Today we pulled our gear, clothes, equipment and trailer together for a "fully loaded" ride. We each fell into our duties: The Beast filled water bottles and gathered helmets, Frankenbutt pulled the bikes from the garage and hooked up the trailer. I started mounting pannier bags to racks and wrapping up the last minute tasks at home. As I headed into the house to grab my last few items, Coco took the opportunity to slip out the front door. She loves car rides and I expected her to bolt to the car, as she usually does. She didn't; she headed straight for her bike trailer and jumped up at her door. When we didn't open it up immediately, she ran around her trailer again, and jumped up at the door again.
Frankenbutt and I smiled at one another. We had suspected she enjoyed the bike rides but this was reassurance that she really did. The Beast, on the other hand, was not as excited about today's ride. She wasn't looking forward to a long, fully loaded ride. But a funny thing happens around the 3 or 4 mile mark of every ride. Beads of sweat cool us down and our muscles warm up as we relax and get into the groove of the ride. It's about that time that the Beast becomes chatty and her focus turns away from whatever physical effort she's putting out and she starts taking in the scenery.
Today, she called out "hi, horsey" as we passed the trail side stables. She pointed out the cranes that were gathered around a pond. She called, "Hi, Donkey" to the beautiful black and white donkey that we also passed. And then a funny thing happenned. As soon as we came around the bend and saw the cows, all 3 of us "Moo'd", drawing it out: MOOOoooooo. MOOOOooooo. Frankenbutt pointed out that with almost all animals, we kind of talk "baby talk" to them ... but with cows, we speak to them in their language. Weird, huh?
Today, she called out "hi, horsey" as we passed the trail side stables. She pointed out the cranes that were gathered around a pond. She called, "Hi, Donkey" to the beautiful black and white donkey that we also passed. And then a funny thing happenned. As soon as we came around the bend and saw the cows, all 3 of us "Moo'd", drawing it out: MOOOoooooo. MOOOOooooo. Frankenbutt pointed out that with almost all animals, we kind of talk "baby talk" to them ... but with cows, we speak to them in their language. Weird, huh?
Today, she called out "hi, horsey" as we passed the trail side stables. She pointed out the cranes that were gathered around a pond. She called, "Hi, Donkey" to the beautiful black and white donkey that we also passed. And then a funny thing happenned. As soon as we came around the bend and saw the cows, all 3 of us "Moo'd", drawing it out: MOOOoooooo. MOOOOooooo. Frankenbutt pointed out that with almost all animals, we kind of talk "baby talk" to them ... but with cows, we speak to them in their language. Weird, huh?
As we passed our 15 mile mark, Frankenbutt hollered, "Stop!" I thought he had a problem with his bike or with our sweet Coco. The Beast and I turned our bikes around to find Frankenbutt looking over the fence that lines the trail saying "there's an alligator right there." I grabbed my phone to take a pic. I hope you can see it. It was a cool morning and the gator was sunning himself on the bank of the pond. He didn't seem to care that we were snapping pics. We also spied 3 baby gators sunning themselves in the tall grass.
We got back on our bikes and continued riding, passing the turn around from our last long ride and all of us agreed we felt good enough to ride on. Our goal was to stay on the Suncoast trail at least 20 miles out. Frankenbutt spotted a highway sign about 19 miles out posted on the Suncoast Parkway, which borders the trail, saying that in 1 mile there were restaurants, etc. Considering that would officially put us 20 miles out, we decided to stop and have lunch out. There was a Starbucks, a Chili's restaurant and a McDonald's. The Beast voted for McD's (not my first choice) and we found a suitable place to lock our bikes, near window seating so we could keep an eye on them. We ordered food and brought Coco a few bites of burger for her to enjoy during her walk.
I enjoyed a Chicken Caesar salad (sans cruitons) and an apple, grape and nut dessert. The Beast and Frankenbutt both had burgers, fries and sodas. I also had iced tea since I gave up diet sodas (actually, all sodas) about 2 weeks ago. For the record, I do generally feel better without the diet soda and it's not like it was making me any slimmer!
Frankenbutt couldn't resist a quick pit stop at a bicycle store that was close to the McD's and the Beast couldn't resist a trip through the shoe store. I took the opportunity to hang out with Coco and call the Editor in Hawaii. I awoke at 6am when Pen-Tertainment (another bmx mom) texted me that there was a tsunami warning in Hawaii and that I might want to check on my daughter, the Editor. I checked the college website because I wasn't eager to wake her @ 1am (her time; she's 5 hours behind us) unless there was an imminent emergency. When I called her at lunch time, she confirmed that classes were cancelled and that the local authorities lowered the tsunami threat level for the UH campus because it is substantially inland, away from the Waikiki waterfront area. I was relieved to hear her voice and we enjoyed some mother/daughter conversation.
