refilled our bottles and resumed our journey.  Refreshed by holy water, can I get an AMEN!

On the last few hills I noticed Sam falling behind, which was unlike him.  He had stopped sweating and had this odd look on his face (odder than normal).  We split up on the pavement and he headed home.  Turns out he made it back, but it wasn't pretty.  Something about laying on the kitchen floor while his girlfriend brought him cold towels.

The Kid and I rolled into the HG parking lot with our bikes covered in orange dust and sweat.  The lot had been empty when we left that morning but was full of shoppers by the time we got back.  I always enjoy changing out of my kit with an audience.  We got smoothies and I drank mine so fast I had brain freeze.

I've had enough hot weather for now.  I am well aware of how fast time goes by at this age and I know I'll be wearing arm warmers before I know it.  Still, I'm ready to say uncle on this heat.  At least until next weekend.

Hanging Around

Nothing to do but frown, rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

Yea, sorry about that, it's just what came out.  The rain has been a pain but it always is this time of year in Fla.

Last Weekend 

Last Saturday Irish, Dr. S Works, and a couple whom I can't think up fake names for, rode road bikes from the Oak Valley Publix.  We skirted rain most of the route but had to ride through puddles to get back in.  Even though it was roads I ride on quite a bit I enjoyed the company.  My prep the night before was Chinese and wine, making the ride harder on me than it should have been.  Road riding is such a different animal fitness wise, I know I've said that before.  I still have some work to do.  Sigh.

With rain in the forecast for Sunday we decided to take MTBs and hit Munson.  It was flooding in Beautiful Downtown Havana when The Kid and I rolled out.  We met Ape Bike, Mrs. Ape Bike, and Dr. S Works at the trail head.  Silk for some reason known only to him was riding his CX bike from his house and meeting us there.

It was still raining when we unloaded, with a huge blob on the radar headed our way.  But miracle of miracles we never got a drop.  What I was sure was going to be a rain ride turned out to be dry as a bone.  It had been a while since I'd done a group MTB ride and it felt good.

This Week

Wrecking Ball and Little Wrecking Ball both play in rock bands.  Both are amazing musicians.  Both were playing in a bar in Tallahassee on the same night.  The  Lovely Wife had wanted to go to see the Rolling Stones, I told her this would have to do.  

The music was great, the environment, well, not so much.  Too much of my fellow man (and woman) pressed together in a basement, most drinking, almost all smoking.  I made it through all of LWB's set and 3 songs into WB's when I had to pull the ripcord.  I guess I'm just too old for that stuff anymore.

Holiday

The Lovely Wife gets the photo credit for this

I was surprised that there wasn't a special ride planned for the 4th of July.  Lucky for me Silk and the Kid wanted to do a CX ride around Tallahassee.  We hit roads through campus that I'd never been on.  Then onto the bike path down to Munson (yea again). After a lap of Munson we rolled up the east side and back to HG.

Today

The sweat falls off the front of my helmet, running down my nose and eventually flying off into the wind.  It's early on another muggy Sunday morning and I'm alone on Shady Rest Road.  I'm trying to get my 1.5 hours in before the rain starts at noon.  I can see the clouds building up in the west, piling up like soft serve ice cream cones. 


The zone 2 ride feels easy for some reason, maybe because we didn't go very hard yesterday.  I can even look around at the scenery instead of just staring at my Garmin or my front wheel.  As I descend into a hardwood bottom it gets at least 20 degrees cooler, feeling like a giant door has been left open into an unseen refrigerator.  I actually get goose bumps, but it doesn't last for long.  I pass calves grazing along the side of Lanier Road, they spook and run as I go by.

I consider trying to hit the Strava section but loose interest about half way through, my mind getting caught in a song that I can't get out of. It's the one at the beginning of this blog. It takes me back to 1974 and walking home from high school.  Then my mind jumps to a dirt road behind the lake house my family used to own.  I get lost in the memories.  

I make the right onto highway 12 and head for home, managing to beat the storm which rolls in at 12 just like clockwork.  I get cleaned up and plop down on the couch to watch The Tour.  

Funny but it seems that it's the only thing to do.  

I have no idea why the font changed half way through.  Remember, nobody reads blogs anymore.:)