Good Bye El Nino. In the 20 years we’ve lived in Florida our coldest winter is now becoming a distant memory.  The last two weeks my bike saw 91 and 67 miles of recognizable scenery around the neighborhood and the West Orange Trail.  Wow, did that feel good and my body says Thanks! Tis the season for Easter decorations that are starting to show up in the neighborhoods.   In looking at the big picture 6,481 miles have ticked by with 960 miles to go until I reach my virtual Wake Island next stop.

As I step outside during the latter part of February it seems like the effect of all the cold weather of El Nino is starting to break down.  The cool mornings, when I do most of my rides, are starting to give way to a cool nip in the air and not just plain COLD.  I originally thought back in December to hold off riding for a while to give my body a break.  My how time flies and here it is March already.  

My bike still looked familiar to me and I treated it to a good cleaning.  I eased into a few rides just to loosen up the muscles and notify them that I’ll be putting them to work on some much anticipated long rides.  Visions of my first Century Ride (100 miles) quickly came to mind along with a target date of mid April.  To my surprise, my first few rides showed that I lost little of my developed pace…good news, but how can I make it better?  Aero Bars.  Hmmm, less drag means more speed and less energy used. Resting on my arms instead of hands means less numbness. Can it be more comfortable crouched over?  A view of some YouTube videos led me to place the order and try them out. 

It didn’t take long to answer the questions and realize over a one mph improvement on just a casual ride.  My start up rides have accumulated  126 miles for a total of 6,323 miles on my virtual quest around the world.  Having started at the Statue of Liberty I’ve passed the Hawaiian Islands and working my way to Wake Island.  With about 1,118 miles to go I’ll be seeing a lot of ocean.  Hmmm, I wonder what lurks in the dark depths of all that water.

This year saw me add 2,710 miles for a total of 6,197 miles towards my virtual tour around the world.  In the mean time, I ventured past Honolulu and Niihau in the Hawaiian Islands then saw the vacant Johnston Atoll.  The vastness of the Pacific with few islands on my global path leaves me with only Wake Island on schedule for 2024.  After that I’ll reach Guam and begin to have many closer grouped waypoints to achieve and share.  Meanwhile, April brings my first 100 mile Century ride….I can’t wait!

My new road bike saw the brunt of the miles while my mountain bike was used for about 10% of the rides.  It still provides a great workout bike and offers the pleasure of some off-roading for a little riding variety.  This year also saw the beginning of several pledges towards my scholarship program for high school kids entering college.  The goal is $25,000 to create twenty five $1,000 scholarships.  I’m on my way with several pledges while providing a great incentive to pack on the miles.  For those of you that visit this blog I thank you for the interest.  For those that have provided donations in the past, I once again thank you as the program I promised is in full swing.  For those that are curious, join in on the pledges…it helps young minds develop and meet educational and career goals.

After reading several weather predictions for a colder and wet winter for the Florida area I took it as just another prediction.  After the past few weeks and holiday activities it looks like the forecasters were right.  I have the gear to ride in the cold, but my focused efforts on continued strength building and increasing speed really takes a hit in the cold weather.  A few rides showed that a lot of energy goes into keeping warm and strength building was a bit difficult.  This all means one thing: listen to what my aging body is telling me very carefully.  Conclusion: I’ll take the time over the next couple of months to give the legs a rest then ease back in the January timeframe.  It will still be cold then, but I’ll just keep the muscles moving and when the weather reaches higher levels I’ll be ready to resume the workouts.

A pleasant week of 85 miles gave way to a rainy week with little riding time…..and it couldn’t have come at a better time!  It just seems my body said it was time for a break and I was all to happy to oblige. My road bike’s tubeless tires seem unable to hold their pressure for more than 3-4 days.  It turns out the tubeless tire sealant has a lifespan of about 4-6 months.  Opps, maybe that is why nothing exists when I checked the level of fluid in each tire.  Something new to learn as a refill it will be.  

My last waypoint was passed on October 12th in my virtual circle around the world.  Johnston Atoll was pretty uneventful at 5,795 miles from my starting point at the Statue of Liberty. It is an unincorporated territory of the United States as a National Wildlife Refuge.   Its past saw the island used as a naval refueling depot and a testing site as a secret missile base whose activities left the area environmentally contaminated.  I guess that explains why nobody was home when I went by.  No greeting people, no restaurants, no beach bungalows to catch a nap. Even the sign is gone today. Next stop: Wake Island.  Plenty of history there and I look forward to passing by.  Mileage now at 5,981 with many more to come.  By the way, the vastness of the Pacific Ocean creates long distances.  Wake Island is 1,260 miles away and at the rate I’m going I should be there on about July 10, 2024.

The holiday’s sure bring a lot of scenery when cycling the local neighborhoods. The inflatable characters are still ever present, but now “bigger is better” is becoming popular with skeletons over 12′ tall. The ghosts and goblins have taken over many yards in their entirety. Garage door decorations are being added to carry the ghostly theme throughout the front yards. Rumplestil Skin has set up a new home on a corner lot for all to see while a pair of wild shorts are adorned by a very tall skeleton overlooking a huge spider and its web to catch all the little visitors. Foolish mortals beware of hitchhiking ghosts are serenaded by ghosts playing pianos at another home. Meanwhile, the weather has provided a ghoulish background at times curtailing a few days rides. All told the past two weeks added 102 miles for a total of 5,866 miles of enjoyment.

If there is one thing I have learned about completing a long run or in the upcoming case…a 100 mile ride, it’s to be prepared.  A 58 miler should about do it as a warm up as I ventured for the first time on the Van Fleet Trail.  Picture this: a 29.2 mile paved trail that is perfectly straight except for one slight little bend.  That’s it, where ever you take a picture on the trail it’s virtually the same everywhere on the trail.  In the early 1920’s the Seaboard Airline Railroad built and ran on the tracks until 1986 when CSX succeeded Seaboard and finally abandoned the track by 1990.  The rails were removed as part of the “Rails to Trail’s” program providing one of Florida’s longest and best trails to ride.  I started in the town of Mabel and turned around at Polk City while traversing through three counties.  Halfway through was a Biker’s Memorial that I didn’t quite get.  It consisted of several Snow White ‘like’ dwarfs and a few other characters.  Maybe there was more to it some time ago. A couple of stops, water, and restrooms were well appreciated for an enjoyable ride.   Total miles is at 5,764 now with Johnston Atoll only a 31 miles away on my virtual around-the-world trip.

I can imagine that many look at my riding habits and think I have a lot of time on my hands.  Actually, I don’t.  What I have done is to remove other things in my life that are not as important and replaced them with the health benefits, challenges, and enjoyment I get from riding.  While I’m still dealing with business ventures I also get a lot of quality thinking done while riding. However, travel and business activities do take precedence.  Such is the case of the past couple weeks resulting in few miles added to the list.  I’ve signed up for my first attempted 100 miler and have a month to keep in shape as I feel ready to go. Meanwhile, Halloween decorations are starting to fill the surrounding scenery providing some photo opportunities of those that catch my eye.  Total mileage equals 5,561 with 144 miles to go to my next virtual waypoint: Johnson Atoll.  I should be there shortly!

The more cycling becomes a part of my life the more I learn.  Couple that with acquiring higher purpose bikes, and in my mind the treatment of the bike, older methods of hanging a bike on the back of a vehicle becomes questionable.  Yeah, the hitch mount bike rack where the bike hangs on the top cross bar is not the best treatment for carbon frames along with the addition of scratch marks on the nice paint.  It was time to make a change….wow there are so many choices!  I decided to start paying attention to the various racks I would see hanging on the back of vehicles and understanding the advantages and virtues of each type.  What I learned is that nothing touching the frame of the bike is the best.  No undo pressures on the carbon frame and no scratching the paint.  Secondly, an attachment to the rack via the wheels accomplishes the first observation.  Pictured above is the Thule rack I purchased that accomplishes all this with, in my mind one added advantage, an attachment point on both tires.  It is very simple to put on and take off, very sturdy, and no contact with the bike at all.  Of course, it is easy to fold up, has a locking mechanism, easy to take off, and easily stores in the garage.  For those familiar with Thule products they come with a slightly higher price tag than many competitor products.  My experience with them has been justified by their build quality, long lasting, and they work every time!

It’s interesting when you ride a similar route week after week and think you’ve seen everything then the unexpected shows up. While I have been focused on strength building and increasing my speed I still wander with my eyes to see my surroundings. Thank goodness as I spotted a custom work of art. It was a bit small and probably has been in my surrounding vision for a long time but I only saw it for the first time on a recent ride. I just had to stop, take a picture, and by all means share this prize. Total miles is at 5,365 with 430 miles to go until I reach my next virtual waypoint: Johnston Atoll. I wonder if anyone will be there to at least wave as I go by. We should find out somewhere about late October!