Frankenbutt couldn't resist a quick pit stop at a bicycle store that was close to the McD's and the Beast couldn't resist a trip through the shoe store. I took the opportunity to hang out with Coco and call the Editor in Hawaii. I awoke at 6am when Pen-Tertainment (another bmx mom) texted me that there was a tsunami warning in Hawaii and that I might want to check on my daughter, the Editor. I checked the college website because I wasn't eager to wake her @ 1am (her time; she's 5 hours behind us) unless there was an imminent emergency. When I called her at lunch time, she confirmed that classes were cancelled and that the local authorities lowered the tsunami threat level for the UH campus because it is substantially inland, away from the Waikiki waterfront area. I was relieved to hear her voice and we enjoyed some mother/daughter conversation.
Eventually, Frankenbutt emerged from the bicycle store carrying "Sock Guy" socks with a cup of coffee pattern on them. He was happy. The Beast found shoes she liked but I halted her from getting them since they wouldn't be suitable for the bike trip and there's no guarantees she'll wear the same shoe size when we return. She's been growing quite a bit lately.
I was glad to get back on the trail and we all enjoyed the cool, sunny afternoon. Unfortunately, the headwinds we faced on the way there did not get behind us and push us, as we figured they would. Instead, they, too, turned around and met us head on as we pedalled the 20 miles back. The long rides are getting easier and easier now. We still need to do three 60 mile back to back rides to prepared for our first two weeks of May between West Palm Beach, FL and Clemmons, NC. According to an article in Adventure Cycling magazine, if we do 3 rides in a row at or about the max # of miles we'll need to ride, AND ... we can do so without fatigue, we will be prepared to ride that many miles over an extended period. We figure we'll push for that 3 days of riding in the next few weeks of training.
We rode a total of 41 miles today and we all felt like we could have ridden more. We'll be attempting a 50 mile "fully loaded" ride soon and we'll keep you posted as to how we fare.
More later; until then feel free to weigh in with your thoughts about our ride; good advice is always welcome, too!
Miles ridden so far: 0 (training miles don't count)
I enjoyed a Chicken Caesar salad (sans cruitons) and an apple, grape and nut dessert. The Beast and Frankenbutt both had burgers, fries and sodas. I also had iced tea since I gave up diet sodas (actually, all sodas) about 2 weeks ago. For the record, I do generally feel better without the diet soda and it's not like it was making me any slimmer!
Frankenbutt couldn't resist a quick pit stop at a bicycle store that was close to the McD's and the Beast couldn't resist a trip through the shoe store. I took the opportunity to hang out with Coco and call the Editor in Hawaii. I awoke at 6am when Pen-Tertainment (another bmx mom) texted me that there was a tsunami warning in Hawaii and that I might want to check on my daughter, the Editor. I checked the college website because I wasn't eager to wake her @ 1am (her time; she's 5 hours behind us) unless there was an imminent emergency. When I called her at lunch time, she confirmed that classes were cancelled and that the local authorities lowered the tsunami threat level for the UH campus because it is substantially inland, away from the Waikiki waterfront area. I was relieved to hear her voice and we enjoyed some mother/daughter conversation.
Frankenbutt couldn't resist a quick pit stop at a bicycle store that was close to the McD's and the Beast couldn't resist a trip through the shoe store. I took the opportunity to hang out with Coco and call the Editor in Hawaii. I awoke at 6am when Pen-Tertainment (another bmx mom) texted me that there was a tsunami warning in Hawaii and that I might want to check on my daughter, the Editor. I checked the college website because I wasn't eager to wake her @ 1am (her time; she's 5 hours behind us) unless there was an imminent emergency. When I called her at lunch time, she confirmed that classes were cancelled and that the local authorities lowered the tsunami threat level for the UH campus because it is substantially inland, away from the Waikiki waterfront area. I was relieved to hear her voice and we enjoyed some mother/daughter conversation.
Eventually, Frankenbutt emerged from the bicycle store carrying "Sock Guy" socks with a cup of coffee pattern on them. He was happy. The Beast found shoes she liked but I halted her from getting them since they wouldn't be suitable for the bike trip and there's no guarantees she'll wear the same shoe size when we return. She's been growing quite a bit lately.
I was glad to get back on the trail and we all enjoyed the cool, sunny afternoon. Unfortunately, the headwinds we faced on the way there did not get behind us and push us, as we figured they would. Instead, they, too, turned around and met us head on as we pedalled the 20 miles back. The long rides are getting easier and easier now. We still need to do three 60 mile back to back rides to prepared for our first two weeks of May between West Palm Beach, FL and Clemmons, NC. According to an article in Adventure Cycling magazine, if we do 3 rides in a row at or about the max # of miles we'll need to ride, AND ... we can do so without fatigue, we will be prepared to ride that many miles over an extended period. We figure we'll push for that 3 days of riding in the next few weeks of training.
We rode a total of 41 miles today and we all felt like we could have ridden more. We'll be attempting a 50 mile "fully loaded" ride soon and we'll keep you posted as to how we fare.
More later; until then feel free to weigh in with your thoughts about our ride; good advice is always welcome, too!
Miles ridden so far: 0 (training miles don't count)
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