Florida day 5 January 26

Morning started for me at 5:30 AM. Stretching routine, and a little fuel of bananas, Wheaties, nuts, plain yogurt, and some Gatorade. Then I did a short run. Brrrrrr, it was ONLY 49 degrees out. But I quickly warmed up and the sun is shining brightly -- it is going to be in the 70's today, perfect biking weather. The humidity is way down today. Perfect! I'll add more when we get home this afternoon. Also, I may add some more pictures on the previous day's journal entries, so check back on those if you'd like.

5:00 PM

What a wonderful ride. Paul and I did the 60 mile route with many others. Ellen too ventured out for the long route today. Since it wasn't too windy today, it made for a ride that just couldn't get any better than this. We went over a couple of draw bridges today -- as we have every day. Coming back into town at the end of the ride about .5 mile from the motel we had to stop while the bridge was up - letting a large sail boat pass through. Sure are a lot of draw bridges around here. We took our first break about 18 miles into the ride. Stopped at Englewood Beach, on Manasota Keys. It was a beautiful road leading to this area, a canopy of trees for several miles. Some of the riders who started behind us ended up there too and we snapped a group photo there. The group split at this point as the short ride turned around at this point - those who wanted to ride for a loop of 36 miles.

The group I was riding with found a good little cafe to stop for lunch at about 1:00. It was called JC's Conch Cafe. The sign read "Killer Food". The waitress was great and the food was plentiful and delicious. Grouper fish sandwiches are a popular thing all around here.

We stopped for a rest break, pulling into Lemon Bay environmental center. They had a number of hiking trails there and a small visitors center.

For dinner tonight it was another pizza party in the veranda area. A time to tell our stories of the day and to share some food and good times. Before eating there was a short Route Rap to go over tomorrows ride options. I plan to leave quite early tomorrow, about 7:30 AM and ride with Bob F and Rich A and get a head start on the long route option 73 miler. Legs and all are holding up just fine. After I got in this afternoon (before 3:30 PM) I changed into my running clothes and stretched my legs on a short but nice jog around the block. That felt great! Must go do some laundry while the washing machine isn't being used. It's a busy place with riders lined up to use the one and only machine.

Photos of the day: CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE