# A nice way to end the year-Ride Report.



## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Just in case anyone wonders where I am for the next couple of weeks since I won't be posting here for a while.......and Scot, you can put a big ziz-zag line across Central Florida for this.  See everyone next year.]

It had been a while since we had done a long ride out of town and Miss M was getting anxious. Always up for an adventure, I was good to go if she found something interesting.

Florida is good this time of year so off we went.

It was 19 degrees when we flew out of DC to Fort Myers on Christmas Day. We were greeted with howling winds and pouring rain. I put the bikes together and did a short checkout ride and hoped that things would get better.

On Sunday the winds were still howling but the forecast looked to be improving. We went for a short hike in the morning and a 30-mile ride in the afternoon. We also replaced my old camera that had gotten damaged in transit (so no pix of the first couple days of the trip).

Monday was still windy and temps were in the low 40’s but we were ready to ride. We headed out to the boonies to check out the riding before heading back into town to check out the beach. As the day warmed up the winds died down and things were getting to be fairly pleasant. 

As we rode towards the beach we caught up with a couple of riders who were staying in our hotel and cruised together for a while. We were all amazed by how bad the traffic was. Of course we just had to ride on the beach before heading back to the hotel to rest up for the start of our real ride. We ended up with 112 miles for the day; much better!


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Gator Week.*

The same folks that run Hell Week in Texas were leading a ride from Fort Myers to Daytona Beach and back over the Christmas and New Years holidays. They provided the route, carried our stuff, provided food on the road and booked the hotels. Most of the days were around 100 miles (we figured to get in some extra); they even provided a handy list of the elevation gained each day (my favorite was the 113 feet of total elevation gain on the last day).

Miss M was riding fixed, I was SS, and everyone else had multi-gears. 

After a too long meeting we were on the road. After about 40 or 50 miles of nasty traffic we started to ride on the back roads and our attitude improved a lot. I was looking for signs of hurricane damage and sure enough there were lots. Many houses had blue tarps for roofs and lots of fields had piles of twisted metal roofing without a house in sight. There were work crews still clearing rubble from the side of the road. There was a lot of damage visible considering those hurricanes were 3 months ago.

At the first rest stop we met Becca who was along for the trip. Her father Nick was running the ride and riding the ride, her mother Rebecca was cooking and driving the truck. A nicer kid you will never meet, she was cheery and entertaining for the whole trip.

It was still a bit cooler than you would expect for Florida and the winds were strongly in our face the whole day so some riders took a short cut but we rode the whole thing and again ended up with 112 miles for the day and ended up finishing with Nick.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

The second day of the ride was supposed to actually have some hills but those were Florida hills. There was a lot less riding in traffic and the elevation changes felt good on our legs. It had warmed up and the winds had died down a bit. 

We were in lake country and the views were nice. After a quick stop for lunch we finished early, only 107 miles for the day. We were feeling pretty good but the next day’s ride was going to be the longest of the trip and was going to climb Sugarloaf (a famous Florida “climb”).


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

We got an early start since we wanted to get in some extra miles. When the group turned left on a bike path we turned right. After we turned around Miss M really put the hammer down for the next 20 miles till we had caught and passed most of the group.

It was about then that I realized that I might be a little under geared for the ride. Miss M was running 42x15 fixed with 650C wheels, I was running 39x16 free. When Miss M started to push the pace up above 20mph I was really spinning hard. Every time we slowed down for a headwind or a bit of a rise my legs were happy. Still we were riding well and feeling good.

At the end of the day when we hit Sugarloaf it was a bit of a let down. We climbed the easy side and it was kind of a stair step climb so we would go hard for 50-100 yards than pick up our cadence before the next section. In a mile or 2 it was over and we cruised in the last few miles to the hotel. We got in 119 miles and really had no problems at all.

After almost 500 miles of riding in 5 days I checked out the bikes but they were doing fine. There is a real advantage to not having gears; there is not much to go wrong with the bikes. Some of the other riders were having problems and noticed that I seemed to know what I was doing with the tools. Before I knew it there was a line of bikes waiting for service.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*New Years eve.*

Might as well finish the year with a century, our 5th in a row. We were heading straight East into some pretty strong winds. My gearing was perfect for this and as we got our usual early start I was feeling good. The days ride was supposed to only be 95 miles but most of the group got lost before lunch so we weren’t going to have to find any extra at the end of the day. Actually there was nothing wrong of the route slip but everyone got a little confused at an intersection and there were riders all over the place going every which way.

Once we figured out where we were Miss M knew what to do; she put the hammer down and we were spinning like mad again.

We rode over a causeway into Daytona Beach well before sunset with 101 miles for the day and the end of a great year. We went to bed looking forward to a new year and lots more riding.


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## Scot_Gore (Jan 25, 2002)

*Looks like a terrific way to close the year*

Nice Report
Looks like a nice ride.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Scot


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## KeeponTrekkin (Aug 29, 2002)

*Florida - The Flat State....*

Great state for riding fixte! Imagine, a ride with more miles ridden than feet of elevation gained... 

Interesting how fixte gearing choices are many, but not easy. 1 tooth less on your cog would have given you exactly the same gearing as Miss M. The geaing you have differs by 7% and you describe the practical difference as much greater.

Thanks for a nice report...


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## wooglin (Feb 22, 2002)

Great report as usual. I do love road riding in central Florida. Used to get down there every Christmas and 4th of July weekend. Maybe I should head down this spring sometime.


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

*Sugarloaf*



MB1 said:


> The second day of the ride was supposed to actually have some hills but those were Florida hills.
> 
> We were feeling pretty good but the next day’s ride was going to be the longest of the trip and was going to climb Sugarloaf (a famous Florida “climb”).


Last February, I had a hearing in Orlando on a Monday in early February. I did a little searching on the net and found out that there was an organized century near Orlando the Saturday before. So, I flew down on Friday rather than Sunday and did the ride. The featured "climb" was Sugarloaf. I don't want to dis someone else's backyard, but I was not impressed. But, it was nice to ride somewhere warm when it was in the 20s in Maryland. And, even if you like your usual riding areas, it always is good to take in some different roads and scenery. Thanks for the pictures.


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## rwbadley (Apr 13, 2002)

Nice ride.

I'd love to go for a ride. We've been snowed in here, and the streets are a mess. We have another foot or more of the white stuff on the way. Those warm rides are but a distant memory for me now... 

Thanks MB-1, now I'm really depressed ;-)


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*We were thinking about riding the West Coast.*



rwbadley said:


> Nice ride.
> 
> I'd love to go for a ride. We've been snowed in here, and the streets are a mess. We have another foot or more of the white stuff on the way. Those warm rides are but a distant memory for me now...
> 
> Thanks MB-1, now I'm really depressed ;-)


Since we are heading out there in February for a double century we decided to give Florida a try. As it turned out it was a lucky choice.


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## zooog (Mar 18, 2002)

What a way to end the year


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